Immigrants in South Africa are being denied access to life-saving medication, including antiretrovirals (ARVs), due to the actions of the anti-immigrant group Operation Dudula. Despite a court order preventing the group from blocking foreign nationals from accessing healthcare, witnesses and visits to clinics confirm that the practice continues.
On November 4, the Gauteng High Court ruled that Operation Dudula could not demand ID documents from members of the public or prevent foreign nationals from accessing healthcare. However, immigrants claim that the group’s members, often in collaboration with clinic staff, are still turning them away from clinics.
Beauty, a mother of a 19-year-old daughter with HIV, said her daughter was chased away from Alberton Clinic by Operation Dudula members. Kudzai, a 35-year-old immigrant, was also turned away from Spartan Clinic in Kempton Park, where she had been receiving ARVs since 2017. “I cannot die because some people are trying to gain attention through politics. I just want to live and take care of my children,” she said.
Visits to clinics in Johannesburg confirmed that immigrants are being blocked from accessing healthcare. At Spartan Clinic, a woman in plain clothes was checking IDs alongside a security guard, and only those with South African IDs were allowed to enter. When a reporter approached the security guards and the woman, they claimed that a “new rule” had been passed by the community, allowing only South African citizens to attend the clinic.
The national health department has called on immigrants to report anyone who blocks their access to medicine, including health workers, to the police. Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said that if Operation Dudula’s actions are indeed happening, it would be a serious offense and a deliberate breaking of the law.
The court order, which was granted in response to an application by Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia and other organizations, explicitly prohibits Operation Dudula from demanding ID documents, intimidating or harassing foreign nationals, and interfering with their access to healthcare. The order also requires the group’s leader, Zandile Dabula, to communicate the order to its members.
Despite the court ruling, Operation Dudula’s leader responded vaguely to questions, stating that “ordinary citizens have joined the struggle outside our mandate.” The group’s actions have been widely condemned, and the health department has urged immigrants to report any incidents of being denied access to healthcare.