Giwusa slams Operation Dudula for denying migrants healthcare access
Image: Leon Lestrade Independent Newspapers
The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) condemned Operation Dudula, and March and March, for denying migrants access to healthcare.
According to the union, these 'xenophobic acts' were a violation of the most fundamental human rights and a dangerous diversion from the real crisis in the healthcare system. The union said it was a crisis created by 'neoliberal austerity, corporate looting and profiteering, corruption, and mismanagement'.
GIWUSA President, Mametlwe Sebei, alluded to the crisis confronting the country's healthcare sector.
"It is true that the clinics, hospitals and other healthcare services in our working-class communities are failing the poor, including the elderly, children, disabled and chronically ill people, who can't afford long queues," Sebei said.
"Equally, they fail everyone with shortages in staff of critical healthcare professionals, including doctors, dentists, nurses, and specialists, a lack of essential equipment, beds and medicines."
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Next
Stay
Close ✕
Ad Loading
Sebei said the issue of blaming and denying migrants access to healthcare is scapegoating and serves in the fracture and weaken working-class organisations.
"This weakness of organisation is responsible for disunity and poor capacity to fightback, which in turn has allowed the state to divest and privatise public services, at the same time as it has demoralised the working class and opened a wide vacuum for all sorts of political opportunists and populists to scapegoat the crises on the most vulnerable layers of the working class, the migrants."
According to Sebei, it is on those basis that they reject this stance which they call a poison.
"Migrant workers are part of our class — exploited, underpaid, and struggling alongside us. Our fight is not with each other, but with the system that keeps healthcare a privilege for the few and a site for accumulation of capital," Sebei said.
Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX) also came out condemning the ongoing actions by Operation Dudula of preventing migrants from accessing healthcare facilities in South Africa.
Mike Ndlovu from KAAX said blocking access to healthcare, a fundamental is a violation of Section 27 of our Constitution and is unacceptable.
"These actions, which include clinic blockades, intimidation, demands for identity documents, and the violent exclusion of vulnerable individuals, including pregnant women and children, violate both South African and international law. They perpetuate a harmful rhetoric that unfairly blames migrants for systemic failures while distracting from the real causes of the healthcare crisis," Ndlovu said.
"The narrative promoted by Operation Dudula, falsely claiming migrants are the primary cause of overcrowded clinics and failing services, is contradicted by evidence. Migrants constitute only approximately 4% of public hospital admissions, primarily seeking essential obstetric and emergency care."
The Star
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
a day ago
- The Citizen
Health Department doesn't track foreign nationals using public facilities
Treatment is still provided to those who cannot produce documents to verify their identity. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says his department does not track the number of foreign nationals using public healthcare facilities. Motsoaledi revealed this in a recent written parliamentary reply to ActionSA MP Tebogo Letlape, who had asked for the total number of documented and undocumented foreign nationals recorded as accessing public healthcare in the past five years. Letlape also wanted to know how many illegal immigrants had been reported to the Department of Home Affairs by healthcare facilities, as required by law. Motsoaledi on foreign nationals using public healthcare facilities In his response, Motsoaledi explained that provincial health departments keep no such records – and that the same applies to undocumented South Africans. 'In accordance with Section 27 of the constitution of the Republic of South Africa, everyone has the right to access healthcare services, including reproductive healthcare, and no one may be refused emergency medical treatment. 'Health care is provided based on clinical need, not on nationality or documentation status,' he said. Addressing the question about reporting to Home Affairs, the minister said while patients are requested to provide identification to verify their identity, treatment is still provided to those who cannot produce such documents. 'The patient administration and records systems utilised in public health facilities across the country do not classify or record individuals as South African or foreign and are therefore unable to provide a total number of undocumented people who accessed healthcare services over the past five years.' ALSO READ: 'We've not broken any laws': Operation Dudula to press on with ID checks after members freed on warning Motsoaledi also highlighted that many South African citizens also access healthcare without identification, often because they have no ID issued by Home Affairs or any other official authority. 'This makes it impossible to determine whether such undocumented patients are foreign nationals or not.' He added that civil registration systems across Africa remain underdeveloped and are 'lagging behind'. Egypt leads the continent with a civil registration rate of 98%, followed by South Africa at 89%, according to the minister. 'This means that 11% of South Africans are also undocumented, but cannot said to be illegal in their own country. Some countries on this continent are still between 1% and 5% registered.' Practitioners employed in public health sector A separate parliamentary reply highlighted significant shifts in the number of health practitioners employed in South Africa's public health sector over the past five years, with certain provinces recording growth while others seeing declines. Motsoaledi provided a breakdown from the Persal system detailing the total number of active health professionals by province and category – namely nursing professionals, medical practitioners, and other health professionals – between April 2020 and March 2025. The figures for the 2024/2025 financial year showed KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) employed the highest number of nursing professionals at 32 151, followed closely by Gauteng with 30 456. Gauteng also leads in medical practitioners (7 268) and 'other health professionals' (5 748). READ MORE: Motsoaledi announces 1 650 new healthcare jobs and R1.3bn to be spent on hospital equipment Moreover, KZN saw sustained growth in nursing staff since 2020, though numbers for medical practitioners dropped slightly from a peak of 5 938 in 2021/2022 to 4 868 in the most recent year. Free State experienced a steady decline in nursing staff from 8 264 in 2021/2022 to 7 283 in 2024/2025, while Limpopo saw a drop from 16 625 in 2021/2022 to 14 807 in 2024/2025. Mpumalanga's nursing workforce also decreased slightly after peaking in 2021/2022. The Northern Cape consistently has the smallest personnel, with only 2 544 nursing professionals, 521 medical practitioners, and 667 other health professionals in 2024/2025.
IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
Giwusa slams Operation Dudula for denying migrants healthcare access
Soweto clinic incident: Operation Dudula women disrupt healthcare services. Image: Leon Lestrade Independent Newspapers The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) condemned Operation Dudula, and March and March, for denying migrants access to healthcare. According to the union, these 'xenophobic acts' were a violation of the most fundamental human rights and a dangerous diversion from the real crisis in the healthcare system. The union said it was a crisis created by 'neoliberal austerity, corporate looting and profiteering, corruption, and mismanagement'. GIWUSA President, Mametlwe Sebei, alluded to the crisis confronting the country's healthcare sector. "It is true that the clinics, hospitals and other healthcare services in our working-class communities are failing the poor, including the elderly, children, disabled and chronically ill people, who can't afford long queues," Sebei said. "Equally, they fail everyone with shortages in staff of critical healthcare professionals, including doctors, dentists, nurses, and specialists, a lack of essential equipment, beds and medicines." Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Sebei said the issue of blaming and denying migrants access to healthcare is scapegoating and serves in the fracture and weaken working-class organisations. "This weakness of organisation is responsible for disunity and poor capacity to fightback, which in turn has allowed the state to divest and privatise public services, at the same time as it has demoralised the working class and opened a wide vacuum for all sorts of political opportunists and populists to scapegoat the crises on the most vulnerable layers of the working class, the migrants." According to Sebei, it is on those basis that they reject this stance which they call a poison. "Migrant workers are part of our class — exploited, underpaid, and struggling alongside us. Our fight is not with each other, but with the system that keeps healthcare a privilege for the few and a site for accumulation of capital," Sebei said. Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX) also came out condemning the ongoing actions by Operation Dudula of preventing migrants from accessing healthcare facilities in South Africa. Mike Ndlovu from KAAX said blocking access to healthcare, a fundamental is a violation of Section 27 of our Constitution and is unacceptable. "These actions, which include clinic blockades, intimidation, demands for identity documents, and the violent exclusion of vulnerable individuals, including pregnant women and children, violate both South African and international law. They perpetuate a harmful rhetoric that unfairly blames migrants for systemic failures while distracting from the real causes of the healthcare crisis," Ndlovu said. "The narrative promoted by Operation Dudula, falsely claiming migrants are the primary cause of overcrowded clinics and failing services, is contradicted by evidence. Migrants constitute only approximately 4% of public hospital admissions, primarily seeking essential obstetric and emergency care." The Star
IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
Hout Bay's mussels reveal hidden pollution crisis
The research team, led by UCT's postdoctoral research fellow Dr Cecilia Ojemaye, detected a range of PPCPs in mussel tissue samples collected at significant distances from the marine outfall and the Hout Bay River mouth. Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers Hout Bay's marine environment is seriously threatened by pharmaceutical and personal care product compounds (PPCPs) that persist and bio-accumulate in marine life, even kilometres away from pollution sources, a new UCT study has revealed. The findings raise urgent questions about sewage management, environmental monitoring and public health in one of Cape Town's most iconic coastal areas. The research team, led by UCT's postdoctoral research fellow Dr Cecilia Ojemaye, detected a range of PPCPs in mussel tissue samples collected at significant distances from the marine outfall and the Hout Bay River mouth. These compounds, residues from common medications and personal care products, enter the marine environment through human excretion, wastewater discharge and improper disposal. 'The presence of these compounds in mussels is a red flag,' said Ojemaye. 'Mussels are sentinel organisms, they filter the water and accumulate pollutants, which means they are telling us a story about the health of the entire marine ecosystem.' The study showed that the pollution plume from Hout Bay's sewage discharges extends far beyond the immediate outfall area, contradicting previous assumptions that contaminants disperse quickly and harmlessly. Instantaneous modelling of bacterial indicators, such as enterococci, has been used in the past to justify the safety of marine outfalls, but researchers say this approach fails to capture the long-term build-up of persistent chemicals. 'This is not a case of 'dilution is the solution to pollution'. These contaminants don't just disappear, they spread settle, and accumulate in marine life, creating an extensive and ongoing impact zone,' said Ojemaye. Hout Bay's sewage system has long been a source of contention between residents, the municipality and environmental groups. Historical municipal decisions, including the choice of a marine outfall over land-based treatment, have been unpopular with local communities. 'The City has not provided Imizamo Yethu with adequate sanitation infrastructure for decades, leading to exceptionally high faecal content in the Disa River,' said co-author of the study, Professor Lesley Green, a professor of earth politics and director of Environmental Humanities South at UCT. She added that they fully support the argument by lawyers involved in a court case against eThekwini for sewage pollution to the ocean, that 'while floundering and excuse-prone, (the City) is nonetheless the local executive authority'. Green further urged Cape Town to take a lead from the Minister of the Environment Affairs, who 'committed the country to protect marine biodiversity when he signed the UN Oceans 2025 pledge in Paris in June this year'. The study highlighted that the marine outfall services about half of Hout Bay's population, making it a significant source of chemical and microbial contamination. While the Hout Bay River also carries pollutants into the bay, the design and operation of the outfall itself contribute heavily to the problem. Researchers warn that the situation poses both ecological and potential human health risks, especially if contaminated mussels and other shellfish are consumed. The bay lies within a marine protected area, making the findings particularly concerning for conservation efforts.
