Latest news with #Dudula
eNCA
7 hours ago
- Health
- eNCA
Operation Dudula trio in court for clinic disruption
JOHANNESBURG - Three Operation Dudula members are expected to appear at the Orlando magistrate's court. They were arrested in Soweto for disrupting services at a local clinic. The women, aged between 49 and 60, allegedly stormed the maternity ward at Lilian Ngoyi Clinic. They demanded ID documents from patients to verify their nationalities. WATCH: Operation Dudula | Concerns around impact of denying healthcare access The trio faces charges of public violence, trespassing, and violating the National Health Act. Protests by Dudula supporters are expected outside court. The group has been running a national campaign since June. It targets undocumented migrants at public health facilities.
eNCA
9 hours ago
- Health
- eNCA
Operation Dudula trio in court for clinic blockade
JOHANNESBURG - Three Operation Dudula members are expected to appear at the Orlando magistrate's court. They were arrested in Soweto for disrupting services at a local clinic. The women, aged between 49 and 60, allegedly stormed the maternity ward at Lilian Ngoyi Clinic. They demanded ID documents from patients to verify their nationalities. WATCH: Operation Dudula | Concerns around impact of denying healthcare access The trio faces charges of public violence, trespassing, and violating the National Health Act. Protests by Dudula supporters are expected outside court. The group has been running a national campaign since June. It targets undocumented migrants at public health facilities.
AFP
3 days ago
- Health
- AFP
Image of man lying outside South African hospital fuels anti-migrant narratives
'A Zimbabwean man dies after he was dragged out of hospital by South African Dudula gangsters, here in the photo his wife stands confused and shocked all because of bad governance in Zimbabwe (sic),' reads an X post published on August 2, 2025. Operation Dudula is a movement that promotes the deportation of undocumented migrants (archived here). The X post, with over 2,000 likes, features a photo of a man lying on the ground outside a metal gate, with a young woman standing above him. Image Screenshot of the false post, published on August 2, 2025 Comments to the X post were mixed, with some replies asking why the man hadn't gone to a private hospital and others criticising the poster for using an old photo to spread propaganda. Image Screenshot of some of the replies to the X post, taken on August 7, 2025 Similar claims have circulated on Facebook and YouTube. However, the image shows an incident earlier in the year, unrelated to the ongoing disputes about foreigners in South Africa. January reports A reverse image search of the photo led to Afrikaans online articles from January 2025 by regional radio station OFM and the paywalled newspaper Netwerk24 (archived here). According to the news reports and the original Facebook post describing the incident, the photo was taken when the post's author, Vuyo Majuba, 'came across a deeply disturbing scene' at MUCPP Mangaung Community Health Centre in Bloemfontein, Free State province (archived here). 'An elderly, sick man was lying outside the clinic gates with his children by his side, visibly helpless,' read the post published on January 2, 2025. The post added that the gates were locked, and security told him the clinic only assists 'women giving birth'. At the time, the Free State Department of Health responded to the backlash from concerned citizens (archived here). 'Last night, Thursday, 02 January 2025, it transpired that a patient was taken to MUCPP after 21:00 and their pictures were spread on social media when they could not get help because the clinic is closed at that time for casualty services,' said the provincial government. The health department added: 'The ambulance services were contacted to check the situation but did not find this person because they had been taken to Pelonomi Hospital'. The provincial health spokesperson told AFP Fact Check on August 6, 2025, that they are aware that the 'picture has suddenly resurfaced as an apparent new issue'. 'We can confirm that this is used for misinformation purposes," Mondli Mvambi wrote in a WhatsApp message. Mvambi also confirmed that the man was reportedly South African, not Zimbabwean. 'We checked MUCPP that night to see what had transpired after our EMS had been sent to MUCPP, only to be told that this South African patient had been taken by car to Pelonomi," he said. The health department could not locate the patient after that night: 'We checked Pelonomi and there was never any confirmation of a patient with such a description.' Healthcare dispute In recent years, groups including Operation Dudula as well as March and March have been blocking undocumented foreigners from accessing public healthcare in South Africa's Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces (archived here and here). The groups advocate for the deportation of undocumented foreigners from South Africa, claiming they are straining the country's resources. The South African Human Rights Commission condemned these actions as unconstitutional (archived here), and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) launched a case in the Gauteng High Court in 2024. The case was heard in June, but the court reserved judgment, meaning that a written decision will be handed down at a later date (archived here).
eNCA
6 days ago
- Politics
- eNCA
Operation Dudula wants to ban foreign nationals from public schools
CAPE TOWN- Operation Dudula plans to prevent children of foreign nationals, from attending South African public schools. But Equal Education says this campaign violates South Africa's Constitution. READ | Migrants rights under spotlight as Dudula blocks access to healthcare services They have criticised Operation Dudula, warning that blocking children from accessing education is harmful and unlawful.
The Citizen
30-07-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Community bars foreigners from health services
SHARPEVILLE.- The Sharpeville and Vereeniging community has embarked on what they call 'a campaign' to stop foreign nationals from being attended to at their clinics. The community has seemingly followed what an organisation called 'Dudula' is doing, mostly in the Johannesburg area, where foreigners are prohibited from getting any healthcare service. Investigating, Sedibeng Ster has discovered that the community members take turns to monitor patients at the clinics, barring foreigners from entering the premises and getting treatment or being attended to. Speaking to Sedibeng Ster on condition of anonymity, for obvious reasons, community members said that the clinics are overflowing with foreigners while the people of South Africa are struggling to get service. 'It is purely because of that that the community has taken this action. We have had it with the situation, and we have decided to take a stand, checking all foreigners.' Foreigners, who Sedibeng Ster asked for comment about the situation, refused to speak to 'papers' about the tense situation. 'No organisation is doing or funding this; the community just decided to take a stand because they are fed up,' a community member said. The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) said that it is aware of incidents where patients are obstructed from accessing healthcare, and that where there are reports of people who prevent others from accessing health services, the incidents are always reported to the law enforcement agencies, such as the police, who always respond swiftly to deal with the issues. 'The Gauteng Department of Health reported the matter to law enforcement agencies that are custodians of maintaining law and order.' 'In addition, the department remains committed to providing healthcare services to everyone irrespective of their nationality,' said Motalatale Modiba, GDoH's head of communication Modiba said that what the community is doing is not legal. 'We continue to appeal to communities not to take the law into their own hands but to allow constitutionally mandated institutions to be the ones that enforce the law.' Sharpeville police spokesperson, Constable Busisiwe Sango, said there have not been any cases (of threats) reported to them; however, they are monitoring the situation. Meanwhile, the residents of Vereeniging have also joined in the 'campaign'. A video circulating on social media shows them preventing foreign nationals from entering the Market Street Clinic in Vereeniging, demanding South African documentation.
