Disgruntled residents under the banner of Concern Tshwane Residents (CTR) have vowed to continue protesting outside Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital in Atteridgeville township and blocking foreign nationals from accessing healthcare services.
They claim unlawful foreign nationals put a strain on the public budget that was not allocated for them.
Their threats were in defiance to a call by the Gauteng Department of Health to desist from exhibiting the unruly behaviour by obstructing other patients from entering the hospital and demanding that they produce IDs at the gate.
Kagiso Kekana, leader of Concern Tshwane Residents, said the recent protests were held to submit a memorandum of grievances to the Health MEC’s office and the hospital’s CEO.
“This is not going to be a once-off process but acontinuous process until we win this battle,” he said.
He said the group of residents believes undocumented immigrants shouldn’t access healthcare at the hospital, citing concerns over overcrowding and strain on the health budget.
He claimed the goal is to exclude them, stating that 90% of the hospital’s patients are allegedly undocumented foreigners, who occupy about 60% of the beds.
“When you go to every ward, there are illegal immigrants and our healthcare system is collapsing. Our doctors and nurses are being overworked because of the influx of immigrants and they are forced to take leave unnecessarily,”Kekana said.
He said undocumented foreign nationals must go home to fix problems in their respective countries because healthcare should be for South Africans only.
“We are not xenophonic. We love our African brothers but they must come into the country legally. They must evacuate our beds. All ratepayers must benefit from the healthcare system. Undocumented foreign nationals don’t pay taxes and we pay taxes,” he said.
Elias Makgwadi from Pheli Joint Civic said his organisation supports the protests led by CTR as they were directed to do so by the residents of Atteridgeville.
“We can’t allow people who came into the country illegally to have access to healthcare services,”he said.
David Masedi from Operation Dudula’s Atteridgeville branch said they support the goal of removing foreign nationals from public institutions, saying this is just the beginning of their efforts to reclaim resources for their community.
Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Motaletale Modiba said: “The Gauteng Department of Health expresses grave concern regarding the unruly behaviour exhibited by some community members who over the past few days, have been obstructing patients from accessing Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital in Atteridgeville, demanding that they produce their identity documentation at the gate.”
He said no one has the right to block others from accessing healthcare services, calling such actions illegal and deserving of strong condemnation.
“Police have been called on site to assist in managing the situation and we urge law enforcement agencies to ensure that the laws of the land are implemented and those responsible for preventing patients from accessing healthcare services are held accountable,” he said.
Modiba stressed that access to healthcare is a constitutional right, and no one should be allowed to deny this right to others.
