Operation Dudula says it won’t stop preventing foreign nationals from receiving healthcare at state facilities

JOHANNESBURG - Operation Dudula leader, Zandile Dabula, said that the group would not stop preventing foreign nationals from receiving healthcare at state facilities.

This, despite the Human Rights Commission (HRC) condemning the protests, saying it was deeply concerned given that the right to access healthcare was a universal one.

Protests have broken out outside healthcare facilities in the metro, with some insisting that South Africans only get treatment.

In one of the ongoing protests at medical facilities, some residents from Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, have been manning the clinic, blocking any undocumented persons from gaining entry.

It has been almost a week now since the protests started, and many people are saying they will not stop until their voices are heard.

Dabula said it was not just their organisation driving this action.

"You've seen some other political parties joining as well. We've seen community, you know, normal community members who are not affiliated to Operation Dudula doing the same task because they are troubled in their communities with long queues."

 She insists South Africans should be prioritised.

"We are the taxpayers. These people, they don't pay tax. Some of them are employed and they don't even get payslips. You know, they are illegal. How are you going to pay tax when you are illegal in a country? So, South Africans must be prioritised. That's what we're fighting for. We can't have a South African that will battle to get medication, yet a foreigner is getting medication."

The deputy chairperson of the Johannesburg Migrants Advisory Panel is calling on law enforcement officials to intervene and has urged people to adhere to the law.