AS organisations intensify their efforts to block undocumented foreigners from accessing healthcare at local hospitals, the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC) reported that their counter efforts have yielded “limited effects”.

DHC director Raymond Perrier shared, “We would love to report that things have got better, but in fact the opposite is true. With the protest now in place for nine weeks, the police, the health department and the hospital administrators have failed to take any effective action, and patients are still being denied access.

Also read: WATCH: Foreign nationals stopped from entering Addington Hospital Gateway Clinic

“As reported before, this is blocking not just foreign nationals without documents, but also foreigners with documents, and South Africans who do not have documents, and whom the protesters decide they do not like.”

He added, “There have been attempts by the DHC, and by like-minded organisations such as the Gandhi Development Trust and the Active Citizens Movement, to engage with local hospitals, but with limited effect. Instead, increasingly, we are finding that red tape is being enforced to prevent us from using alternative government facilities that initially did work as a back-up. And we are even hearing reports of patients already inside Addington Hospital being chased out by protesters with the tacit approval of hospital authorities.”

Also read: Hundreds march against illegal foreigners in Durban

Meanwhile, Perrier indicated that despite limited resources, their clinic continued to help rejected patients who are coming to their door in greater numbers.
Movements like March and March and Operation Dudula continue to intensify their efforts to block undocumented foreigners from accessing government services, and plan to extend the mission to more hospitals, clinics, schools and factories.

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