‘BREAKING NEWS’ starts a post on X with hundreds of thousands of views, claiming South Africa’s Department of Health plans to visit migrants and “help them with medical treatment in their places”.

It reads:

BREAKING NEWS: The department of health is allegedly planning to visit illegal foreigners and help them with medical treatment in their places. The program is scheduled commence Monday 22 September 2025.

A screenshot of the X post was shared on TikTok by the same account, whose bio reads “independent online news and current affairs channel”. This seems to be a common theme for the account, as it has posted several videos on migrants in the country.

But the claim has also been posted by other users on Facebook, some to groups with thousands of followers.

Xenophobia has a long history in South Africa, ranging from anti-immigrant hate speech online to incidents of xenophobic discrimination and violence. This discrimination increased after the Covid-19 pandemic.

But is the claim true? We investigated.

Xenophobia in South Africa

Africa Check has debunked several false claims about migrants that stir xenophobic tensions in the country.

Operation Dudula, a South African anti-migrant movement that first emerged in 2021, has increasingly focused on the issue of healthcare access, as Africa Check has previously reported.

In June 2025, members of Operation Dudula attempted several intimidation tactics and blockades at clinics across the country.

This could have sparked the claim that the health department will be helping migrants with medical treatment at their homes. 

Debunked by the Department of Health

The posts in question include an image of the health department’s logo. But they share no other evidence for the claim. They do not link to or name a source. Such a development would also be supported by documentation from the department or reports in the media, and yet no credible proof exists. 

In a response to the X post, the department said the circulating claim “is false, misleading, and devoid of the truth”.

It further replied with a screenshot of the circulating post with “FAKE” stamped across it.

In a post on its account, the department urged the public to verify information through its official channels.

This report was written by Africa Check, a non-partisan fact-checking organisation. View the original piece on their website.

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