Operation Dudula is being blamed for the death of a one-year-old child after his mother said they were turned away from the Alexandra Community Health Centre.
The EFF said it will open a case against Operation Dudula after it allegedly prevented a mother from accessing health care for her one-year-old son, who died the next day.
Malawian mother turned away from clinic
Malawian woman Grace Banda said she and her sick child were turned away from the Alexandra Community Health Centre on 31 July. She claimed members of Operation Dudula told her she could only enter the clinic if she had a South African ID.
“I told them I was from Malawi and only had a passport. They advised me to consult a private doctor or hospital. I pleaded with them to help my son, but they flatly refused,” Manda told Newzroom Afrika.
Operation Dudula, however, denied the allegations. It said none of its members were deployed to clinic on the day.
EFF to open case against Operation Dudula
Despite this, the EFF in Gauteng said it will open a case against Operation Dudula and the clinic’s management at the Alexandra Police Station on Saturday.
“We demand that law enforcement urgently act to arrest those responsible, protect all patients and staff at public health facilities, and restore the rule of law,” said EFF provincial chairperson Nkululeko Dunga.
The EFF said Operation Dudula members demanding IDs at clinics is unconstitutional and “reminiscent of the pass laws of apartheid”.
“Denying people, whether South African or migrants, access to healthcare is not only illegal, it is a grave public health danger. Blocking patients from TB, HIV, maternal health, immunisation or chronic care services threatens everyone, because diseases know no nationality and untreated conditions spread through communities.”
‘Failure’ of police and government
The red berets also criticised the police and hospital managers for allowing Operation Dudula to “harass” patients.
“You are abdicating your duty to protect patients and are complicit in the harassment of the vulnerable,” said Dunga.
Furthermore, the party took a shot at the government for its collapsed immigration documentation systems and failure to build capacity in public services.
“By failing to build state internal capacity, underfunding clinics, mismanaging Home Affairs, the government pits poor South Africans and poor migrants against one another in a scramble for basic services, creating the very space in which vigilante groups thrive.”
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