The March and March Movement, which has taken a stance on undocumented migrants and their rights and presence in South Africa, has penned a scathing open letter to embattled KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health, Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi.
The organisation took offence to Simelane-Mngadi’s stance to liken gatvol South Africans who last week blocked Addington hospital in Durban and prevented undocumented migrants from using it on the basis that they are straining it and leaving poor South Africans with no access to medical aid schemes stranded.
Hundreds of undocumented immigrants in KZN
The organisation told the controversial ANC MEC that the province of KwaZulu-Natal has approximately 12.31 million citizens, and apart from this figure, hundreds of undocumented migrants from across Africa arrive in the province for various reasons, with a majority of them seeking employment and not refuge because of civil war or genocide.
It added that over the past few years, the economy of the country has continued to shrink, a consequence of the challenges facing not only South Africa but the entire global village. And this has resulted in the government operating with a very shallow public purse, and the little resources available should be utilised sparingly for the benefit of the citizens.
It stated clearly that it is not prohibiting access to healthcare but simply insisting that undocumented foreign nationals must pay for healthcare services, as they are supposed to, and not receive them for free, except in constitutionally defined emergency cases.
“Foreigners are generally expected to have medical insurance when travelling to a different country, including South Africa. And this expectation is not being adequately enforced within our public healthcare system,” reads part of the open letter.
Fake Home Affairs office
Furthermore, it told Simelane-Mngadi that the recent discovery of a fake Home Affairs office in Durban, allegedly facilitating fraudulent marriages between South Africans and undocumented foreign nationals, is not merely an isolated incident but stark evidence of the systemic rot that enables illegal foreigners to subvert the South African legal and social structures, including its healthcare system.
“This brazen fraud facilitates the acquisition of rights by those who have no legal claim, putting our national identity and resources at grave risk.”
It then asked the MEC to furnish it with a breakdown of how much of the department’s budget has been spent on foreign nationals in the past five years and the budget spent for obstetricians for South African citizens versus foreign nationals in KwaZulu-Natal in the past five years.
Foreign medical doctors
It also wants to know how many foreign medical doctors are currently employed in the KwaZulu-Natal public healthcare facilities and whether or not they are more qualified compared to unemployed South African medical doctors. And how many foreign doctors are currently CEOs and medical managers or occupying managerial positions in the department.
This information should be handed in within 21 days. The MEC is yet to respond to the scathing open letter.
