The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has failed in its bid to urgently interdict the March and March Movement and Operation Dudula from barring foreign nationals from accessing public health facilities like Addington Hospital in Durban.
The Durban high court struck the case off the roll for lack of urgency and imposed a cost order on the human rights body that has in the past few years been accused of siding with violent criminals against the police and sympathising with illegal immigrants at the expense of the police.
On Friday the court found that the matter was not urgent as the body knew about the actions of the civic movements long ago but did not act until it launched the application.
Standing its ground
In a statement after the legal setback, the commission said the court ruling does not change its stance that no person, regardless of their immigration status in the country, should be barred from accessing public health facilities.
In the main, the SAHRC wanted the court to interdict them from barring foreign nationals and others who fail to produce their identity documents from accessing public hospitals.
After the court’s victory, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma from the March and March Movement said: “The fight continues … South Africa is for South Africans.”
The commission has also cited, amongst others, the MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal, Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi (formerly Simelane-Zulu), the provincial police commissioner, Lt General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, as respondents in the case.
Chris Nilsen, the chairperson of the commission, alleged that the movements, which he described as vigilante groups, are even stopping valid asylum and permanent residency permit holders on the basis that they were not born in South Africa.
Health care for all
Nilsen gave the court a detailed report of some refugees from DR Congo with valid immigration documents who were denied access to the Addington Hospital along the Durban beachfront on the basis that the facility is only available to South Africans.
He asked the court to declare that only an immigration officer or a police officer be allowed to demand identity documents. In the same court papers, Nilsen cited the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital as he alleged that it appears that the conduct of the staff of the hospital and security guards suggests that they are working with the two groups.
The police top brass were cited because Nilsen alleged that the nearby Point Road police did not act when the conduct of the groups was brought to their attention.
Furthermore, the commission wanted the court to compel the SAPS to ensure that the final order barring the movements from blocking foreign nationals is strictly enforced at all times.
In the end, the commission wants the court to declare that any person within the borders of South Africa, either illegally or legally so, are entitled to health services at any time they need it.
