Gauteng health lawyer wants to go back to court to tighten Dudula hospital interdict

Advocate Mthuthuzeli Vimbi, who represented the Gauteng health department in the court interdict to prevent Operation Dudula members from blocking and intimidating patients at Kalafong Hospital in Tshwane, said he was willing to take the matter back to court and force police to act.

Vimbi told Sowetan that he was not happy that the police were not enforcing the interdict that the hospital was granted last week. He also said he did not understand why the police were not enforcing it as Dudula members were still outside the Atteridgeville facility intimidating patients.

“I will speak to the CEO of the hospital to understand what is the situation there. Even if they have moved away from the entrance, if they are denying people access to the hospital, it will still fall within the parameters of the court order. But I think it is something that needs to be taken [up] with the police and the hospital management,” Vimbi said.

“I will be speaking with the state attorney to see if I can arrange a meeting with them and hear if the situation has been resolved or they [the hospital] still needs further assistance. Once we have got all the facts, then we will see what is the way forward in terms of the order. The order can be amended if they have not moved away from the entrance and the effect is still the same. The court can still be approached to make an adjustment to it.”

Deputy state security minister Zizi Kodwa labelled the actions of Operation Dudula in Tshwane as “pure criminality”, adding it was unlawful for any citizen to stop another person from entering a healthcare facility or to demand to see their IDs.

“Government, particularly the home affairs minister, has called for an overhaul in the immigration process which is currently under way but we can't allow the actions of [Operation Dudula] to undermine the laws of the country because this will escalate to move to [other] ethnic groups.

“Law enforcement has to act decisively. We're working with law enforcement agencies and obviously have information and are following up on statements made as and when [incidents] occur,” Kodwa said. 

Operation Dudula Johannesburg regional chairperson Siphiwe Shabangu said their pickets would continue on Thursday outside the Hillbrow Health Centre, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, among others.

The movement also planned to roll out the campaign nationally from Wednesday. A few members of the group were seen outside Kalafong Hospital while the situation remained normal at Chris Hani Baragwanath, Bheki Mlangeni and Charlotte Maxeke hospitals and other clinics within the Joburg CBD.

On Tuesday, Dudula members were at the Hillbrow Clinic in Johannesburg demanding that foreigners pay for services they received at the clinic.

Buhlewenkosi Dube, 34, a Zimbabwean national, said she disapproved of the targeting of foreigners. “What they are doing is totally wrong. Foreigners are not only here in South Africa. Foreigners are everywhere. We have South Africans in our country and we do not treat them badly,’’ said Dube.

The latest developments came after Dudula members created a checkpoint at Kalafong Hospital on Monday to determine whether certain patients should be allowed to pass through based on nationality, how dark they looked and if they could present SA IDs.

Gauteng police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Sello said the group at Hillbrow Clinic had dispersed after an engagement with the police, adding that no incidents of violence were reported.

Last week a video was shared on social media where Limpopo health MEC Phophi Ramathuba spoke to a patient, believed to be a Zimbabwean admitted at Bela Bela Hospital, about how foreign nationals were burdening the province’s health system. This sparked  Dudula's latest campaign targeted at public hospitals.

Just metres away from Kalafong Hospital's pedestrian entrance, Dudula deputy chair Dan Radebe defied the court interdict barring them from protesting outside the hospital. The interdict states that the group should be dispersed by police from the hospital's premises. 

“Clearly, it says nothing about picketing, so we will carry on picketing to send the message across that the hospital is failing to enforce its own policy. We don’t know whether the hospital discharges these illegal immigrants to the street or if they summon the police and immigration officials to hand them over,” Radebe said.