By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@EFF.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Gauteng has opened a murder case against Operation Dudula and its leader, Zandile Dabula, at the Alexandra Police Station north of Johannesburg.
This follows the death of a one-year-old baby, who was denied access to healthcare at a public clinic.
The child’s mother, Malawian national Grace Banda, said she and her baby were turned away from the Alexandra Community Health Centre in July.
She claimed members of Operation Dudula told her she could only enter the facility if she produced a South African identity document. Her child later died.
“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.”
EFF 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.”
Operation Dudula’s actions have been condemned by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), while Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said they were aware of the action by Operation Dudula.
Meanwhile the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) had launched a case in the Gauteng High Court in 2024 on behalf of Kopanang Afrika Against Xenophobia (KAAX), the Inner City Federation, Abahlali BaseMjondolo and the South African Informal Traders Forum.
The group wants an interdict to declare the actions of the vigilante group unlawful. The matter was heard in June, and judgment was reserved.