By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Antonio Muchave.
Police used stun grenades to disperse Operation Dudula and EFF members who clashed outside Kalafong Tertiary Hospital in Atteridgeville, Pretoria.
Members of the anti-immigrant group and the red berets have been at loggerheads outside the facility since Wednesday, after Operation Dudula started blocking the entrance to the hospital, stopping documented and undocumented foreign nationals from accessing healthcare services based on nationality, the colour of their skin and the language they speak.
The situation turned violent while Health Minister Joe Phaahla held a lengthy meeting with the hospital’s management.
Patients, some in wheelchairs, fled into the hospital yard to take cover. Among them was a young woman who tripped and had to be dragged to safety.
EFF members were forced to flee for their lives while confronted by Operation Dudula supporters who were armed with sticks and sjamboks. They also burned EFF flags.
The group’s treasurer-general Kruger Kekana held a bloodied brick while remarking “No surrender, no retreat”.
Earlier, the EFF’s Philip Makwala accused police of failing to enforce a court interdict prohibiting members of Operation Dudula from preventing patients and staff from entering the facility.
“We must put a clear message to the South African Police Service who are sleeping in the same bed as Dudula. They have obtained a court interdict but we need to fight with these people because they are not doing anything. They are not dispersing the crowd as they are instructed by the interdict,” Makwala said.
Dudula members have been widely criticised for protesting against the treatment of undocumented migrants at the hospital.
The provincial health department obtained a court interdict on 26 August from the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria instructing Dudula members to stop preventing, threatening or denying patients and employees of Kalafong from accessing the hospital.
A copy of the order was posted on the notice boards outside the hospital on Thursday.