Pretoria – Nurses union, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), said it has a report stating that healthcare workers who are dark-skinned were victimised by members of Operation Dudula during weeks of anti-immigrant protests at Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria.
Mogomotsi Seleke, Denosa Tshwane regional secretary, told IOL that the safety of healthcare professionals became a major concern when the Operation Dudula members clashed with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) activists at the facility last month.
“We received a report that even dark-skinned nurses who were mistaken to be foreigners were also affected. The two groups were starting to attack each other physically in the hospital gate, and, as Denosa, we really felt that the safety of the staff and the institution is compromised,” said Seleke.
He said, worryingly, despite a court order against the harassment of patients entering the hospital, police officers just looked on while the Dudula members “vetted” community members.
“We believe that the police have failed in their duty since Operation Dudula were demonstrating freely and harassing returning patients, even when there was an active court interdict against them,” said Seleke.
“Police stood to watch both Operation Dudula and EFF members attacking each other physically. The hospital was helpless in the presence of the police force.”
Seleke said Denosa believes Operation Dudula “was encouraged” by the outrage expressed by Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba against the influx of foreign patients.
“We believe that the actions of Operation Dudula are encouraged and exacerbated by the reckless MEC of Health in Limpopo Phophi Ramathuba and, by extension, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who failed to rebuke her. The approach of Phophi towards this whole debate is very irresponsible and myopic,” said Seleke.
“Her debate does not belong to the hospital wards. She should go to the ANC conference and influence policies position and take it to Parliament to amend the constitution if ever they would still be in power by 2024. As things stand, Phophi has no authority to issue instructions to CEO to "not discharge foreigners until they pay the bill.”
Seleke added that Denosa in Tshwane believes Ramathuba’s outbursts, recorded in a widely circulated video, were devoid of “a scientific base”.
“If foreigners are a burden to the extent she alleges, why are provinces that do not experience an influx of undocumented foreigners like Eastern Cape and North West still present with limping and pathetic health care system? The Minister (Joe Phaahla) came to Kalafong and made an assertion that the hospital is running well and the staff morale is up to the standard. We condemn the baseless utterance of the Minister of Health,” said Seleke.
“Minister Joe Phahla is going to fail as a minister if what he will do is to stay at the gate of the hospital and, without facts, assumes that his hospital is running well. Many CEOs are running down health institutions, and because they do not have effective mechanisms to monitor compliance except to assume.”
Seleke said after Phaahla’s site visit, the union approached him to highlight the extent of challenges at Kalafong.
“He responded by saying ‘unions are forever complaining and are never satisfied’. The CEOs are forever looting because they know that their principals hold a view that we always cry unnecessarily,” said Seleke.
“The attention the minister gave Operation Dudula indicates that, in South Africa, for you to be listened to, you must be an anarchist. Anarchists gets to be prioritised and given space to raise their issues directly with the minister, while the minister refuses to engage with recognised stakeholders in the health sector. We requested to engage him, he refused.”
IOL