JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Violent clashes erupted outside the Kalafong Tertiary Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa on Thursday between members of Operation Dudula and members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) when health minister Joe Phaahla visited the healthcare facility, and the police had to use rubber bullets to disperse the protesters and maintain order.
Members of Operation Dudula have been protesting outside the hospital to prevent undocumented foreigners from accessing healthcare. Outside the gates of the healthcare facility, the members clashed with those of the EFF, the pro-migrant and major opposition party in South Africa.
"These groups of people have been blocking access to health facilities thus causing serious disruptions to provision of health services to vulnerable ill people seeking help at our health facilities," the health minister said at the Kalafong Tertiary Hospital where Operation Dudula has been picketing for weeks over the influx of undocumented foreign nationals in healthcare facilities.
"I am hereby making a call to the leaders and followers of the organizations responsible for the blockades of our health facilities to stop these with immediate effect," he said.
Phaahla said that the South African government was looking at expediting the process of regulating access to healthcare, conceding that the current regulatory environment is weak.
"We looked at the issues which the leadership of Operation Dudula is concerned about in terms of the pressure on the hospitals, the workload, the long queues, and other corruption allegations and we've agreed that we can address these issues without any need for picketing and demonstration," the minister said.
An Operation Dudula member confirmed that they have had a very fruitful meeting with the minister and the management of the hospital. "We are going to work together from now on, and we are going to resolve those issues amicably."
Minister Phaahla said the state should come up with solutions that will reduce the pressure on the country's national services from neighboring countries and not ordinary citizens.
"I am calling on fellow South Africans, whether organized or not, to avoid being lured into activities which are unlawful and will not benefit them as individuals or their communities. By blocking entrances of our health facilities, you are disadvantageous to the very citizens who you think you are acting in defense of," he said.
Since the beginning of this year, the Dudula Movement has protested against illegal migration. The protests were launched outside Kalafong following the video released by Dr. Phophi Ramathuba in which she berated a Zimbabwean national for seeking medical care in South Africa.
"I am aware that the current excitement and mobilization by some groups such as Dudula is associated with the erroneous interpretation of a video of comments made to a patient at Bela-Bela hospital in Limpopo," Phaahla said.
Gauteng and Limpopo are two provinces where foreign nationals use South Africa's healthcare system often to access services that are limited in their own countries. ■
