By James Gwati- South African President Cyril Ramphosa has defended Limpopo Health provincial minister Dr Phophi Ramathuba’s xenophobic rants to an ailing Zimbabwean patient.

Dr Ramathuba last week told a Zimbabwean patient waiting for surgery at a health institution in Limpopo that Zimbabweans were straining South Africa’s health systems.

She also said that Harare was not giving her a budget for its citizens’ health care in South Africa.

Dr Ramathuba said this in front of patients and several health workers to the embarrassment of the ailing Zimbabwean on a death bed.

On Tuesday, Ramaphosa said Dr Ramathuba was right to answer questions from parliament virtually.

He said: What she said was an issue which has sparked debate here in South Africa, in Zimbabwe and the whole region, and it’s an issue which our people have also been complaining about. Now that she said it, we will discuss it at a head of the state level and see what is needed on our migration policies,” he said without condemning Dr Ramathuba.

The Zimbabwean South African embassy has since made an official complaint against the MEC.

In a statement, the Zimbabwean Embassy said there are platforms for engagement that Ramathuba should have used “for the good of our two countries.” Reads the statement:

The Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe in Pretoria watched with shock and disbelief the video (images) in which the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) of Health Limpopo Province, spoke to a Zimbabwean national who happened to be a patient in a hospital in the province. The Embassy has been in contact with the government of South Africa. through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. to who it has conveyed the concerns of the government of Zimbabwe on the comments made by the MEC.