By A Correspondent-Operation Dudula has escalated its xenophobic crusade in South Africa, now targeting immigrant mothers and their newborn babies at public clinics across Johannesburg — denying them access to lifesaving healthcare in blatant defiance of the law and basic human decency.
Over recent months, members of the vigilante group have been seen patrolling queues at local clinics, violently segregating foreigners and in some cases chasing them away entirely. This disturbing conduct, reportedly enabled in some instances by complicit health workers, directly violates a 2023 Gauteng High Court ruling mandating free healthcare for pregnant and lactating women and their children, regardless of nationality.
The ruling compelled the Gauteng Department of Health to display clear notices affirming these rights in all public healthcare facilities. But compliance appears scarce. During a recent visit to Jeppe Clinic, GroundUp found no such notice — only a small group of Operation Dudula members aggressively policing the queue, pulling immigrant women aside and barring their access.
The consequences are already proving dire.
Jane Banda, a Malawian mother, has been repeatedly blocked from getting her seven-week-old baby vaccinated. “I fear my baby’s health is at risk,” she says. Aisha Amadu, an asylum seeker, was also turned away while trying to obtain routine care for her two-year-old. Grace Issah, with a 14-week-old due for immunisation, has been turned away from three clinics. “I feel like giving up,” she says. “My husband has no money for private doctors.”
Several women reported similar experiences at clinics in Malvern, Kensington, Rosettenville, and Soweto. Their stories point to a growing pattern of systemic denial of healthcare to immigrants, in flagrant breach of both constitutional rights and medical ethics.
In response, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) has launched legal action in the Gauteng High Court on behalf of several civil society groups, including Kopanang Afrika Against Xenophobia (KAAX), Abahlali BaseMjondolo, and the Inner City Federation. The case seeks to have Operation Dudula’s actions declared unlawful. Judgment is pending.
“This is not just discrimination,” said KAAX’s Mike Ndlovu. “It is a criminal act and a betrayal of the values our democracy stands for. Denying healthcare to anyone — especially children — is an inhumane and unconstitutional violation of basic human rights.”
Healthcare workers, he stressed, must uphold their oath to treat without prejudice. “Their silence or cooperation with Dudula is shameful.”
While the Department of Health claims it has instructed facility managers to report such incidents to law enforcement, it remains unclear whether it has fulfilled the court’s order to publicly affirm immigrant access to care.
Operation Dudula’s own members remain defiant. “We are targeting all people from outside the country,” said Veli Ngobese at the Jeppe Clinic. “Foreign nationals are taking our services.”
Such rhetoric echoes dangerous populist scapegoating that dehumanises migrants and undermines the Constitution. Operation Dudula is not enforcing the law — it is breaking it.
South Africa’s democratic institutions must act swiftly to protect the most vulnerable — infants and their mothers — from this unlawful vigilante terror. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Silence is complicity.