South Africa: Doctors Without Borders Calls for Urgent Action As Anti-Migrant Groups Block Access to Essential Medical Care for Foreigners in South Africa

DOCTORS Without Borders (MSF) in South Africa has raised serious concerns over the ongoing xenophobic denial of healthcare access to foreign nationals who are being accused of straining the neighbouring country’s already overstretched public resources.

The targeted foreigners include Zimbabweans, who make up a large portion of undocumented immigrants.

However, even some of those Zimbabweans who are legally living and working in South Africa are also being denied access to healthcare.

Anti-migrant groups have camped outside dozens of clinics and hospitals in Gauteng, preventing non-South Africans from entering public health facilities to seek medical care regardless of their legal documentation status.

In a statement issued Thursday, MSF warned that the lives of pregnant women, children, people living with HIV, and chronic patients are now at risk, with some having gone weeks without the medication they need, urging authorities to put an end to the xenophobic acts.

“Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is deeply concerned by the persistent and systematic physical blocking of non-South Africans from accessing healthcare, including pregnant women, people living with HIV, chronic patients and children, particularly in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

“We call for immediate action by the National Department of Health (NDoH) and relevant Provincial Departments of Health to guarantee the right of access to healthcare for all, as enshrined in the country’s Constitution and the National Health Act,” the statement reads.

MSF also noted that some patients who tried to retrieve their medical files from clinics in an effort to seek care elsewhere were unsuccessful, leaving them uncertain about their next steps.

Others, lacking prescriptions to refill their medication, are now unable to purchase the medicine they need from pharmacies.

South African authorities have for long expressed concern over the strain placed on public services by Zimbabwean nationals fleeing a collapsed economy back home.

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