Cape Town – Police were forced to intervene this week after protesters gathered outside the Crown Gardens Clinic in Johannesburg, demanding to see patients’ South African ID documents and prevent migrants from accessing healthcare.
Officers from Gauteng’s Public Order Policing unit swiftly removed individuals blocking the clinic entrance to restore access and protect the rights of all patients.
According to IOL, police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo said the intervention aimed to “make sure that the people’s rights were not violated.”
The protest was reportedly driven by members of the March and March Movement, a group campaigning to restrict public healthcare to South African citizens amid claims of system overcrowding.
A Bangladeshi migrant, living in South Africa since 2005, condemned the action, describing it as “inhumane” and called for focus on border control rather than denying people medical care.
[WATCH] A brawl broke out between South Africans and foreign nationals at the Crown Gardens clinic, south of Johannesburg. This, after locals stopped foreign nationals from accessing health services. pic.twitter.com/3NFqw0ivUC
— SABC News (@SABCNews) August 5, 2025
In response, the Gauteng Department of Health condemned the protesters’ actions, emphasising that they risked lives and violated both the national Constitution and the National Health Act.
Spokesperson Foster Mohale warned: “Everyone has the right to emergency and primary care,” and urged grievances to be handled within the legal framework rather than through vigilantism.
[WATCH] Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale urges law-enforcement agencies to arrest illegal immigrants in SA. This follows a chaotic protest march by Operation Dudula, arguing that undocumented immigrants mustn’t be accommodated at SA health facilities. pic.twitter.com/2xPDxFfFzW
— SABC News (@SABCNews) July 17, 2025
Among those impacted were elderly South African citizens who expressed frustration at the delays, insisting that local patients should not be deprioritized.
“We should be put first before foreigners … this is why places like this are overcrowded,” one pensioner remarked, reported South Africa Today.
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Compiled by Lisabeal Nqamqhele
