Operation Dudula defies health minister’s warning

DESPITE a stern warning from the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Operation Dudula has vowed to continue with its anti-illegal immigrants campaign, which has been preventing alleged undocumented foreigners from accessing healthcare assistance at public healthcare facilities across the country.

- SIYABONGA SITHOLE

The movement's hardline stance comes a day after the members of the organisation met with Motsoaledi on Monday. On Tuesday, Motsoaledi, while speaking to SABC News, expressed deep concern over Operation Dudula’s campaign, which has received criticism from the government and civil society organisations. He stated that his gripe arises because the campaign might lead to eligible South Africans being turned away.

“T responded to them (Operation Dudula) in two ways. Firstly, I want the country to know that the issue of civil registration is a problem in the whole continent. Many African countries have not been able to register all their people. In fact, according to the statistics, the only country that is far ahead of it is Feypt, as it has achieved the registration of 98%. This means that 2% of Egyptians do not have any documentation. In South Africa, we are at 89% documentation.

This means 11% of South Africans are undocumented. If you look at our population, this is about 6 million people?” he said.

According to the minister, as a result, those who are not registered are not illegal but are rather undocumented due to various reasons, which is why assuming that people are illegal is dangerous.