'We have to prioritise South Africans': Anti-migrant movement blocks foreigners from healthcare
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BBC Operation Dudula has transformed from an anti-migrant pressure group into a political party
A community clinic just north of Johannesburg has become the frontline of a battle in South Africa over whether foreigners can access public health facilities. What started as a small local action in one area in 2022 has spread, with activists from the avowedly anti-migrant group, Operation Dudula, picketing some hospitals and clinics in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. They check identity cards and stop anyone who is not South African from entering. "Dudula" means to remove something by force in the Zulu language. Despite some arrests, the authorities seem unable to prevent the pickets. The site of their latest campaign is in Dieplsoot – a poor township of more than 200,000 people near the country's commercial hub. On a cool, spring Thursday morning, Sicelokuhle Moyo, dressed in a blue-and-beige skirt, thick windbreaker and a black headwrap, set out early for the clinic.
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