Operation Dudula said the country’s healthcare system is buckling under the weight of caring for South Africans and undocumented foreign nationals. According to SABC News, Dudula has been receiving criticism for its recent campaign targeting undocumented foreign nationals. Illegal foreign nationals have been blocked from using public healthcare facilities. Dudula’s president, Zandile Dabula, said that the Departments of Health and Home Affairs promised to address the burdened healthcare system. She said that the public has been contacting them, complaining about the issue of foreign nationals using public healthcare facilities.
Dabula said the government is ignorant, and this has led to citizens not complaining to the relevant departments but to civic society groups like Dudula. She mentioned that elderly citizens wake up in the morning and queue in line at healthcare facilities, but do not receive help due to the presence of foreign nationals.
Expert weighs in
Wits University migration and immigration expert Professor Loren Landau discussed with Briefly News the effects of operations like those undertaken by Dudula. He said that foreign nationals targeted face short-term material and psychological hardship, which can be disruptive to them, their families, employers, and the communities in which they live.
“More broadly, we are talking about the erosion of state sovereignty and the rule of law. Whatever one thinks about foreign nationals in the country, allowing a private actor or organisation to determine their rights disempowers the state and erodes constitutional protections,” he said.
What you need to know about Operation Dudula
– Civic rights organisations filed an interdict with the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, which was heard on 10 June, to prevent Operation Dudua’s operations.
– Dudula defended itself for removing foreign nationals from clinics and hospitals, and said that it uncovered criminal activity in healthcare facilities.
– A South African woman showed how empty a clinic in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, was after Operation Dudula forcefully removed foreign nationals.
– Operation Dudula and March and March clashed with Abahlali baseMjondolo during a march against undocumented foreign nationals in Johannesburg on 17 July.
– Dudula handed over a memorandum accusing the South African Human Rights Commission of being biased and favouring foreign nationals over South Africans.
Gauteng Health MEC slams removal of foreign nationals
In a related article, Briefly News reported that Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko criticized South Africans for removing foreign nationals from public healthcare facilities. She spoke after Operation Dudula went viral for chasing away illegal immigrants from hospitals and clinics in Gauteng.
Nkomo-Ralehoko said that foreign nationals are protected by the Constitution, which gives them the right to access healthcare in South Africa. She said that she would be held accountable if a patient who is refused medical care dies on the premises of a public healthcare facility.
[This news article was originally published by Briefly News under the same title, along with the featured image by OJ Koloti/Gallo Images via Getty Images, on 20 July 2025.]
