“Gae ke kae?” (Where is your home?)
This is the first question members of Operation Dudula in Greater Tshwane asked people they suspected of being foreign nationals as they arrived at the Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital is Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, to determine whether the person should be allowed to pass through the “checkpoint” or be turned away.
The group, which mainly stopped women based on their appearance and skin tone, also demanded to see proof of identification.
If one could only speak English and fit the physical description of what was perceived to be foreign, they would be stopped and questioned.
White people and light-skinned blacks were not bothered, while dark-skinned ones were questioned vigorously about where they came from, what was the street name and whether they had any documents proving their status in the country.
Operation Dudula has been protesting outside the facility since August 4, demanding that the hospital stop providing services to foreign nationals and that it remove people from other countries who are employed there.
The group said they had noticed an influx of foreign nationals at the hospital, which had led to their protest.
The hospital obtained an interdict on Friday. Despite this, the group was back at the hospital in the morning and around 9am they started targeting people again, asking them questions and demanding to see their documentation.
Before midday they had turned away more than 10 people, some of whom needed chronic medication.
Among those who were turned away was a 40-year-old domestic worker from Zimbabwe whose passport expired last year.
“I was referred to the hospital for cervical cancer tests. I have a letter,” the woman, who asked not to be named, tried to plead but she was sent away.
Speaking to Sowetan shortly after she was told to go back to Zimbabwe to seek medical treatment, the woman said she felt embarrassed.
“All I want is help. There is a chance I might have cancer and the sooner doctors can check, the sooner I can get help.”
Using a loud hailer, Reabetswe Thulare, a member of the group, announced, “If you are not a South African national and you do not have a valid ID, passport or asylum document please turn back.
“You crowd our hospitals and you finish our pills. Go back to your countries and get pills there.”
Four Ethiopian nationals were also prohibited from entering the hospital unless if they produced their asylum documents.
Another Zimbabwean woman dressed in a white doek and a white dress was told to leave with her 13-year-old son, who needed medication for epilepsy.
The 43-year-old woman from Olievenhoutbosch broke down after walking away from the group.
“My son collects his medication after every two months and today was his due date. He took his last pill last night. I don’t know what to do. What if he suffers a seizure?” the sobbing woman told Sowetan.
“I do have a passport but it is at home. All I do when I come to the clinic is to give them the child’s hospital card.”
The woman’s son sensed his mother’s panic and started crying as well.
“Let’s go,” the boy said, pointing at a taxi.
Many dark-skinned people from Limpopo were targets but one young woman stood up for herself when she was accused of being a foreigner due to her skin tone.
“Is it because of my dark skin?” the upset woman asked as she refused to produce her ID.
“I don’t answer to you and I am asking that you please respect me and I will do the same,” said the Venda woman who was let go after speaking Pedi.
She said she only spoke English because she was not fluent in other languages.
“Who are they? We are on the same level. If I take out my ID then they must give me theirs,” she said.
“Our confidence as dark-skinned woman is being killed. If this is how they operate? They must stop being selective and ask everyone for their documents.”
Thulare said they do not turn away people with emergencies but failed to explain how those were determined.
“In terms of emergencies, we don’t turn people back. We ask them what they are here for and based on that, we let them in,” he said.
“We rely on them explaining what they are here for. If they cannot explain and they don’t produce documents, they will be turned back.”
Marryte Mpepele, 71, said she has seen an improvement in services since the protest started.
“I come here twice a month at 5am for high blood [pressure] and sugar diabetes. We queue for long hours, usually because we find foreign nationals here already. Since this started I have not stood for long.
“I usually finish at 1pm, but today I finished at 8.30am. Sometimes we run out of medication and we get turned back but that has not happened [over the past few weeks]. I think the operation is helping us. It’s not that we don’t want foreign nationals, but the space isn’t enough for us all.”
The group was officially served with the court interdict at 10.45am.
Thulare told the officers that they would not sign for the interdict as they were not listed as respondents in court papers.
The movement's regional secretary Pat Mokgalusi on Monday night said they would not stop protesting.
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za
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