Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
8 July 2025 | 09:04 CAT
2-minute read

‘March and March’ protest outside Addington Hospital, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Image credit: X/Dasen Thathiah (@DasenThathiah)

The ‘March and March’ movement has said that it will continue its anti-foreigner protests at healthcare facilities, remaining unfazed by claims that its operations are unlawful. The group insists it is stepping in where the government has failed, calling for health care services to be prioritised for South Africans amid rising concerns over border control, overburdened hospitals, and medical shortages.

The matter has raised a moral and legal debate, with proponents of the anti-immigration movement arguing that illegal immigrants are committing a crime and should therefore be excluded from South Africa’s healthcare system. Critics, including legal experts and international NGOs, argue that such actions violate constitutional rights. South African law prohibits discrimination in access to emergency health care, regardless of legal status.

The ‘March and March’ movement, founded in March 2025, states that its objective is to fight illegal immigration in South Africa and oppose crimes committed by these individuals in the country, which, according to them, includes people accessing medication and treatment in public facilities without valid documentation or medical insurance.

Members of the movement work with South African law enforcement before any operation to protest undocumented foreign nationals.

“Before we start this operation, we do the consultation with health facilities. We discuss the legal part with law experts from the facilities. We also invite the South African Police Services, as well as Metro, which are law enforcement in the cities we operate under,” the convenor of the movement, Nozibusiso Khambule said today in an interview on Radio Islam International.

Members of the ‘March and March’ movement and Operation Dudula in Gauteng began a campaign to prevent undocumented foreigners from accessing healthcare facilities last week. They stationed themselves at the gates of government clinics and hospitals, including Addington Hospital, Gateway Clinic and RK Khan Hospital in Chatsworth.

Members of the movement screen patients outside the facilities and reportedly challenge patients they suspect of being undocumented foreigners.

“When we go to the hospital, we go there, we tell people that this is what we’re having. We show them the constitution,” said Khambule. “Then we tell them that if you don’t fall under this category, then you can leave.”

This has raised questions about their authority to do so, with analysts arguing that this task should be left to health authorities at the hospital and that public health cannot be a battleground for immigration enforcement.

Gauteng Health MEC, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, along with the National Department of Health and the South African government, has condemned the protests. Furthermore, critics have questioned whether the movement’s approach fuels anti-foreigner sentiment and disrupts an already strained healthcare system.

‘March and March’, however, remains resolute, adamant that it is not breaking the law- but rather enforcing it where the state has failed.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.