All I wanted on the morning of Monday, 3 November 2025, as I stood outside of Addington Hospital with my sick three-year-old son beside me, was to get him medical care.
Instead, I was confronted by a group of men and women at the gate, blocking the hospital’s entrance and demanding to see my ID before I could go inside. They called themselves the “March and March” group, one of several unauthorised formations claiming to “protect” public hospitals from so-called foreign nationals.
I then explained to them, calmly, that I am a South African citizen and a freelance journalist for Health-e News and NewZSA. There’s no such rule in any South African law or hospital policy compelling people to show IDs before entering a hospital. At this point, I was speaking to them in isiZulu, hoping they would understand. But they refused to listen or move.
That is when one of the women looked directly at my child, who is mixed-race and asked, “Where is this foreign boy from?”
That question cut deep. My son, Ishake, is three years old. His father – my late husband – was from India, and I am South African. Yet, simply because of how he looks, my son was suddenly viewed as a foreigner in his own country.
No help from hospital staff
I felt exposed, ashamed, and stripped bare. That is the true feeling of nakedness: being made to defend your identity and your child’s identity just to enter a public hospital.
Despite pleading with them, they would not allow us through. No hospital security or staff intervened. We were embarrassed and scared. I eventually forced my way inside. Although staff offered to assist us once we were inside, I did not feel safe at Addington Hospital. The situation at the gate was still hostile, so I made the decision to leave. I could not risk my child’s safety.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Later that day, I took him to another health facility where we were assisted without being questioned about our nationality.
Ongoing pattern
This year there have been multiple cases of members of groups such as March and March, and Operation Dudula barring individuals they identify as foreigners from accessing healthcare services at various facilities across the country.
This incident happened just weeks after the October 10th High Court ruling in Durban against the South African Human Rights Commission’s urgent application to stop March and March, and Operation Dudula from blocking migrants’ access to clinics and hospitals.
On November 4, the day after our ordeal, the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg found Operation Dudula’s actions of blocking migrants from accessing public health services to be unlawful.
Department is “dealing” with the issues
The following day, on Tuesday, I attended a media briefing held by the KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane. I raised the issue directly with her. I described exactly what had happened at the Addington gate, how a group of men and women prevented my child and me from entering, how no hospital staff intervened, and how the situation left us vulnerable and humiliated.
The MEC expressed her disappointment over the incident. She apologised and said the department was already dealing with issues related to the March to March group. She asked me to send the videos I had recorded, which I did immediately.
But to this day, I have not received any proper follow-up, assistance, or concrete answers from her office.
Only an acknowledgement, nothing more. – Health-e News
