Have you noticed how, without fail, the ugly head of xenophobia always seems to re-emerge in the run-up to local elections?
It’s no accident. It’s a strategy, and one we’ve seen play out time and again. When political failures pile up and service delivery grinds to a halt, scapegoating foreign nationals becomes a convenient distraction. Instead of holding local government accountable for broken promises, potholes, power cuts and clinics without doctors, we’re told the problem is “illegal foreigners”.
It’s a dangerous misdirection and it’s costing lives. Instead of directing our rightful anger towards dysfunctional municipalities and inept leadership, we’re encouraged sometimes by officials themselves to lash out at those even more vulnerable than us. It’s easier to point fingers at desperate migrants in clinic queues than to question how our cities became places of neglect.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the deeply troubling scenes unfolding outside public healthcare facilities across South Africa. Foreign nationals or those merely suspected of being foreign are being chased away, blocked from entering clinics and denied their constitutional rights. These acts aren’t just inhumane; they are illegal.
Read more: Tensions rise at Hillbrow Clinic as Operation Dudula attempts to deny migrants healthcare access
Read more: A sickening situation as xenophobic groups prevent migrants from accessing healthcare
Read more: New mothers denied access to Gauteng health facilities by anti-migrant groups
Let’s be clear, section 27 of the South African Constitution guarantees everyone – yes, everyone – the right to access healthcare services. This includes migrants, asylum seekers and undocumented persons. It is not a matter of opinion. It is the law.
And here’s the part too many people overlook: having all people healthy within our borders is a public good. Allowing anyone, regardless of nationality, to suffer from untreated TB, measles or HIV does not just threaten their health, it endangers ours. Public health doesn’t discriminate, and neither should we.
What makes this even more dangerous is the recent targeting of human rights organisations like the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri), Helen Suzman Foundation and the South African Human Rights Commission by xenophobic movements like Operation Dudula. These organisations grounded in constitutionalism and justice have dared to remind us that we are a country governed by laws, not mob sentiment.
In the face of these attacks, Abahlali baseMjondolo showed us what real solidarity looks like. Their decision to form a human chain outside Seri’s offices, physically defending the space and its staff, was an act of profound courage. It reminded us that human rights are not abstract principles, they must be defended in action, in public and with conviction.
This is not just about foreign nationals. This is about the soul of our democracy. If we allow attacks on human rights defenders and on organisations like Seri to go unanswered, we set the stage for broader repression. Today it’s them. Tomorrow it’s all of us.
We must stand up, speak out and defend what is right. Human rights are not a suggestion. They are the foundation of our Constitution. They are the promise of 1994. And they are under threat.
Operation Dudula together with March and March are attacking our democratic values, our hard-won freedoms and the rule of law. If groups like Seri, Helen Suzman Foundation and the South African Human Rights Commission are silenced, who will speak up when your rights are next in line?
We must not allow anger to be weaponised against the wrong people. It is time to ask better questions. Why are our clinics underresourced in the first place? Why are there not enough trained healthcare workers? Why is the housing backlog growing year after year? And why are we not holding local councillors and officials to account for this?
Foreign nationals didn’t fail to maintain your community’s water infrastructure. They didn’t loot public funds meant for housing and healthcare. They didn’t shut down your clinic or redirect its budget. That was your government.
South Africa is at a crossroads and we can continue being played, turning on each other in frustration. We must start organising, demanding better services, transparent leadership and a government that serves everyone who lives here.
Because until we address the real reasons behind our frustrations, xenophobia will keep rearing its head and it will keep making things worse for all of us. DM