ActionSA Parliamentary Chief Whip Lerato Ngobeni has criticized the SAHRC for supporting Undocumented migrants' rights to health care in South Africa. Image: Lerato Ngobeni shared via X @MikaNgobeni .
(The Post News)- Action for South Africa (ActionSA) has raised concerns about the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) support for undocumented migrants’ right to public healthcare.
The commission stated that denying undocumented immigrants access to healthcare is not only unethical and unlawful but also inconsistent with the country’s obligations under both domestic and international human rights law.
ActionSA Parliamentary Chief Whip Lerato Ngobeni said that the South African Human Rights Commission and their NGO partners have turned their mandates into weapons to shame ordinary South Africans into being docile bystanders.
Ngobeni claimed that the nation is in disarray and that ActionSA believes in the moral superiority of the political elite and that they no longer defend rights but rather the comfortable. She went on to argue that they should cease disparaging South Africans, who are suffering in these conditions, if they had any integrity in their statements.
Moreover, she suggested that borders must be fixed to restore the rule of law in the country, adding that the Department of Home Affairs must also be cleaned. She said that health care must only be accessible to people who pay for it.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the SAHRC responded to the controversy surrounding the issue of accessibility of healthcare in the country, saying that healthcare services in South Africa are a universal right afforded to everyone within the Republic’s borders, as guaranteed by the Constitution, citing Section 27(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which states that “Everyone has the right to have access to healthcare services, including reproductive healthcare.”
SAHRC stated that this constitutional provision means everyone, regardless of nationality, legal status, race, gender, age, income level, or geographic location, is entitled to access basic healthcare services.
The commission further highlighted that the Constitution does not qualify or limit this right based on immigration status or citizenship, supporting its statement with Section 27(3), which clearly states that “No one may be refused emergency medical treatment.”
The SAHRC is deeply concerned by reports of healthcare facilities that deny treatment to individuals on the basis of nationality or documentation status. However, the SAHRC also recognized challenges in the healthcare sector, including staffing shortages, long queues in clinics and hospitals, and shortages or limited bed spaces, and promised to continue their engagements with healthcare facilities leadership, MECs, and the relevant departments of health with a view to coming up with a solution.
SAHRC urged all public healthcare providers and provincial health departments to ensure non-discriminatory access to services in compliance with the Constitution and the National Health Act.
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