The Economic Freedom Fighters opened a murder case against anti-migrant group Operation Dudula on Saturday after a one-year-old child died following alleged denial of healthcare access at an Alexandra clinic in July.
Malawian national Grace Banda said members from Operation Dudula prevented her from getting medical assistance for her one-year-old child at Alexandra clinic. The child died the following day.
Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo confirmed investigations are underway. "Police have opened an inquiry docket for investigation," Masondo told Reuters on Sunday. "Once the investigation is complete, the docket will be taken to the National Prosecution Authority for a decision."
The child's mother, Malawian national Grace Banda, said she and her baby were turned away from the Alexandra Community Health Centre in July. She alleged Operation Dudula members demanded a South African identity document before allowing entry.
EFF Gauteng chairperson Nkululeko Dunga led supporters to Alexandra Police Station where the case was filed. Speaking outside the Alexandra Police Station, EFF Gauteng Leader, Nkululeko Dunga said that Operation Dudula is operating like a vigilante group.
"If someone gets sick, and someone dies, and if they could be assisted there and there, it is not only negligence," Dunga said in a statement. "They knew exactly what they were doing, and they eliminated a life of a one-year-old."
Operation Dudula has denied this, saying it never instructed its members to block access to the clinic.
However, Operation Dudula members have, over the past few weeks, been barricading the entrances of public healthcare facilities and turning away people they say are undocumented foreigners.
Three Operation Dudula members were arrested in August after disrupting operations at Lilian Ngoyi Clinic in Soweto.
Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said her department is investigating the circumstances around the death of the one-yearold child and whether his malaiwan mother was prevented from accessing the clinic. "I feel that child shouldn't have died," she said.
The South African Human Rights Commission condemned Operation Dudula's actions at healthcare facilities as unconstitutional.
Operation Dudula spokesperson Zandile Dabula defended the group's position. "We are not saying they shouldn't get medical treatment," Dabula told local media. "We are saying they should go to public facilities and pay for it."
Founded in Soweto, Operation Dudula campaigns against undocumented migration. "Dudula" means to "force out" or "knock down" in isiZulu, and refers to the movement's goal to expel migrants.
KAAX, the South African Informal Traders Forum, the Inner City Federation and Abahlali baseMjondolo, represented by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute, filed the legal challenge in 2023 to ask the court to prevent Operation Dudula from assaulting or harassing foreign nationals and to stop Operation Dudula from impeding access to healthcare services and schools for the children of international migrants. The case was heard in June with judgment reserved.
Earlier this month, Zanu PF criticized Operation Dudula's healthcare stance as "a betrayal of Ubuntu."
Dabula dismissed the criticism. "We will not be dictated to by foreigners on how to run our country," she said.
EFF Gauteng chairperson Nkululeko Dunga said ageing infrastructure, understaffing, and corruption at public health facilities are the real problems.
The case adds to mounting legal pressure on Operation Dudula, which faces multiple court challenges over its campaigns at public facilities.
