South Africa - August 2025

Investigations by NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Daily Maverick newspaper revealed that an ongoing campaign by anti-immigrant groups to block undocumented migrants from accessing public health facilities has affected at least 53 facilities across four provinces. The campaign, which began in June and has been led by the controversial vigilante group, Operation Dudula (meaning ‘to force out’ in Zulu), has involved activists barring foreign nationals from entering hospitals and clinics where they have been unable to produce identification. According to MSF, the affected patients included pregnant women and people living with high-risk conditions such as HIV and diabetes, some of whom had not received medical attention for weeks and had run out of medication. Operation Dudula accuses the government of failing to manage immigration, but their campaign has been widely condemned, including by government ministers, parliamentarians and civil society.     

Sources: Daily Maverick, Médecins Sans Frontières, Independent Online