South Africa: March and March Deny High-Risk Baby Health Care

2 June 2026
Health-e (Cape Town)
By Phumzile Mkhungo

On the morning of Monday, 1 June, around 7am, I was covering a story near Addington Gateway Clinic in Durban when a mother, holding her four-month-old baby, approached me.

I was filming, and the camera identified me as a journalist.

The woman was visibly distressed, and the baby was crying.

"I have a problem," she said to me, barely holding back her own tears. "They won't let me inside."

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Fana* gestured to a group of people wearing March and March regalia. The anti-immigrant vigilante group has blocked entry to public clinics, hospitals and schools to non-South Africans since March 2025.

"On Sunday evening, my baby became seriously ill, and she couldn't breathe properly. So I brought her to Addington Hospital," the mother explained. "The doctor attended to her and assessed her as high risk. When we were discharged, the doctor said we must come to the clinic the following day for continued treatment."

When she arrived at Addington Gateway Clinic, March and March operatives demanded to see the identity documents of anyone trying to enter.

Fana* is from Ethiopia and is in the country legally as an asylum seeker. She showed her papers, as well as the baby's clinic card and Road to Health book, which is given to all babies in public and private facilities.

The words "High Risk" were clearly written in red ink on the baby's book.

None of this mattered to the people blocking the gates. They denied her entry.

I contacted the group's leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, via text, asking her whether the movement supports healthcare access for those with legal documents, and to respond to the mother's allegation. Her response: "I don't know anything about this."

This incident brought back memories from last year when I stood with my own sick child at the same gates and was refused entry because my child's father is from India.

I then called the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health spokesperson, Nathi Oliphant to see if he could intervene. He didn't. "It's not the health department that stops people. Security and the police should help the mother get inside there," he told me. "No individual or group has the authority to block access to public healthcare services."

My final call was to the Addington Hospital CEO, Dr Mthetheleli Ndlangisa. He said he can't assist us and promptly dropped the call.

By this time, the mother was inconsolable, and the baby had not stopped crying. I advised her to go to King Dinizulu Hospital, located approximately 20km away. Wanting to help, I accompanied them in an Uber. There, the baby was admitted without any challenges and is currently receiving medical care. - Health-e News

*Not her real name

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