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Limpopo Health MEC defends her statement on Zimbabweans placing strain on healthcare system

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Limpopo Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba has defended her statement, heard in a recent video, where she claims that Zimbabweans are placing strain on the province’s healthcare system.

Ramathuba has been filmed confronting a foreign national scheduled for surgery at a hospital in the province.

The video below is an interview with Dr Phophi Ramathuba on her comment:

In the video, she is heard telling the patient that her country must take responsibility for her health issues, adding that Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa does not contribute to Limpopo’s health budget.

Ramathuba says she stands by her statement.

“I did stand by its content because I need to share that understanding that they are not doing anything to our surgical backlog, people are abusing the system. When they hear that the MEC is coming to this district with special care, they leave their country, enter SA illegally, and come to our hospitals but doctors who operate them for ethical reasons even though the Constitution will cover the doctors, but they don’t refuse to operate them.”

“The South African whom we did this budget for is unable to get operated because they’re still flooding even our initiatives. This is an initiative outside our daily work.”

Hopewell Chin’ono reacts to the recent video from Limpopo MEC of Health Dr Phophi:

Meanwhile, the issue of immigration has caused tension between South Africa and other SADC Countries with government facing pressure from South Africans who are struggling to access services.

It’s Topical | Debate between South Africans and Zimbabweans on SA’s health system

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