No, Illegal Zimbabwean Women Do Not Make Up 80% of Musina Hospital's Patients, Statistics Unconfirmed

• A man claims 80% of women who deliver babies at Musina Hospital are illegal Zimbabwean nationals
• His post is in response to MEC of Health in Limpopo, Dr Phophi Ramathuba's viral rant to a Zimbabwean patient
• At present, there is no data available in South Africa about the percentage of illegal immigrants who use public facilities

In the past two weeks, the MEC for Health in Limpopo, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, has been the topic of discussion in South Africa. A video of Ramthuba berating a Zimbabwean patient who sought out medical care in the country went viral.

In the video that surfaced on 23 August 2022, Ramathuba is seen berating a patient and telling them that her department does not have the budget to cater to the needs of foreigners.

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The MEC's remarks garnered mixed reactions, with some people defending her and applauding her for shedding light on the issue, while others accused her of being an "afrophobe".

Following Ramathuba's comments, Dr Mike Ramothwala claim that 80% of patients who give birth at Musina Hospital are undocumented Zimbabwean women. Ramothwala added that this resulted in a shortage of beds for South African women who need to give birth.

Ramothwala's claim raised a few eyebrows, with many asking where he got his stats from because they seemed questionable.

Are 80% of patients who give birth at public hospitals undocumented Zimbabwean women? We checked

In November 2018, the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, made a similar claim as Ramothwala at a nurses' summit. He stated that illegal foreign nationals overburden South Africa's public healthcare facilities.

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In an interview on Newzroom Afrika, Motsoaledi was asked about the stats regarding the overburdening of hospitals by foreigners. He explained that the Department of Health does not officially record the numbers because it is a sensitive matter.

However, Motsoaledi stated that the department does have anecdotal data, such as the number of non-South African babies born at public hospitals. According to the minister, 70% of the babies born at Musina hospital are not South African.

Limpopo Department of Health spokesperson Neil Shikwambana countered Motsoaledi's stats and said that Musina hospital delivers around 21 babies. In addition, 10 of the babies born are South African, and 11 are foreign nationals, meaning roughly 50% of the babies are born to foreign national mothers, according to Africa Check.

Shikwambana told Africa Check that the health department does not keep statistics on the total number of babies born to undocumented migrants at public health facilities.

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This is also corroborated by the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, who said in his written response to Parliament:

"The statistics on the total number of babies who were born to illegal migrants at public health facilities in each province in the past three years is not available as our health facilities do not keep statistics on foreign nationals."

He added that the Health Department does not keep these kinds of records because it is not part of their policy to do so.

"With regards to the number of illegal and/or undocumented immigrants who are making use of health facilities for other medical services other than giving birth in each province;

"Due to community integration of migrants, the Department of Health is not able to determine the number of undocumented immigrants as this is not a policy requirement," wrote Phaahla.

What's the verdict?

There is no evidence to support Ramothwala's claim that 80% of women who give birth at Musina Hospital are undocumented Zimbabweans.

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Current figures suggest that around 50% of babies delivered at the hospital are born to Zimbabwean moms, but their legal status has not been determined.

No, Nigerian "smugglers" are not the reason SA IDs are not considered secure

Briefly News previously reported that a social media account claimed that South African identification documents are being subjected to scrutiny. The account alleges this, in turn, affects the ability of South Africans to travel internationally.

The account seems to have ties to Operation Dudula, an organisation campaigning for illegal immigrants to leave Mzansi.

The account, which has more than 19 000 followers, claimed that Nigerian smugglers have been caught using South Africa's system to get visas. It alleges this is why South African IDs are no longer secure.

The account also stated that a Google search can verify the information presented.

Source: Briefly News