An urgent High Court application due to be heard in Johannesburg soon may be too late to save the life of desperately ill Vanessa Mafu (15), the daughter of Zimbabwean parents, who is suffering from a life-threatening autoimmune disease that requires a liver transplant.
Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital doctors have told her she does not qualify for a transplant from a South African donor, an explanation described by lawyers of the family as “blatantly xenophobic”.
Her mother, Vuyelwa Ncube, was told by a doctor that she must have a valid visa or permit before her daughter receives life-saving medical treatment.
Cited in the application as respondents are the hospital, the Ministers of Health and Home Affairs, the Gauteng MEC for Health and a Dr Mithoule of the hospital, reports The Citizen.
“This application is urgent and cannot wait to be heard on the ordinary roll because my daughter is extremely unwell,” said the mother’s affidavit. “She was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, which caused liver cirrhosis. She needs a liver transplant as soon as possible to save her life. Her condition is so dire and exigent that the matter cannot wait to be heard on the ordinary roll.”
After being diagnosed in December last year, the girl was admitted several times to the hospital, but each time discharged after a few days.
Her condition continued to deteriorate, and last month her parents were given details of the different types of liver transplant needed to save their daughter’s life.
“There is a transplant where a person has died and there is consent for organ transplants for medical purposes, and there are organ transplants where the donor is alive, usually a relative, and a portion of their liver is taken from the donor and given to the patient,” her mother deposes in her affidavit.
These types of transplant could only be done in Gauteng and the Western Cape.
Ncube said she was not provided with any laws that preclude Zimbabwean nationals from receiving liver transplants in SA, and argued that the doctors’ refusal violated her daughter’s constitutional right to life and her rights in terms of the Children’s Act.
The hospital’s denial of her right to a transplant from a deceased donor from South Africa, or any other nationality, has reduced her prospects of life.
‘Blatantly xenophobic act’
The urgent application wants the court to prohibit the respondents from any form of discrimination in the medical services provided to Mafu on the grounds that she is a Zimbabwean.
Advocate Simba Chitando, a human rights lawyer who is representing the family, said: “This matter is urgent because it is a life-saving procedure, but it is also one of the most cruel, inhumane, and blatantly xenophobic acts perpetuated by the state against a child.”
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