The March and March vigilante group has denied any knowledge of a mother and her critically ill four-month-old baby being barred by its members from seeking help at Addington Gateway Clinic in Durban last week.
Health-e News reporterPhumzile Mkhongo tried in vain to alert authorities to the predicament and find help, and eventually accompanied the mother and baby herself in an Uber to a hospital 20km away.
The visibly distressed mother, with her crying baby, had sought help from Mkhongo, who was nearby, claiming she was being prohibited from entering the clinic by a group clad in March and March regalia.
She said that the night before, the baby became seriously ill, and couldn’t breathe properly. She took the infant to Addington Hospital where a doctor who attended to her assessed her as high risk. He told the mother to go to the clinic the next day for continued treatment.
But when she arrived at Addington Gateway Clinic, March and March operatives demanded to see the identity documents of anyone trying to enter.
The mother 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.
When the reporter contacted the group’s leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, via text, asking whether the movement supports healthcare access for those with legal documents, and to respond to the mother’s allegation, she replied: “I don’t know anything about this.”
The reporter then called 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 said. “No individual or group has the authority to block access to public healthcare services.”
The journalist’s final call was to Addington Hospital CEO Dr Mthetheleli Ndlangisa, who said he said he couldn’t help, and promptly cut the call.
By now, the mother was inconsolable, and the baby had not stopped crying.
The reporter then suggested King Dinizulu Hospital, 20km away, and accompanied them in an Uber. There, the baby was admitted without any challenges and is currently receiving medical care.
Health-e News article – March And March Deny High-Risk Baby Health Care (Creative Commons Licence)
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