In Durban, March and March supporters demand documents from patients — Daily Maverick
In Durban, South Africa, supporters of the March and March movement continue to stand outside medical facilities, demand documents from patients and deny entry to those who refuse to show them. This was reported by Daily Maverick.
Hidden video filmed last week inside the gates of Lancers Road Clinic recorded a March and March supporter demanding identification from a journalist. When asked whether she was acting on behalf of the clinic, the woman replied that she represented March and March. Later, a security guard at the entrance also demanded a document, citing an “instruction,” but did not specify who had issued it.
Response from the municipality and police
Lancers Road Clinic is run by the eThekwini municipality. Its spokesperson, Senzelwe Mzila, said city authorities were investigating the circumstances referred to in journalists’ inquiry. Previously, the municipality stated that people without identification documents are not denied access to basic healthcare services.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health in July 2025 described such self-imposed controls as unlawful, unconstitutional and dangerous to public health. Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda also confirmed that the actions described by the movement’s supporters are unlawful and urged victims to report them to the police.
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Complaints about denial of access to healthcare
Journalists checked the situation outside Addington Hospital, Gateway Clinic and Beatrice Street Clinic. Outside Gateway Clinic, they saw a March and March supporter who was also demanding documents from people seeking to enter the facility.
Naturalised South African citizen Gabi Bikombo said that on 3 July 2025, he and his wife were denied entry to Addington Hospital, where he was accompanying his 15-year-old son with autism to obtain medication. According to him, March and March members allowed only the child to enter, but not the parents. Bikombo has a South African identification number, but, he said, he was refused because of the place of birth listed in the document — the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
March and March spokesperson Sandile Dube stated that checking documents and determining whether a person is a foreign national fall within the authority of law enforcement agencies. He asked for the names of the people recorded by journalists to establish whether they had acted on behalf of the movement.
In November 2025, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled that only immigration and police officers may demand a passport or another document from private individuals. The court also barred Operation Dudula and its members from demanding such documents and obstructing access to services.
