Nigeria TV Info 

Nigerians in South Africa decry xenophobia as pregnant women face neglect in hospitals

Johannesburg/Lagos — Nigerian residents in South Africa have raised alarm over worsening xenophobic hostility that has spilled into the health sector, with disturbing accounts of pregnant women being denied proper access to hospitals and in some cases delivering on benches or floors.

Community leaders and migrant-rights groups link the abuses to vigilante campaigns led by anti-immigrant movements such as Operation Dudula, which have staged demonstrations at clinics in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, intimidating foreigners and blocking access to care. Witnesses say Nigerian women in labour were forced to wait unattended in corridors until complications became unavoidable, with some giving birth on bare hospital floors.

International organisations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and HIAS South Africa, confirmed that migrants have been harassed and turned away from health facilities, warning that such “medical xenophobia” violates South Africa’s constitutional guarantees of healthcare for all. Experts stress that denial or delay of skilled care puts both mothers and newborns at high risk of death or disability.

While South Africa’s laws provide for emergency treatment regardless of nationality, enforcement has been inconsistent. Human-rights advocates accuse some hospital staff of bias and urge authorities to discipline perpetrators and dismantle vigilante blockades. Nigerian community groups are appealing to both Pretoria and Abuja for urgent intervention, arguing that the lives of women and infants are at stake.

The incidents highlight a broader pattern of xenophobic tension in South Africa, where economic frustrations have repeatedly been channelled into hostility against foreign nationals. Activists warn that unless the government acts decisively, health facilities could remain dangerous spaces for migrants, worsening humanitarian fallout and deepening diplomatic strains between South Africa and Nigeria.