Leaked to public interest group Section27, the policy requires public hospital patients to prove they are legally in the country before receiving care. Those who cannot provide proof must pay the estimated cost of their healthcare upfront with the expectation that any difference between the estimated and real cost of care would be paid back, according to Section27 Attorney Sa- Health-e News Service.sha Stevenson.
The draft policy is already being implemented at the Helen Joseph, South Rand, Charlotte Maxeke, and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child hospitals, according to the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
"The trouble with the policy is that you have to prove that you are a citizen, resident, asylum seeker or refugee," Stevenson told Health-e. "We know plenty of South Africans that don't have identity books and those that do aren't obliged to carry them."
Refugees and asylum seekers are also not required to carry documentation with them, said Stevenson, adding that Gauteng's draft policy risked turning nurses into defacto immigration officials.
"It becomes up to the nurses to monitor immigration and that's not correct," she said. "There's not a ban on limiting services according to national policy, we're just concerned about how this policy is being communicated."
While he did not confirm the draft policy's existence, Gauteng Department of Health spokesperson Simon Zwane said the department follows national policy.
"Health care is free for everyone at the primary care level and that no one can be denied access to care in an emergency setting," Zwane told Health-e. "To access care in a hospital, normal tariffs apply... this remains the case (for) South Africans and migrants alike."
