The Gauteng Department of Health has stepped forward to defend an Ethiopian nurse employed at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, amid allegations circulated on social media claiming he is working in South Africa illegally.
The department has confirmed that the nurse, who has been a part of the healthcare system since 2011, holds permanent residency and has a valid South African identification certificate.
Motalatale Modiba, the Head of Communications at the Gauteng Department of Health, addressed the issue following a controversial video that surfaced on X (formerly Twitter).
In this clip, the nurse is seen being questioned about his employment and nationality as he enters the hospital. The insinuations made in the video suggested that he was part of a fraudulent system exploiting South African resources, leading to public outrage and calls for oversight.
In his response, Modiba highlighted the negative implications of such unverified accusations, which often draw from misinformation aimed at discrediting deserving employees.
“The department strongly cautions against this new form of intimidation which masks itself under the guise of ‘so-called oversight’ where staff are targeted,” he said.
“Often unverified information, which distorts facts, gets shared on social media platforms in a manner that seeks to incite the public.”
Modiba further emphasised that these attacks not only infringe upon the rights of healthcare workers to perform their duties in a safe and supportive environment but also violate the dignity and privacy of the patients they serve.
“Not only are the rights of employees to discharge their duties in an environment free of threats and intimidation infringed upon, often the rights of patients to privacy and dignity are grossly violated,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Gauteng condemned the harassment of a male nurse saying it was a xenophobic undertone.
"This video has since gone viral on social media platforms, where the nurse is now accused of being an illegal immigrant working as a nurse with no qualifications.
DENOSA finds this incident extremely dangerous as it instigates violence and is a full-blown act of xenophobia, which leaves the very same nurse, who is fully qualified as a Registered Nurse, registered with the country’s nursing regulatory body, SANC, and renders quality patient care to the patients at the unit," said DENOSA.
DENOSA added that the man's rights have been violated in the workplace with no intervention from those who should be responsible for protecting him while at work.
"Not only is he a registered nurse; he is also registered with his qualification in both Nursing Education and Nursing Administration, some specialist nursing skills that many communities are in dire need of at the time of severe shortage of skilled nurses."
DENOSA called on the Gauteng health department to tighten occupational health and safety risks for both staff and patients at its facilities.