Abahlali baseMjondolo says SAHRC, SERI under attack
Shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo says scapegoating migrants for South Africa’s problems is dangerous and wrong.
It has condemned the blocking of undocumented foreign nationals from entering healthcare facilities, saying no one should be denied treatment.
The South African Human Rights Commission earlier this month warned organisations such as March and March that denying people health treatment based on their immigration status is unlawful and unethical.
Abahlali baseMjodolo's Thapelo Mahapi believes the Chapter 9 institution and other groups are now drawing the ire of the protesters due to their stance on human rights.
" We can never allow an individual who will attack civil society organisations, particularly those who are protecting human rights of the poor and marginalised,” says Abahlali's Thapelo Mahapi.
READ: Abahlali demands end to evictions, calls for decent housing
Members of Operation Dudula marched to the Durban offices of the South African Human Rights Commission on Thursday to hand over a memorandum of demands, which includes their calls for South Africans to be prioritised.
Mahapi joined the SAHRC and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) in solidarity, saying they are under attack from right-wing forces.
He says frustrations should be aimed at government.
" We are here to receive a memorandum of demand from Operation Dudula. We stand for humanity. We stand for human rights. We are here to protect our constitution.
“These people have actually gone out to say that the Social Economic Rights Institute [and] the South African Human Rights Commission, who have fought for every human that is in this country, are actually unpatriotic and they're not for South Africans. But we are saying they are for humanity."
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