By Akani Nkuna
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu has lambasted the uMkhonto WeSizwe Party (MKP) for disrupting a community health outreach programme in Mandeni, saying the incident undermined the healthcare rights of poor residents.
Simelane-Zulu said the disruption was “deeply irresponsible, anti-community, and a direct attack on the constitutional right of our people to access healthcare”.
MK party members arrived at the venue chanting political songs and issuing threats, which forced health officials to halt the programme and leave before all patients could be seen, according to the department.
“It is utterly unacceptable that a political organisation would deliberately disrupt a non-political, life-saving health programme purely to score political points. The Department was in Mandeni to serve the people…nothing more, nothing less. Instead, vulnerable residents were intimidated and prevented from receiving the healthcare they urgently needed,” said the MEC.
The incident took place on Sunday during the Isibhedlela Kubantu outreach programme, which brings medical services directly to communities, including screening, treatment initiation, chronic medication support and health education.
In a statement, Simelane-Zulu said the programme had been successfully rolled out across the province to help struggling communities access healthcare and clear long-standing backlogs, “ensuring that no member of the community is exempted from medical healthcare”.
She said the department was considering rescheduling the Mandeni visit once safety assessments had been completed, but warned that such disruptions “bordered on lawlessness” and could jeopardise future outreach efforts in KwaZulu-Natal.
“To interfere with such a programme is to undermine the health and wellbeing of the very people political parties claim to represent. No political grievance can justify threatening the safety of patients, healthcare workers, and government officials,” said Simelane-Zulu.
The MKP’s national and provincial spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment.
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