Phophi Ramathuba: South African official's hospital rant at Zimbabwean goes viral
h Africa following comments made on camera by a health official to a Zimbabwean patient being treated in hospital that have gone viral.
Dr Phophi Ramathuba is seen chastising the woman who had been in a car accident in neighbouring Zimbabwe, but went to South Africa for treatment.
"You are killing my health system," the provincial health minister says.
Dr Ramathuba has rejected criticism that her comments were xenophobic.
The patient, who cannot be seen in the video, is reportedly an undocumented Zimbabwean. She was waiting for surgery at a government hospital in the town of Bela-Bela, in the South African province of Limpopo, which borders Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique.
In the video, which was first posted on Limpopo's health department Facebook page earlier this week, Dr Ramathuba told the woman that Zimbabwe must take responsibility for her health issues, not South Africa.
Leaning over the patient's bed, the minister says that Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa does not contribute to South Africa's health budget, and that her country's health system is not a "charity".
Her comments come at a time of heightened tension towards foreigners in South Africa, and she has been accused of blaming foreign nations for the country's ailing healthcare system.
"You speak Shona? Then how do you find yourself in Bela-Bela when you are supposed to be with Mnangagwa… you're killing my health system," she says in the video, referring to Zimbabwe's most-spoken language.
"You are supposed to be with Mnangagwa, you know he doesn't give me money to operate on you guys, and I'm operating with my limited budget...
"That is why when my people want health services, they can't get [them]. And that is endangering the community... this is unfair," Dr Ramathuba says, to laughter and murmurs of agreeance from onlookers in the ward.
The comments made by the doctor-turned-politician have sparked a storm of controversy. While some agreed with her, others labelled Dr Ramathuba xenophobic, unethical and insensitive.
"With due respect, you don't tell this to a patient waiting for medical treatment," wrote Twitter user Palesa Morudu Rosenberg. "What must she do now after this disgraceful speech? Get off the bed?"
Others - both in South Africa and Zimbabwe - said the provincial health minister was right in her concerns.
"She is being realistic, the patient wasn't chased away but treated, and the challenges discussed with a patient," another Twitter user wrote.
This article originally appeared on BBC News
Photo: LIMPOPO PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT