𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗦𝗔 𝗚𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗶 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗴𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹.

𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟬𝟱 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱.

JOHANNESBURG – The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Gauteng condemns in the strongest terms the harrassment of a male nurse, with strong xenophobic undertone, at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital’s Emergency Unit in Soweto by a community member on Tuesday, 04 February 2025.

DENOSA calls on the Gauteng Department of Health to tighten Occupational Health and Safety risks for both staff and patients at its facilities as it poses a serious threat to the functioning of the facilities.

At the institution’s Emergency Department, a man recorded on his phone a male nurse, asking him his name, where he came from, and whether he is employed at the hospital. The subject was a male Registered Nurse at the unit, who answered every question the gentleman was asking.

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. Fortunately, the perpetrator shows his face in the same video, while he laments about how nice it is in South Africa where anyone can just come and work.

DENOSA find this incident extremely dangerous as it instigates violence and is an full blown act 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.

His rights have been violated in the workplace with no intervention from those who should be responsible for protecting him while at work, thus exposing the employee to Occupational Health and Safety risks.

DENOSA finds this act as inciting xenophobic attack and damaging to the reputation of nursing. DENOSA is in full support of the fellow nurse whose contribution in rendering nursing service at the hospital is second to none. 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.

We hereby support him and call for consequence management for the violation of his rights in terms of the POPI Act 2013 in the following way:

1.1. The Act emphasizes the importance of obtaining consent when collecting and using personal information, including audiovisual recordings.

1.2.Consent for Recording or Filming: POPIA recognizes that capturing someone’s image or voice through recording or filming constitutes the processing of their personal information.

DENOSA hereby rallies behind the affected nurse and requests the Hospital’s management to provide the necessary emotional support based on harrasement while on duty and adhere to the Code of Good Practice on Prevention and Elimination of Harrasement in the working place, as enshrined in the gazette number 11409 of 18 March 2022.

We demand the SAPS to take the necessary steps to apprehend the perpetrator who has a mandate to divide the community and incite xenophobic attacks against the affected nurse.

We call for co-operation from the patients who are looked after by the nurse at the facility to remain calm and allow him to provide the best patient care that he is known for.

End.

𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗦𝗔 𝗚𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗴.