'Immigrants turned away from hospitals'.

The chairman of the Pretoria Red Cross has condemned the 'harsh treatment' of displaced foreigners at the Pretoria Academic Hospital. Gillian Elson said the foreigners were usually turned away if they were not accompanied by Red Cross officials. She said the Red Cross had complained to hospital management, but the situation had not changed.

'The hospital should be able to understand these people's circumstances and help where they can instead of just turning them away when they need help.' The Red Cross was apparently told to get a guarantee from the Zimbabwean embassy to pay for medical services before an ill foreigner could be treated. 'They were going to turn her away before I threatened to expose them to the media,' she said.

Jeffrey Basubi, spokesperson for the human rights organisation Our Voice, said displaced foreigners often struggled to get help at hospitals. 'Sometimes they tell them that there's no space to accommodate them. The foreigners have lost all their belongings and so can't pay for medical treatment,' he said. According to Basubi, some staff members at various clinics and hospitals were rude and unhelpful towards the foreigners even though they knew their circumstances.

Pretoria Academic Hospital spokesperson Fredah Kobo said she was not aware of any incidents of foreigners being mistreated. She said the matter would be investigated once all the relevant information had been gathered. Kobo said the hospital only treated patients who had been referred for specialist treatment. Sometimes other people would be treated, but usually when it was a serious situation, such as an accident. 'I don't think the hospital would turn people away because they are foreigners,' she said.