The rights of immigrant and undocumented women and children to access free healthcare in South Africa will be put to the test in a court challenge launched by Section27 in the Gauteng high court in Johannesburg.

In December 2019, two-year-old Sibusiso Ncube died of poisoning after he was refused treatment at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital because his Zimbabwean mother could not instantly produce his birth certificate or pay R5,000, says an affidavit in the court case.

This was not an isolated incident according to Section27’s Legal Researcher, Mbali Baduza.