- Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie could face criminal charges over controversial remarks he made about foreign nationals receiving medical care in the country.
- McKenzie said he would personally switch off foreign nationals' oxygen machines.
- His comments come hot on the heels of a controversial video of Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba lashing out at foreign nationals for using the country's health system.
Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader Gayton McKenzie has raised the ire of sections of the South African medical fraternity following his controversial remarks he will not hesitate to switch off a foreign national's oxygen machine to save a South African.
His comments come hot on the heels of a video of Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba lashing out at foreign nationals for draining the province's limited health resources.
Ramathuba was captured on video berating a woman she identified as Zimbabwean because she spoke Shona, saying her department was not a charity organisation.
McKenzie initially made the comments at the weekend while addressing Eldorado Park residents at the unveiling of a tombstone for Nathaniel Julies, who was shot and killed by police near his home in August 2020.
In an interview with eNCA on Tuesday morning he said he was being criticised for his views.
"I was criticised for saying I will unplug the oxygen, which I will do as a leader. I would do that; as a government official, I am supposed to do that.
"If there is a South African, Zimbabwean and Mozambican patient on oxygen and I see a South African patient born and bred in South Africa, I will turn the oxygen off so that the South African can live," he said.
The Progressive Health Forum (PHF) has called for criminal sanctions against those who incite murder.
PHF convener Dr Aslam Dasoo told News24 both Ramathuba and McKenzie's comments were the language of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
He said:
"When the threat of violence against patients is so severe that carrying it out will in all probability lead to their deaths, that is an incitement to murder.
"We have seen that sort of act perpetrated by brutal rogue militias in war-torn regions of the world that has even caused ruthless former belligerents to recoil in revulsion," Dasoo added.
SA Medical Association (SAMA) CEO Dr Vusumuzi Nhlapho said: "SAMA believes that healthcare is a fundamental human right.
"Foreign nationals such as refugees and migrants are some of the most vulnerable members of society. When people are marginalised or face stigma or discrimination, their physical and mental health suffers.
"Discrimination of any kind in the healthcare sector is unacceptable and is a major barrier to global socio-economic development."
But McKenzie stuck to his anti-migrant guns, saying he would sacrifice foreigners to let South Africans live.
At the unveiling in Eldorado Park this weekend, he added the PA carried the label of being xenophobic with pride.
"Call us what you want," McKenzie said.
He also supported Ramathuba's rant about foreign nationals, saying the PA stood with her, dubbing her a "true leader".
McKenzie, who is the district mayor of the Central Karoo in the Western Cape, has been outspoken about targeting and removing foreign nationals from Beaufort West and surrounds.