The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has issued a statement condemning the recent xenophobic protests blocking foreign nationals from accessing public healthcare facilities in South Africa.

In the July 10 statement signed by the SACBC President, Bishops from the three member countries (Botswana, Eswatini, and South Africa) reaffirm their unwavering defence of human dignity and constitutional rights.

“The frightening evidence of all sorts of abuse by groups calling for foreign nationals to be excluded from health care is morally reprehensible, in direct contradiction to the Constitution, and undermines our every attempt to strengthen social cohesion,” say the bishops in the statement signed by Cardinal Stephen Brislin.

Echoing broader church advocacy, the SACBC underscored healthcare as a core faith principle, that “Care for the sick is one of the core tenets of our faith,” as evidenced by the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:7), and it is one of the traditional “Corporal Works of Mercy.”

These recent protests, notably in Johannesburg’s Rosettenville suburb, have seen residents establish barricades and demand that undocumented migrants seek private medical care.

In a July 5 statement, the South African Government acting spokesperson, Ms Nomonde Mnukwa, warned that impeding healthcare access is unconstitutional and announced the deployment of Public Order Police to restore order at clinics. Ms Mnukwa stressed that only law enforcement and Home Affairs may handle immigration issues, urging communities to refrain from taking the law into their own hands.

Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), has swiftly reacted, cautioning that no civic entity has the authority to regulate healthcare access. According to news reports, the SAHRC has stated that everyone, citizens, refugees, or undocumented migrants, has a constitutional right under Section 27(3) to emergency treatment.

The SACBC’s stance is part of a long-standing church commitment to combat xenophobia and protect the marginalized. In the July 10 statement, Cardinal Brislin, echoing this legacy, emphasized the spiritual and moral implications of healthcare denial, as such actions also undermine efforts to foster unity and social cohesion in post-apartheid South Africa, where healing remains a national priority.

The bishops also called on political parties to avoid exacerbating divisions through inflammatory rhetoric, but to “be responsible in their public narratives and to refrain from all statements that stoke the fires of social instability any further.”

As the SACBC stressed, denying healthcare to foreign nationals is both morally bankrupt and legally indefensible, bishops urged authorities to “protect the vulnerable and those persecuted, as well as to leave no stone unturned in rooting out this scourge of xenophobia.”