Johannesburg– South Africa’s Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has confirmed that the Department of Health does not keep records of foreign nationals accessing public healthcare facilities.
Motsoaledi provided the information in a written parliamentary reply to ActionSA MP Tebogo Letlape, who had asked for the total number of documented and undocumented foreign patients over the past five years, as well as reports of illegal immigrants sent to the Department of Home Affairs by healthcare facilities.
The minister said provincial health departments do not track patients by nationality or documentation status, noting that the same applies to undocumented South Africans. “Healthcare is provided based on clinical need, not on nationality or documentation status,” he said, adding that emergency medical treatment cannot be refused under Section 27 of the Constitution. Patients unable to provide identification are still treated.
Motsoaledi explained that South Africa’s civil registration systems, like many across the continent, remain underdeveloped. Egypt leads Africa with a 98% registration rate, while South Africa sits at 89%, leaving around 11% of citizens undocumented.
The minister also provided figures on health practitioners employed in the public sector. KwaZulu-Natal leads in nursing staff with 32 151 professionals, followed by Gauteng with 30 456. Gauteng has the highest number of medical practitioners (7 268) and other health professionals (5 748). KZN’s nursing staff has grown steadily since 2020, though medical practitioners declined slightly from 5 938 in 2021/22 to 4 868 in 2024/25.
Other provinces experienced declines in nursing staff: Free State fell from 8 264 to 7 283, Limpopo from 16 625 to 14 807, and Mpumalanga showed a slight decrease after peaking in 2021/22. Northern Cape remains the smallest, with 2 544 nurses, 521 medical practitioners, and 667 other health professionals in 2024/25.
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