Too little, too late

Yesterday a court would have been asked to order life-saving medical treatment for an Ethiopian refugee - but it was too late for Badesa Fokora.

Fokora, 27, died last weekend before the Pretoria High Court could hear the application, brought by Lawyers for Human Rights.

Fokora suffered double kidney failure after Johannesburg's Helen Joseph Hospital refused to place him on their chronic renal treatment programme because he was a foreigner.

LHR had planned to force Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi to exercise his discretion and have Fokora placed on the programme.

Fokora came to South Africa in 2011, fleeing persecution in his home country.

Lawyers argued that Fokora's exclusion was unconstitutional, because the constitution did not distinguish between refugees and other foreigners.