Latest news with #OperationDudula
Daily Maverick
25-06-2025
- Daily Maverick
Tensions rise at Hillbrow Clinic as Operation Dudula attempts to deny migrants healthcare access
On Wednesday, 25 June 2025, Operation Dudula once again disrupted access to Johannesburg's Hillbrow Clinic, targeting foreign nationals and denying them healthcare in defiance of South Africa's Constitution. Despite police intervention and ongoing legal action by rights groups, the anti-migrant group continues to intimidate and unlawfully demand documentation from patients. 'Since 5am, I have been here. I came to remove my teeth. When I arrived here, I was number four in the line. Look, I am still standing here, and it is 10am. I just want to go inside because my teeth are so painful.' This is what Jennifer, a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), told Daily Maverick as Operation Dudula once again blocked the entrance to the Hillbrow Clinic in the heart of Johannesburg on Wednesday morning, 25 June 2025. The group's attempt to prevent foreign nationals from accessing healthcare at the clinic began on Monday when security guards were forced to close the clinic's gates as tensions escalated. Despite being removed by the police earlier this week, Operation Dudula returned to the healthcare centre and continued to ask the clinic's patients for identification, in contravention of South Africa's Constitution and the Immigration Act. Section 27 of the Constitution explicitly states that everyone living in South Africa has the right to access basic healthcare services, and no one may be denied emergency medical treatment even if they are undocumented. Additionally, the Immigration Act stipulates that only immigration officers and members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) have the authority to ask citizens and foreign nationals to produce valid documentation. Despite the unlawfulness of Operation Dudula's attempt to stop people they suspect of being in the country illegally, the anti-migrant group insists that they are within their rights to deny migrants access to healthcare. 'Law enforcers are failing to implement the Immigration Act, so we will do what we have to as concerned citizens to make sure the rule of law is respected. The Criminal Procedures Act of 1977 allows us to perform a citizen's arrest on anyone we suspect to be a criminal. What we are doing here is stopping criminals from accessing free healthcare and burdening our systems,' Operation Dudula member Shimphiwe Shabangu told Daily Maverick. Shabangu insisted that they were not preventing people with valid documentation or who needed urgent medical care from accessing the clinic. But Daily Maverick witnessed the organisation's members doing exactly that. The publication saw Operation Dudula members, clad in military-style regalia, stop a woman whose face was caked in dry blood from a wound on her forehead from entering the clinic. The woman, an asylum seeker from the DRC, showed the members her asylum permit but was still denied entry. Speaking to Daily Maverick on the sidelines, the woman said: 'They say I cannot go in here, only South Africans can. I have been here for 23 years, and I have my asylum papers, but they still are not allowing me in. You can see I am bleeding, but I cannot get help. This is not how you treat people, even if you don't like them.' The police arrived at the clinic just after 10am, and after a tense exchange with Shabangu the officers successfully stopped Operation Dudula from preventing access to the clinic. However, the group refused to leave the premises, vowing to mobilise forces to continue the unlawful action. Right groups bid to stop Operation Dudula Earlier this month, Daily Maverick reported on several rights groups' legal bid to stop Operation Dudula from assaulting or harassing foreign nationals and to stop it from impeding access to healthcare services and schools for the children of international migrants. The groups accused Operation Dudula of illegally demanding that private individuals produce identity documents to prove their right to be in South Africa, and obstructing access to healthcare facilities and schools by threatening and removing migrants, among other things. The case has been reserved for judgment, but if the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg finds in favour of the civil society organisations, it would bar Operation Dudula from impeding access to healthcare, as it did on Wednesday. Shabangu insisted that the civil society organisations' case was weak, and was confident that the judge would dismiss the interdict. DM
IOL News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Why SAHRC flagged Operation Dudula to Hawks over June 16 plans
Members of the Operation Dudula Movement led yet another operation of shutting down spaza shops owned by illegal foreigners in Diepkloof. The operation uncovered expired food items which included cookies, snacks, colddrinks, painkillers and sanitary pads. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has raised the alarm over Operation Dudula's latest planned activities in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, and has reported the group to the National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, and the Hawks. This follows social media posts by Operation Dudula, in which the group called on members of the public to join them on 16 June to 'reclaim hijacked properties from illegal foreigners.' The post, shared on the group's Facebook page, claims that a Nigerian national has taken control of over 100 properties and alleges, without evidence, that several white South Africans have been murdered in the process. The planned gathering is expected to start at 9 am at the Moffettview police station. It forms part of the group's ongoing efforts to mobilise communities around their anti-immigration agenda — a campaign critics say fuels xenophobia and undermines the rule of law. In response, the SAHRC said on Sunday that it had taken note of the concerning language and potential for incitement. 'We have already alerted the National Commissioner of Police and will keep these calls under close watch,' the Commission stated. 'We reserve the right to pursue charges under the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 should the content amount to criminal incitement.'While acknowledging that communities often face real concerns about crime and service delivery, the Commission urged citizens not to take the law into their own hands. 'Freedom of expression does not extend to speech that incites hatred or violence,' it added. The Commission encouraged South Africans to report criminal activity to SAPS or relevant authorities and to consult its Social Media Charter for responsible online engagement. 'Together with law enforcement and civil society, the SAHRC will continue to safeguard the dignity, equality and security of every person in South Africa.'In response to the SAHRC, Operation Dudula denied being a violent organisation. 'We are peaceful,' the group said in a statement. 'We just want to help illegal foreigners return to their home countries. We are good Samaritans.' However, Operation Dudula's activities are under increasing legal scrutiny. Last week, the High Court in Johannesburg heard arguments from civil society groups including Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX), the South African Informal Traders Forum (SAITF), Inner City Federation (ICF), and Abahlali baseMjondolo. The applicants argue that the group's actions constitute xenophobic harassment, intimidation, and unlawful evictions. According to legal counsel Jason Brickhill, Operation Dudula has been forcibly shutting down informal businesses, demanding identity documents, and even removing learners and teachers from schools based on nationality. The applicants also challenged Section 41 of the Immigration Act, arguing that its current form allows warrantless searches beyond public spaces and does not require reasonable suspicion before demanding immigration status. As tensions rise ahead of 16 June, the SAHRC and the Hawks have pledged to monitor the situation closely. The case against Operation Dudula highlights broader concerns around rising anti-immigrant sentiment and the erosion of constitutional protections for vulnerable communities in South Africa.
The Citizen
16-06-2025
- The Citizen
SAHRC reports Operation Dudula's activities to Hawks
Operation Dudula claims it is a group of 'good Samaritans' who are helping illegal foreigners return home. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says it has alerted the National Commissioner of Police, Fannie Masemola, and the Hawks regarding Operation Dudula's planned activities for 16 June. On Friday, Operation Dudula took to their Facebook page, calling on the public to join their operation in Rosettenville, 'as we will be reclaiming Rosettenville hijacked properties from illegal foreigners'. 'It has been discovered that one illegal Nigerian foreigner has hijacked over 100 properties, while an undisclosed number of white people have allegedly been murdered in the process,' it claimed. ALSO READ: Operation Dudula vows to remove foreign shop owners from Ekurhuleni 'We are fighting for space with our siblings in small houses, yet foreigners are comfortable in hijacked properties. Those are our RDPs.' The meeting point for the operation is Rosettenville at the Moffettview police station at 9am. SAHRC: 'We alerted police' The SAHRC said on Sunday that it had taken note of the social media posts and alerted Masemola. 'We have already alerted the National Commissioner of Police and will keep these calls under close watch, reserving the right to pursue charges under the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 should they amount to criminal incitement,' it said. 'While the Commission does not dismiss genuine grievances about crime or service delivery, we remind the public that freedom of expression does not extend to speech that incites hatred or violence. 'Citizens are encouraged to report any alleged criminal or unlawful activity to Saps and other competent authorities rather than taking the law into their own hands, and to consult the SAHRC Social Media Charter for guidance on responsible online conduct. ALSO READ: Operation Dudula tells immigrants to get healthcare 'in their own countries' 'Together with law-enforcement agencies and civil-society partners, the SAHRC will continue to safeguard the dignity, equality and security of every person in South Africa. 'The Commission is encouraged by the confirmation by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Hawks, that it will urgently look into this matter.' However, Operation Dudula says it is not a violent organisation. 'We just want to remind SAHRC that Operation Dudula is a peaceful organisation helping illegal foreigners go back to their countries and develop them. We are good Samaritans,' it said in response to the SAHRC. Case against Operation Dudula Last week, the High Court in Johannesburg heard arguments presented on behalf of Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX), the South African Informal Traders Forum (SAITF), the Inner City Federation (ICF), and Abahlali baseMjondolo, challenging the alleged xenophobic and racist speech and conduct of Operation Dudula. Legal counsel Jason Brickhill, for the NGOs, accused Operation Dudula of harassing and intimidating foreigners by demanding to verify identity documents, forcing businesses to close, preventing informal traders from operating, evicting people from their homes without a court order, wearing uniforms that resemble those of the police or the military, denying people access to health care or education by removing students and teachers from schools based on of nationality. The applicants also challenged the constitutional validity of Section 41 of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002, to the extent that its application is not confined to public spaces, authorising warrantless searches in private places that include the home and places of study, work, and/or business; and to the extent that it does not require an immigration officer or police officer to hold a reasonable suspicion that a person is unlawfully in South Africa before requesting such persons to identify themselves as a citizen, permanent resident, refugee, asylum seeker or undocumented migrant. Judgment was reserved. READ NEXT: NGOs say foreigners in SA told to return to their countries when opening cases against Operation Dudula
Daily Maverick
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Home Affairs and police deny collusion with Operation Dudula as court battle continues
Accusations of 'state-enabled xenophobia' flew in the Gauteng Division of the High Court on Wednesday as SAPS members and Home Affairs officials denied colluding with the anti-migrant group Operation Dudula. Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX), the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) returned to the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday for the second day of the legal challenge by KAAX and several other rights organisations against the anti-migrant organisation Operation Dudula. As on the previous day, the gallery was packed with members of civil society organisations that supported the application. The only difference on Wednesday was the significant number of Operation Dudula members, who sat side by side in the gallery with the migrants they oppose. Operation Dudula's president, Zandile Dabula, was also present in the courtroom as the legal representatives for the DHA and SAPS presented their heads of argument in opposition to the applicants' legal challenge. On Tuesday, Daily Maverick reported that KAAX, the South African Informal Traders Forum, the Inner City Federation and Abahlali baseMjondolo filed the legal challenge in 2023 to ask the court to prevent Operation Dudula from assaulting, harassing or intimidating migrants and to stop Operation Dudula from impeding access to healthcare services and schools for the children of international migrants. The DHA and SAPS were added as respondents to the application for allegedly failing to protect vulnerable communities from Operation Dudula's xenophobic conduct and for allegedly colluding with or supporting the group's activities. State-enabled xenophobia One of the arguments that advocate Jason Brickhill, representing the applicants, made on Tuesday was that the SAPS and the DHA colluded with Operation Dudula. 'There is clear evidence that SAPS officials have, at times, acted in concert with Operation Dudula, entering buildings and detaining individuals identified as foreign nationals, including children, without any lawful basis. That sort of collusion undermines constitutional protections and amounts to state-enabled xenophobia,' said Brickhill. Advocate William Mokhare SC, representing Home Affairs, countered by saying, 'To suggest that meeting with Dudula translates to collusion is an absurd proposition. Collusion is a very strong word; it has very strong connotations, it's a serious allegation that cannot be lightly made, it must be made when one has got evidence.' Mokhare said the applicants' bid to interdict the minister of home affairs from colluding with Operation Dudula was inappropriate, and there were other remedies available. He defended section 41 of the Immigration Act, which the applicants sought to have declared constitutionally invalid because it allows for warrantless searches without reasonable suspicion. He argued that the legislation does not authorise warrantless raids or searches of homes but simply allows immigration officers or the police to request the identification of any person, not just immigrants. The SAPS legal team also denied all the allegations made by the applicants. Addressing the applicants' complaint that the SAPS had breached its constitutional duties, advocate W Isaaks maintained that the SAPS had acted within its constitutional and legislative obligations. He denied that the SAPS failed to investigate complaints of criminal conduct by Operation Dudula members against migrants, claiming the police responded to and investigated incidents when complaints were made. Isaaks dealt with some of the examples the applicants cited on Tuesday, including that officers at the Norwood Police Station refused to investigate and pursue charges against Operation Dudula members who threatened and assaulted traders in Orange Grove in 2022 and looted their businesses. He said the police had opened a case of intimidation and malicious damage in that instance, and provided a case number (251/03/2022). He turned to the killing of Elvis Nyathi, who was beaten to death by a mob in an incident that was allegedly incited by Operation Dudula in April 2022, and for which the applicants argued that no members of the anti-migrant group were arrested. Isaaks argued that SAPS investigation into the murder led to arrests, though the case was later struck from the roll due to witness non-cooperation, which falls under the National Prosecuting Authority's purview. He denied that the police colluded with Operation Dudula, saying that joint operations with the DHA were lawful and necessary for identification and verification purposes, and were not conducted at the instigation of Operation Dudula. Judgment was reserved. 'No one will stop us' After the proceedings concluded, members of Operation Dudula gathered outside the court, singing, dancing and bandying about the word ' Makwerekwere ' (a derogatory term for African foreign nationals). At the centre of the camouflage-clad crowd was the organisation's president, Dabula. She told Daily Maverick Operation Dudula only learnt on social media that the proceedings were happening. (The group was in fact emailed the founding affidavit in 2023.) Responding to allegations that members of the SAPS accompanied them on raids and that foreign nationals had been arrested outside the scope of the law, Dabula said, 'They're talking about things that they don't have proof of. For instance, they're talking about SAPS accompanying us on our operations. There's nothing like that.' She insisted that law enforcement members were present only to verify documents and that any document checks followed legal procedures. 'Every time we ask you to produce your document, you'll see or hear us saying, 'Go, the SAPS will verify your document. Because we know we can't physically even look at their documents … it's within their rights, but also there's a citizen's arrest that we can apply as citizens of this country.' She said Operation Dudula was the 'mouthpiece of South Africans' and the nation was facing an 'immigration crisis'. 'People are … seeing us as the only hope that talks about this foreign issue, and we don't mince our words. When we're saying that we want them to leave, we mean just that,' she said. KAAX's Dale McKinley said Operation Dudula did not speak on behalf of the South African public. 'There is a very small vocal minority, which is amplified on social media to make it appear as if large populations of South Africa are xenophobic. This is the point that we were making about Operation Dudula; they contested the elections as a political party, and they got fewer votes than we have members,' said McKinley. DM
The Citizen
11-06-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
South Africa can't go back to apartheid ways
In this country – and many others – immgrants are sometimes regarded as 'The Other' and as subhuman. Quite correctly, legal and constitutional experts, as well as civil society activists in the US, are voicing their concern that President Donald Trump is moving towards an authoritarian state, following his deployment of soldiers from the National Guard to help quell protests in Los Angeles. The Angelenos took to the street in reaction to heavy-handed raids on immigrants by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Today, on our pages, Claudia Pizzocri – a local immigration and citizenship lawyer – warns the same thing is already happening in South Africa under the 'Operation New Broom' campaign by the Department of Home Affairs. She says that, barely two days after the campaign launched late last month, more than 50 individuals, including children, pregnant women and asylum seekers, were rounded up during an early-morning raid at the Plastic View informal settlement in Tshwane. The people were treated in a dehumanising manner, reminiscent of the apartheid-era crackdowns on dissent. ALSO READ: Home Affairs launches Operation New Broom to tackle illegal immigration At the same time, lawyers suing the anti-immigrant movement, Operation Dudula, claim their actions against alleged illegal immigrants are not only unlawful, but they get tacit support from the police and authorities. Immigration is one of the hottest global topics at the moment as hordes of people seek to move across the world – either avoiding persecution or merely looking for a better life. Included in this group are South African whites who are being offered asylum in the US because they are allegedly facing a genocide. In this country – and many others – the newcomers are regarded as 'The Other' and as subhuman, which makes them all that easier to abuse and deprive of their basic human rights. In a country whose democracy rose out of the ashes of oppression, we cannot allow a similar culture of brutality to take root again. NOW READ: NGOs say foreigners in SA told to return to their countries when opening cases against Operation Dudula
