Court slams Operation Dudula, blames government neglect

The Johannesburg High Court has interdicted the actions of the anti-immigrant group Operation Dudula, which has been blocking access to hospitals and schools for those who cannot present a South African ID.

The judge ruled that Operation Dudula’s vigilante conduct is against the law, as citizens are not entitled to take the law into their own hands. 

According to the judgment, the group is already responsible for the closure of a school with 300 learners in Jeppestown, after the school’s management decided it could not guarantee the safety of its learners and teachers.

“These risks are not confined to non-citizens. Any citizen who is undocumented or has lost or misplaced their identity documents would face the same risks,” said Judge Leicester Adams.

The group is also prohibited from making public statements that constitute hate speech based on nationality, social origin or ethnicity. 

The judge did not accept accusations that the South African Police Service (SAPS) was colluding with the group, ruling that SAPS is entitled to ask for proof of identification in public spaces, if under suspicion that the individual is in South Africa illegally. 

The court found that the South African government, including the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Justice, were partly responsible for these developments. 

Adams noted that the South African government has failed to implement the National Action Plan to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. 

The Department of Home Affairs argued that it is not the government’s responsibility to carry out the plan. 

The judge called this argument “astounding”, as the plan clearly states that the action plan falls squarely on the shoulders of the government for implementation. 

“The government’s unexplained failures to give proper effect to critical components of the NAP are an unconstitutional violation of its duties,” the judge said. 

Subsequently, the judge has issued a mandamus, a compulsory order, for the government to take reasonable steps to implement its own plan. 

Operation Dudula issued a very brief statement following the judgement, not backing down from previous rhetoric. “South Africans, today’s decision is a wake-up call! If we don’t stand together now, we risk losing control of our own country.”

Government shirks responsibility

The plan included the Department of Justice conducting a baseline study on levels of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance by March 2020, to analyse patterns, trends and challenges. 

A governance structure was to be set up by April 2020 and funding for the implementation of the plan was to be secured by March 2020. 

Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) was to collect data on racism and xenophobia to create a publicly accessible virtual repository.

Police and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are supposed to be prioritising xenophobic hate crimes so that they are dealt with efficiently. 

Civil rights group Kopanang Africa welcomed the judgment, saying that in a country founded on the rejection of apartheid, the government cannot allow xenophobic hate to be spread by Operation Dudula. 

“As the judgment notes, the xenophobia experienced in South Africa is best understood as xeno-racism, which is directed predominantly at black African non-nationals,” the group said. 

“It has deep roots in South Africa’s history of anti-black racism during the colonial and apartheid periods.”

Operation Dudula has been blocking suspected foreign nationals from receiving healthcare or education, arguing that illegal foreigners are overburdening South Africa’s already strained systems. 

South Africa has a long history of xenophobic violence. The most significant violent attacks began in 2008, spreading from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

At least 62 people died in the initial attacks, including 21 South Africans, as xenophobic mobs burned homes and attacked suspected foreigners. A further 1,700 were injured. 

By 2012, over 100,000 people were displaced. Operation Dudula began as small, localised pickets in 2022. 

The group is now a political party, with ambitions of contesting the next national elections.