Over the past two decades, South Africa has experienced violent incidents of xenophobic violence that disproportionately targeted poor black immigrants from other African countries.
As the government stated in its 2019 National Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, the roots of this violence are those that describe Africans as “racist and isolationist.” “The long-standing policy of apartheid policy.'' They are the worst victims of xenophobia in modern South Africa. ”
“Xenophobia is not just hatred towards people of other countries. It is anti-blackness and racism,” emphasizes Nomzamo Zondo, executive director of the South African Social and Economic Rights Research Institute (SERI).
Between 2008 and 2021, such violence killed at least 612 people and displaced more than 122,000, according to the government. Report published by Xenowatch. Xenophobia is not new to South Africa, but in recent years its various iterations have become increasingly associated with a vigilante group called Operation Dudula.
Operation Dudura, whose name means “forced deployment” in IsiZulu, first appeared on the 45th anniversary of the Soweto uprising in 2021. marched Mr. Soweto is engaged in a “clean-up mission” targeting companies run by foreigners.
Since then, members of this group have regularly faced forced evictions, “closure” notices on businesses and stores, physical attacks, and obstruction of access to public services.
A group of social movements and civil society organizations in this country are now coming together to demand: lawsuit Opposition to Operation Dudula and, importantly, the failure of the South African state and police to fulfill their obligations to intervene and stop the criminal activities of this group.
The petition was filed by SERI on behalf of Kopanan Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX), the South African Informal Traders Forum (SAITF) and the Inner City Federation (ICF). self-organizing group They are a group of low-income residents living in the Johannesburg city center and the radical socialist barracks dwellers movement Abahlari Base Mjondolo (AbM).
“Vigilante activities” supported by the state
One of the major incidents of violence highlighted in the affidavit filed by SERI occurred on 6 April 2022, when residents of Diepsloot, an informal settlement located north of Johannesburg, were accused of murder. They marched against high crime rates, crime and powerlessness. local police.
The then leader of Operation Dudula, Ntlantla Pabalo Mohlauli (also known as Nhlanhla Lux), was also present and addressed the crowd, blaming the high crime rate on the presence of foreigners and adding: Said. Walk away and then scatter into the streets, our approach depends on the people we are fighting, and if those people have guns and weapons, we have guns and weapons. ”
Later that day, rioters went door to door, demanding people they believed to be foreigners to produce their passports and money. The mob beat and stoned Elvis Nyati, a 43-year-old Zimbabwean man, before burning him to death.
Two days later, the South African Police Service (SAPS) conducted a warrantless raid in Diepsloot and asked residents to provide identification.
talk to dispatch of peopleNomzamo Zondo said, “Operation Dudura is in fact not a vigilante group because it is backed by the government, but the government is in a joint operation with the vigilante groups and therefore cannot act outside the law.'' ”
“There have been instances of Operation Dudura infiltrating local communities, with mobs attacking informal traders and forcing shops believed to be owned by foreigners to close down…with police following close behind and enforcing them. We conducted an investigation.”
This proximity to state power is also reinforced by the fact that members of Operation Dudula often wear military uniforms that resemble those of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF).
The affidavit states that SAPS investigated Operation Dudura's activities and, despite being present at the scene, did not intervene to stop the violence or arrest members of the group responsible for the illegal activities. A detailed explanation of this is provided. In some cases, “SAPS enabled and supported Operation Dudura's criminal activities,” the affidavit states.
On 13 June 2022, members of Operation Dudura went to Yeovil Market in Johannesburg and ordered all traders to leave. Despite being on the scene, SAPS did not intervene. On June 21, an arson attack destroyed one-third of the market.
Furthermore, warrantless raids by SAPS are themselves in violation of a 2021 South African Constitutional Court judgment that such raids amount to a violation of the right to dignity and privacy.
In this regard, the affidavit asks the court to declare SAPS to be in breach of its constitutional obligations and to enjoin it from “supporting or colluding with Operation Dudura.”
It seeks a similar injunction against the Minister's and the Home Office's actions against communities targeted by Operation Dudura due to the officials' participation in “joint operations with SAPS,” which the MHA acknowledged in a letter to SERI. . .
Xenophobia against poverty under capitalism
Operation Dudura often invokes reactionary anti-immigrant rhetoric, publicly naming entire nationalities as criminals, “illegal border crossers” and “low-wage workers.”
This includes repeated false statements that there are more than 15 million foreign nationals in South Africa, when in fact the number is about 3.9 million, according to Statistics South Africa. This figure is used to construct a narrative that portrays foreigners as “leeches of the South African constitution'' that deprive South Africans of housing and employment.
Stories like this take root in the context of soaring prices. unemployment and poverty in what is considered the most unequal country in the world. Operation Dudura intimidates and targets people trying to access public health facilities, while access to health care and education remains difficult.
In Jeppe Park, the group physically attacked an elementary school that provided education to 300 students and primarily served poor communities, ultimately forcing its closure by the end of 2022.
In the face of such everyday violence, Operation Dudura legitimizes their actions while acknowledging the work that South African movements and organizations have done to resist such xenophobic rhetoric. It is also important that they defend the very issues they are using for their own purposes as well. They face deadly state violence and persecution.
This includes Abahlari Base Miyondoro and ICF, most of whose members are on the waiting list for government housing and are recipients of government subsidies. SERI itself has faced threats so severe that it has been forced to close its offices, and people within the organization have faced threats over their personal information on Twitter, phone calls, and physical threats to their safety. .
“These movements [the applicants in the case] They feel the same unemployment and housing pressures that Operation Dudura supporters feel, but one thing they make clear is that when we treat others with contempt, we treat others with contempt. “We cannot expect dignity from them…” and it is exactly the same as them. Ask for what you want for yourself and what you want for others,” Zondo said.
At the heart of this is a commitment to recognizing and affirming the humanity of all people, AbM Secretary-General Thapelo Mohapi emphasized, quoting the isiXhosa maxim.Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu“It means that humans can only be humans because of other humans.”
“I am always worried that the most vulnerable people who are trying to make a living are being attacked by the state using other institutions such as Operation Dudura…They represent the poor “But they represent their own agenda. It's the national agenda to get rid of immigrants,” he said. dispatch of peoplespoke about AbM's decision to join the petition.
AbM also likens the actions of Operation Dudura to violently targeting people simply because they are foreigners. recognized If so, racists would pass the laws of an apartheid regime.
“This is exactly what the DHA is trying to do, looking for so-called 'illegal aliens' and asking black people to prove whether they are in the country. legally… Their humanity should be recognized accordingly.”
Mr Mohapi added: “Capitalist states always divide the poorest people, so South Africans who are dispossessed of land and violently evicted from our cities are deeply affected by the systems that divide us. Instead of looking at them, they are blaming migrant workers…they are,” he added. Tell us that we are poor because our African brothers and sisters have taken our jobs and resources. That is a lie…we are one Africa. ”
cover up government failures
Operation Dudura's actions speak to something bigger: “Scapegoating migrants is not just about migration, it's about state failure,” Zondo said. “Operation Dudura is giving the government a silver bullet: if we solve this problem of immigration, we can provide better education and better health care…”
Mr Zondo cited the example of former Johannesburg mayor Hermann Mashaba. “When asked about providing housing for the poor in the city centre, his answer was that the government would not provide housing because 90% of them are illegal immigrants.”
She added that xenophobia not only justifies state failure, but is a condition that emerges when states fail. activity, act by violence. And this violence is being driven by poor communities.
Furthermore, while much of the rhetoric focuses on 'illegal aliens', the widespread economic hardship experienced by the majority of South Africans indicates that some type of alien is emerging. ing. internal xenophobia.
“In the situation we are in, with rising costs of living, unemployment, loss of land, and many of us are also internal migrants… First, all African migrants have to return to their countries. , that's going to happen. All the people in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal will have to go home…,” Zondo said.
“What prevents us from reaching a situation where almost every situation in your life is dominated by the violence of others? Where we're using the kind of violence that we're using…because we're rubber-stamping this group's use of violence, not just as a people, but especially as a government.”
With elections just a year away, there is a growing risk that xenophobic and anti-poor rhetoric will be used for political gain. Operation Dudura also announced its intention to register as a political party.
“Voting operations involving the African National Congress are taking place, despite the fact that they were organized by the same people the ANC is currently forcing out of the country, when the ANC itself was in exile.” said Mohapi. .
Mr Zondo added: “Just recently we had politicians trying to vacate buildings… and this is all so that we can say we work, and when we say we work, we means excluding the poor, which means you are not.” You can see our failures. If you are poor, you may experience it, but you will never see it. ”
