Operation Dudula aims to create a better SA

Lately, some talk radio presenters and listeners have characterised #OperationDudula as a meeting ground for xenophobic thugs intent on taking the law into their own hands.

This is a blatant lie! Operation Dudula is a peace-loving movement aimed at creating a better SA free from illegal immigrants. Illegal being the operative word, not immigrants. SA welcomes all people to come to its shores, provided they do so legally.

Which country would allow anyone to cross into its borders without the proper documentation? Many of those who are quick to paint Operation Dudula as an anti-immigrant movement don’t experience the lived reality of many poor South Africans who, for example, are sold expired goods in illegal spaza shops.

Instead, they type op-eds and call into Power 98.7’s open line from their air-conditioned homes in northern leafy suburbs, far removed from the oppressive heat of overcrowded dwellings in Alexandra township.

They are the ones who can afford to spend money on airtime to call radio station 702 and speak of how the actions of Operation Dudula are reprehensible, far from Motsoaledi squatter camp in Soweto where the suffocating air of unemployment threatens the very existence of some families. Just saying.

Sandile Ntuli, Johannesburg