Xenophobia case against Operation Dudula moves forward in court

Operation Dudula was dragged to court this morning to answer for their alleged xenophobia against foreign nationals but asked the court to postpone the matter, claiming to have only been made aware of the matter on Monday.

Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia, Abahlali Base Mjondolo Movement, inner city federation and SA informal traders forum filed the matter at the Johannesburg high court. They demand that Dudula must – among other things – stop harassing foreign nationals, interfering with their access to healthcare services and removing them from their stalls where they ply their trade. 

However, Solomon Kekana, treasure-general of Operation Dudula, told the court that they know nothing about the case brought against them for xenophobic harassment and that they do their operations within the confines of the law. 

“In most of our operations, we engage with stakeholders like home affairs and the SAPS. My plea is that court must respect the fact that we only received this yesterday.”

However, the applicants' lawyer Adv Jason Brickhill, opposed the postponement, calling Dudula’s claims “unfounded.”

“Operation Dudula was served at its registered address, and we have the returns of service. They’ve had the papers for two years and made a public decision to ignore the proceedings,” he said.

Brickhill pointed to public statements made by the group, including a 2023 IOL article quoting Dudula technical adviser Isaac Lesole, who dismissed the legal action as “grandstanding” by NGOs and said they had no intention of opposing it.

Judge Lester Adams questioned whether Dudula should be allowed to interfere at this late stage.

“It looks like I shouldn’t be allowing them to interfere with this matter,” he said.

Representing home affairs which is one of the respondents, Adv William Mokhari SC said Dudula failed to file a notice to oppose.

“The train has long left the station. A party that fails to file a notice to oppose is not entitled to be heard. The matter must proceed,” said Mokhari.

The applicants are challenging what they're calling Operation Dudula’s xenophobic conduct and the state’s alleged failure to act. There are 13 respondents in the case and they are Operaton Dudula, the SA government, ministers of police, health, basic education, home affairs, justice as well as correctional services, national commissioner of the SAPS, Gauteng department of health, Zandile Dabula, Dan Radebe and the SA human rights commission.

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