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Dudula Movement must deal with immigrants legally

Operation Dudula movement marched in Rosslyn, Pretoria to give out memorandums of demand to factories like Afrit Trailers and Praga Technical urging them to hire local people.
Operation Dudula movement marched in Rosslyn, Pretoria to give out memorandums of demand to factories like Afrit Trailers and Praga Technical urging them to hire local people.
Image: Thulani Mbele

A few days ago we celebrated Human Rights Day at a time when many South Africans are divided over the Dudula Movement. It has over the past weeks been in the news for participating in what many may call xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals.

The group is doing this with the view that they are serving SA and its citizens because in their mind, it is foreigners who are the cause of their woes today.

There is no doubt the country is faced with serious economic problems and unemployment is at its highest. But are foreigners responsible for this? Unless we find an objective answer to this question we will continue to blame others for our own failures to create jobs as a country. SA's economy has not being performing well over the past decade. And foreigners are not the cause of this.

While the Dudula Movement may claim to be fighting for South Africans, its strategy is not reasonable. In a constitutional country like SA, you expect people will fight for what is right using legal and constitutional ways.

They will push for the government to change its foreign policy and to tighten border control. You expect them to engage business to hire and train more South Africans to acquire skills to be self-employed.

Yes some foreigners are doing illegal businesses like selling drugs and human trafficking, but certainly not all of them. So why punish others for sins they did not commit?

While the Dudula Movement is trying to save us, they must find legal means because they are now violating not only our laws but also international laws. I hope Nhlanhla Lux Dlamini and his supporters will open up dialogue over this matter instead of terrorising foreigners.

Tom Mhlanga, Braamfontein, Joburg

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