{"id":31044,"date":"2025-06-10T19:32:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/?p=31044"},"modified":"2025-06-10T19:32:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T17:32:31","slug":"rights-groups-haul-operation-dudula-to-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/2025\/06\/10\/rights-groups-haul-operation-dudula-to-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights groups haul Operation Dudula to court"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Credit: Muslim Judicial Council<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a landmark case, a class action lawsuit against Operation Dudula is underway in the high court in Johannesburg for the alleged harassment of migrants and interfering with their right to access healthcare, among others.<\/p>\n

Civil organisations, including Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX), the South African Informal Traders Forum (SAITF), the Inner City Federation (ICF), and Abahlali baseMjondolo (AM), are accusing the anti-illegal migration political party and government of conducting xenophobic and racially motivated attacks on foreign nationals living in the country.<\/p>\n

The civil society organisations are demanding justice, equality, and respect for the rule of law, and the safeguarding of constitutional rights for all people, regardless of nationality.<\/p>\n

The applicants are not only targeting specific crimes of OD, but also all the “rhetoric and vigilante operations” allegedly carried out by a multitude of groups that operate under the umbrella of Operation Dudula.<\/p>\n

The case also challenges the state’s alleged failure to take action against OD’s alleged disdain for the law and chronic violations of human rights.<\/p>\n

Their legal representatives have begun defending their case.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2023 Operation Dudula has emerged as one of the most visible environment and proponents for xenophobia targeting foreign nationals and those perceived to be foreign. We have made the point that \u201cdudula\u201d means to force out which mainly captures its objective of expelling foreign nationals from South Africa regardless of their immigration status,\u201d says one legal representative of the civil organisations involved.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit has received unprecedented support from human rights organisations, underlining its larger relevance for South Africa’s constitutional democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe develop the submission that xenophobia is an unfair form of discrimination, which targets individuals based on intersecting types of characteristics. We also make the submission that it is important to recognize that in our history, xenophobia is closely linked to racism; it\u2019s linked to it domestically but we also think it is recognized internationally,\u201d says the legal representative.<\/p>\n

Political observers say this matter extends far beyond questioning one organisation’s actions, but also addresses fundamental issues such as the state’s obligation to apply the law fairly, the respect and protection of international migrants; the confluence of offline and online rights, and government’s responsibility when faced with systematic rights breaches.<\/p>\n

KAAX\u2019s Dorothy Mabelebele says the court challenge against OD is a quest for justice for migrants, who the organisation, claims are being denied basic rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are demanding justice for migrants who have faced harassment, forced evictions and denial of basic rights such as health care and education,\u201d says Mabelebele.<\/p>\n

She says the state is failing to fulfil its constitutional obligation and that they are now taking a long awaited stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a stand for dignity, equality, and the rule of law. We believe South Africa must be a home for all who live in it,\u201d adds Mabelebele.<\/p>\n

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The case is hailed as a test for the Constitution, which protects both the right to dignity of all South Africans and those who live in the country.\u00a0 Its outcomes will set a precedence on how migrants should be treated. Written by Odirile Rabolao<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a landmark case, a class action lawsuit against Operation Dudula is underway in the high court in Johannesburg for the alleged harassment of migrants and interfering with their right to access healthcare, among others. Civil organisations, including Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX), the South African Informal Traders Forum (SAITF), ...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Xenophobia-anti.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31047,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31044\/revisions\/31047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}