Operation Dudula to brief media on plans to intensify their campaigns

Operation Dudula will on Thursday hold a media briefing in Johannesburg, where they will announce plans to intensify their campaigns against foreign nationals.

This includes the removal of foreign drivers working for delivery applications, targeting hijacked buildings and taking legal action against the Kalafong Hospital management.

Last week Friday, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced a permit extension for Zimbabwean nationals living and working in South Africa, by a further six months.

That is from December 31, 2022 to June 30, 2023. Zimbabwean nationals will be allowed to apply for visas for a further six months.

Operation Dudula saays they have instructed their attorneys to apply for direct access to the Constitutional Court to interdict the Minister of Home Affairs from extending the permit. They said, they reject the vague reasons behind the special advisory committee’s decision.

Earlier, ActionSA said they remained concerned about the decision.

Kalafong Tertiary Hospital

Last month, patients suspected to be foreign nationals were turned away by Operation Dudula at the Kalafong Tertiary Hospital in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria. The movement says migrant patients should be documented before accessing services at the facility.

The hospital has since interdicted the movement. Operation Dudula has been picketing outside the hospital since the beginning of August. It says South Africans are not getting preferential treatment due to the influx of foreign nationals at healthcare facilities.

It wants those who are undocumented to pay for health services.

“We didn’t come here to hinder progress. We are saying the undocumented (foreign nationals) must pay. Management must enforce the laws. When an illegal immigrant comes to the hospital, because they are here illegally according to Section 17, after they have been discharged, that particular person must call law enforcement or immigration to take that person out of this country,” says the organisation’s Elias Magwadi.

The group allegedly turned away patients based on the colour of their skin and language spoken. Magwadi denies this.

“That is a false statement. We have been picketing peacefully. You know when you are a criminal, when you see law enforcement you run away. Those people, because they know Operation Dudula and they are here illegally, whenever we are here with our regalia, they run away. We did not hinder anyone to go on the premises.”

VIDEO: Members of Operation Dudula in Tshwane continue to picket outside the Kalafong hospital: