Hundreds of people took to the streets in Durban to express their frustration with the phenomenon of illegal immigration. These South Africans, demonstrators of the Dudula movement, are demanding only one thing: that the government take strict measures against undocumented immigrants.
Demonstrators from the Dudula movement took to the streets of Durban to denounce the phenomenon of illegal immigration. Through chants and slogans, they once again called on the government to take strict measures against undocumented immigrants.
Undocumented foreigners harming the country?
According to them, these foreigners are involved in many criminal activities in the country. The movement’s secretary general, Zandile Dabula, explains: “The problem is that people are coming into the country without papers and the government is not doing anything about it… This makes it difficult to trace them when they commit a crime. We just need our ministries to actually enforce the laws that are there, because they are not being enforced.
Although the parade celebrates the launch of Operation Dudula in KwaZulu–Natal, the protesters o chose Durban to gather because they believe the port city is being used as an entry point for counterfeit goods from abroad.
“I don’t understand why we should be called xenophobic because all we are asking is for people to be documented when they come to this country” , the general secretary continued, “It’s done in other countries, but people are not called xenophobic, but why are we called xenophobic when it’s South Africans doing it?”
A country regularly plagued by xenophobia
Poverty is the main driver of tension in South Africa. South African residents wrongly or mistakenly believe that foreigners are the cause of many of their difficulties. Dudula is a Zulu word meaning ‘to push back’ or ‘to set back’, which gives a clue as to what they want. It should be noted that this country is continuously plagued by xenophobia. Indeed, a few days ago, Cyril South African President Ramaphosa condemned the Dudula operation as “ vigilante ” and illegal. The South African President also expressed his fear that the movement would end in bloodshed.
