Fresh from a court victory overturning a prohibition to march, Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia marched in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, on Saturday and demanded the resignation of Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi.
Organisers of the anti-xenophobia march accused Dr. Motsoaledi and Gauteng Premier David Makhura of working alongside Operation Dudula to trample the rights of asylum seekers and other undocumented migrants.
The initial Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia march had been planned for Human Rights Day but was stopped after Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department raised concerns that Operation Dudula was planning to march on the same day.
Operation Dudula has publicly stated its intentions to “remove” undocumented people from other countries whom they accuse of stealing jobs from South Africans and committing crimes.
However, Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia which comprises locals and foreign nationals, took the matter to court. On Friday the prohibition against the anti-xenophobia march was overturned.
Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia said there were many South Africans that were not yet documented and were also at risk of actions of Operation Dudula. They blamed the home affairs department for the anomaly.
Without documentation, poor South Africans become further marginalised, trapped in an intergenerational cycle of poverty and vulnerability.
Such individuals are unable to access any form of government service or social protection – something Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia blamed on Home Affairs Minister Dr. Motsoaledi.
The organisers said foreign nationals were being used as scapegoats for government failures and called for all people to “live in harmony”.
Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia marched to the Johannesburg Central Police Station, where, Nhlanhla Lux Dlamini – a leader of Operation Dudula – remains locked up.
Police separated Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia marchers and supporters of Operation Dudula who were protesting outside the police station. No incidents of violence were reported.
Their leader Lux Dlamini was arrested on Thursday after an Economic Freedom Fighters member, Victor Ramerafe, laid a complaint of housebreaking and intimidation.
He alleges that Operation Dudula members led by Lux Dlamini forcibly entered his Soweto home on suspicion he was selling drugs.
Lux Dlamini is expected to apply for bail on Monday.
