DURBAN - KWAZULU-NATAL leaders of Operation Dudula have vowed to stage the KZN leg of their planned march, saying they are prepared to take legal action if their launch is cancelled again.
Operation Dudula KZN co-ordinator Mfanafuthi Dumakude said they were planning to hold a march in Durban in the near future, and would do everything possible to get the permission.
Dumakude was speaking after their march planned for yesterday was called off at the eleventh hour because the movement had not followed the rules regarding the gathering. The march was going to mark the movement’s official launch in KZN and was set to be attended by the organisation’s national leaders from Gauteng.
“We have decided that we will follow the advice of the police, but the march will take place very soon. If we have to call on our legal advisers in order for it to take place, so be it,” Dumakude said.
The movement has been making headlines in Gauteng by forcefully shutting down businesses owned by foreign nationals, and last week its leader, Nhlanhla “Lux” Dlamini, was arrested when he led a similar activity. Dlamini is expected to appear in court today.
Dumakude said the primary reason that their movement was growing in popularity was because it echoed the sentiments of many South Africans.
“The proliferation of drugs that are peddled by foreigners and the highjacking of buildings are some of the frustrations that are felt by many people in our communities, and we have provided that platform,” he said.
He warned that they would continue their activities as they had grown tired of foreigners who did as they pleased.
“If you walk around Durban you will note that many buildings have been hijacked and are used as havens for the drug trade, and it is not South Africans who are doing this. We are not talking about something that we suspect, it is there for everyone to see,” said Dumakude.
The co-ordinator said they were equally aware that their movements were being monitored by security agents, but that this was just a scare tactic. Dumakude said the arrest of the movement’s leader last week was part of a move to destabilise it, but he insisted that this would not work. He added that they were well aware of plans to destabilise their movement.
“We are clear about what we are doing, and are pretty determined to continue with it because we regard it as a just cause. We are aware that there are plans to infiltrate our organisation but we will not allow ourselves to be distracted,” he said. He added that they were receiving calls from many parts of the country to launch their movement.
University of Johannesburg (UJ) academic, Professor Miriam Altman, cited a combination of lack of economic opportunities coupled with the fact that foreign nationals were more entrepreneurial as having contributed to anti-foreigner sentiments.
“There is a frustration because the country’s economy has not been growing for some time now and opportunities are very limited,” said Altman, who is from the College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, at UJ.
She said that South Africa was still battling the legacy of apartheid.
“We have not embraced Pan-Africanism, there is no sense of seeing the country as part of the region or part of the continent, and that has a lot do with apartheid history,” Altman said. She also noted that anti-foreigner sentiment was not limited to South Africa, but also occurred in many other parts of the world.
Police spokesperson Jay Naicker said they had been notified that a planned event at the Gugu Dlamini Park for Sunday was not approved by the eThekwini Municipality, as permission had not been obtained by the organisers from the Parks and Recreation Department, and had advised the movement’s leaders about this.
Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said they had pointed out that certain protocols had not been followed, and the movement’s leadership had taken note of this and called the march off.
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