THE impact of Operation Dudula, which a high court recently described a “one of the most visible and violent proponents of xenophobia”, is increasingly international.
Courts in other countries are hearing about alleged Dudula assaults targeting migrants who sought safety in South Africa.
A Zimbabwean resident claims that after being assaulted for refusing to comply with an order from that country’s ruling political party, Zanu PF, he fled to South Africa, where he alleges that he was the target of an attack by members of Operation Dudula.
He then went to Ireland, where he arrived on May 30, 2022, and requested refugee status and international protection.
This month, the High Court in Ireland dismissed the application of the 40-year-old man, identified simply as SM, which sought to overturn previous rulings that found he had no legal right to remain in the country.
SM’s experiences at the hands of Dudula members formed part of his broader case.
He alleged that in Zimbabwe in 2008, he “was subject to an attack by members of Zanu PF… for failure to comply with an order from Zanu PF”.
He went to South Africa, where, he alleged, in 2022, “he was subject to an attack in South Africa by members of a group he terms ‘Dudulas’, due to the fact he was an immigrant in South Africa”.
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In 2023, an International Protection Officer in Ireland recommended that SM not be declared a refugee or given protection, mainly because his version of events relating to Zimbabwe “was found not to be credible”.
SM appealed. Part of this process included submitting a report by Spirasi, a rehabilitation centre in Ireland for torture survivors.
The report found he had “13 skin lesions”, which SM said were due to various causes, with three scars sustained during the alleged Zanu PF assault of 2018.
It said he “attributes an approximately 15mm curved area of scarring over his index finger (second digit) on his right hand to injuries he states that he sustained during an alleged assault by members of the ‘Dudulas’ group in 2022”.
The report found that SM’s “physical and psychological symptoms and findings are highly consistent with his account of torture”.
But it could not rule out that his injuries may have been the result of other happenings, and a separate report stated that he had not “provided credible evidence in relation to his dealings with the Zanu-PF”.
Canadian court hearing
A few months before that ruling, in May 2025, a court in Canada heard about an alleged assault by Operation Dudula members on a man originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo, who emigrated to South Africa.
The court ruling detailed some of his background and explained that he had been granted refugee status in South Africa in 2012.
Fast-forward a decade.
“In November 2022, he was accosted by members of ‘Operation Dudula,’ a South African anti-immigrant group said to have ‘formalised’ what had been sporadic waves of xenophobic violence,” said the Canadian Federal Court.
“They assaulted (him), demanded a payment, and followed him home.”
The court order said the man had been in Rwanda in January 2023 when his housemate in South Africa was “accosted by people apparently looking for someone, [and] who said that the housemate ‘was not the one’ because he was white”.
Three weeks later, three men returned to the man’s home, while his housemate was there, and stole a television set, demanded money and said they were awaiting the man’s return.
He decided not to head back to South Africa and instead travelled to Canada via the US and sought protection as a refugee.
Various factors were considered in this regard, including “his personal experiences with members of Operation Dudula in 2022”.
The Federal Court in Canada found those events “do not indicate that he would be the subject of any specific targeting by either members of Operation Dudula or other individuals upon his return [to South Africa] in 2025.”
As such, the court was “left with the general evidence of anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobic violence in the (Republic of South Africa) that has been filed by the (man) on this application”. However, his attempt to stay in Canada was unsuccessful.
The Federal Court concluded that “these past events, while no doubt disturbing and potentially even traumatic … do not indicate that he would be the subject of any specific targeting by either members of Operation Dudula or other individuals upon his return (to South Africa) in 2025”.
These court cases in other countries underscore Operation Dudula’s vast impact.
Aside from cropping up in court cases in Ireland and Canada, Operation Dudula has also made headlines in other countries for its xenophobic stance. The US’s South Africa 2023 Human Rights Report mentioned it a few times, saying:
“Throughout the year, there were examples of the vigilante group, Operation Dudula, intimidating foreign nationals from visiting public health clinics.”
Pepper spray and arrest at G20
The organisation was founded in Soweto in 2021 and is now registered as a political party.
On November 4, the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg interdicted Operation Dudula from barring foreigners from accessing healthcare facilities and schools. Judge Leicester Adams said: “The undisputed evidence before me indicates that since 2021 Operation Dudula has emerged as one of the most visible and violent proponents of xenophobia, targeting foreign nationals and those perceived to be foreign.
“In isiZulu, ‘Dudula’ means ‘to force out’. The name, therefore, refers to Operation Dudula’s stated objective of expelling foreign nationals from South Africa, regardless of their immigration status.”
Operation Dudula had “formalised”, the judge found.
“It has office-bearers, social media accounts and it stages highly organised gatherings, attended by members wearing branded T-shirts and military style uniforms, displaying Operation Dudula banners and slogans.”
The group’s leader, Zandile Dabula, said they would appeal the order. At the weekend, Operation Dudula protested near the venue in Johannesburg where the G20 Summit was held.
On Saturday, November 22, the South African Police Service said: “Dudula members attempted to forcefully march towards the venue and block … a route used by foreign heads of state and dignitaries” to access the G20 Summit.
A scuffle broke out with protesters, who, the police said, used pepper spray on officers and threw objects at them.
One officer was injured and taken to a hospital, and two men were arrested.
The Public Order Policing Unit registered criminal cases against Operation Dudula.
These were linked to allegations of public violence, the assault of a police officer, and contravention of a court order. (It was not immediately clear if this was a reference to the recent high court order handed down in Gauteng.) — Daily Maverick.
- Dolley is an award-winning investigative journalist and author specialising in organised crime, corruption and illicit networks. A senior reporter and author of Clash of the Cartels and To The Wolves, she has uncovered the hidden workings of crime syndicates operating in South Africa and beyond.
