A dangerous tide of nationalism is once again shaping public discourse, not in the United States, but in South Africa, where a movement known as Operation Dudula has taken the politics of exclusion to alarming extremes.
What began as a civic campaign targeting undocumented migrants has now morphed into a political party, wielding rhetoric and tactics that echo former U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.
Yet, unlike Trump’s calls for a stricter legal immigration system, Operation Dudula’s crusade has crossed constitutional lines, threatening the very foundation of South Africa’s democracy and human rights framework.
Much of what is known about the group’s recent actions and public statements stems from BBC reporting, which has closely tracked its growing influence.
Xenophobia disguised as patriotism
South Africa is home to more than 2.4 million migrants, representing just under 4% of its population. Many come from neighbouring countries like Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, drawn by the promise of opportunity in Africa’s most industrialised economy. But as unemployment and inequality deepen, these migrants have become convenient scapegoats for South Africa’s social and economic ills.
Operation Dudula – meaning “to push back” in Zulu, has capitalised on these frustrations. Its members, led by Zandile Dabula, have taken it upon themselves to patrol hospitals and clinics, demanding that only South Africans be treated.
In interviews with the BBC, Dabula has argued that South Africans must be prioritised for public services, even if that means denying access to foreigners, regardless of their legal status.
She frames this as a matter of national survival, “We cannot cater for the whole globe,” she told the BBC.
But such actions violate Section 27 of South Africa’s Constitution, which guarantees access to healthcare for everyone within the country’s borders.
By targeting migrants, and even some South Africans who cannot produce ID documents, Dudula’s campaign has veered into dangerous territory. Its members have reportedly blocked clinic entrances, harassed health workers, and spread fear among vulnerable communities.
Also, Operation Dudula’s leaders frequently argue that migrants are taking jobs meant for South Africans and worsening the country’s unemployment crisis.
With joblessness hovering near record highs and economic inequality deepening, such claims have found a receptive audience among frustrated citizens who feel left behind by the post-apartheid promise of prosperity.
However, research suggests this narrative is misleading
According to a study by a group of migration scholars published in The Conversation, there is no evidence that international migrants are a major cause of unemployment in South Africa.
A 2018 World Bank analysis of labour migration further revealed that for every employed migrant in South Africa, two jobs were created for South Africans.
Similarly, a 2019 report by Statistics South Africa found that international migrants are more likely to be employed than internal migrants or non-movers, challenging the widespread perception that foreign workers displace local labour.
A moral and legal crisis
The South African government’s response has been mixed at best. While Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla condemned the harassment of migrants and reiterated that “health is a human right,” enforcement on the ground has been weak.
In 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa publicly condemned this wave of anti-migrant vigilantism, warning that it echoed the injustices of South Africa’s apartheid past.
Speaking at the time, and quoted by Al Jazeera, Ramaphosa said:
“We have seen people being stopped on the street by private citizens and being forced to produce identification to verify their immigration status. This was how the apartheid oppressors operated. Under apartheid, black people were deemed suspects by default and stopped by police when found in so-called white areas.”
In a scathing post on X, Malema urged authorities to deploy the Political Killings Task Team to investigate the group.
“Operation Dudula is a group of thugs and must be subjected to the Political Killings Task Team. Period!” Malema wrote.
Police have occasionally arrested Dudula members, only to release them with warnings, a leniency that emboldens further lawlessness.
Human rights groups such as the Health Justice Initiative have called on the government to act decisively, warning that allowing unregulated groups to dictate who can access healthcare “undermines the rule of law.”
The South African Human Rights Commission attempted to challenge Dudula in court, but its case failed on a technicality, effectively allowing the movement to continue unchecked.
Trump’s “America First” policy, for all its harshness, was rooted in formal legal mechanisms like border walls, travel bans, and immigration reforms.
Operation Dudula, by contrast, represents something more chaotic and dangerous: xenophobia without law. It is a populist movement policing the public sphere under the guise of patriotism, echoing the darkest moments of South Africa’s past when exclusion and discrimination were sanctioned by silence and inaction.
If the government fails to rein in these self-appointed enforcers, it risks normalising vigilantism and eroding the inclusive values enshrined in the post-apartheid constitution. Operation Dudula’s actions are not expressions of patriotism; they are acts of division that betray the ideals of a free and democratic South Africa, a nation once built on the promise that never again would anyone be judged or denied dignity on the basis of identity.
