‘People are angry and scared’: Operation Dudula makes trouble in Alexandra

Tensions ran high on Sunday in Alexandra, with residents saying Operation Dudula members were “terrorising the community, acting on their own accord and not on behalf of the community”.

Dudula members closed down betting company SupaBets and Roots butchery in the township, demanding that their managements hire only South Africans.

A resident, Phumlani Ntshingila, said although the community was poverty stricken, with 80% of the residents unemployed, the approach Dudula took was affecting those residents employed at the shops.

“They always say they are acting on behalf of the community but they never consult that very same community. We really need a better approach to this issue.

“I’m disappointed because most of the residents here don’t agree with how Dudula wants to do things. Yes, we want jobs, but not at the expense of others.”

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Another resident, Tholakele Sibiya, said the protests and fights involving Operation Dudula often ended with some residents being caught in the crossfire.

“We have so many problems here in Alex. Every day someone is raped, killed or robbed, but we never get assistance from the police,” she said. “Those are the problems we should be fighting, not things that are beyond us. If we want to make sure these companies don’t hire foreigners, shutting them down for a couple of hours won’t help.

“We need to rally each other and stop buying from them. That’s how we teach them a lesson, not this.”

Mxolisi Sontshyatshya, the Dudula member believed to be the convener of the operation, said the businesses which were closed were hiring illegal immigrants to exploit them for their cheap labour, and demanded managements prioritise hiring locals.

Sontshyatshya said they had reported this issue to the department of home affairs, police and the premier’s office, but they had not heard back.

“We are not speculating; we know,” Sontshyatshya said. “They have rejected a lot of South Africans because they demand industry-level pay and not peanuts.

“For now, we just wanted to give them a memorandum of demands and when the time is right if they don’t adhere, that’s when we will take proper action.”

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In June, Alexandra residents allegedly assaulted and put tyres around a woman who they accused of being part of Dudula and suspected of terrorising residents.

Ntshingila warned that with tensions skyrocketing, this would once more be the case if nothing was done urgently.

“People are angry but they are also scared. Rumours have gone around they are planning to retaliate soon so we are living on edge.”

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za

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