Anti-xenophobic group ‘confident’ court will green light Joburg march
A coalition of civil society organisations under the banner of Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia says it’s confident that the High Court in Johannesburg will overturn a ban against its anti-xenophobic march.
The group approached court after the Johannesburg metro police banned its march on Human Rights Day.
The movement had planned to march against Operation Dudula, which they claim is responsible for the growing number of attacks on foreign nationals living in South Africa.
The matter will be heard in court on Thursday.
The coalition’s spokesperson Dale McKinley says there was no rational logic for the JMPD to cancel the march.
“The reasons given by Joburg Metro Police Department as set out in a previous release, were based on the intimidation and threats against our march being issued by Operation Dudula as well as fake social media posts sent out by Operation Dudula, containing falsified information designed to target so-called ‘illegal’ immigrants as well as threaten and intimidate our movement.”
McKinley says Operation Dudula has been one of the triggers behind the wave of anti-foreigner sentiment in the country.
“What they are doing is xenophobic because it is targeting people simply because of their nationalities, because they are not from here they must be taking things from us and that kind of attitude aim at causing divisions. Ironically, it is poor black people fighting another poor black people.
“If you are concerned about jobs and socio-economic challenges, you don’t attack those that are with you in the trenches, that came to your country because of political challenges in their homes, what they should be doing is challenging the policies and home affairs.
“Operation Dudula is marching up a wrong tree, they are going against the victim and not the perpetrators.”
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