Operation Dudula and anti-migrant marches

Operation Dudula emerged in 2021 and organised marches and campaigns demanding that undocumented migrants be removed from jobs, businesses and public services. Its activities reflected real public frustration with unemployment, insecurity and failures in immigration administration, but also treated foreign nationals as a collective threat and included intimidation and disruption of access to services.

The movement belongs in the timeline as part of the longer history of xenophobic violence and mobilisation after 1994. It also illustrates the distinction between lawful debate about immigration policy and coercive action against people based on nationality or perceived nationality.

Significance

Marked a shift from episodic attacks toward organised anti-migrant activism, while raising constitutional and human-rights questions about exclusion and access to services.