Lawyers for the Zimbabwe Truck Drivers Association are trying to serve papers on the leaders of the Operation Dudula (‘Push away’) movement to stop them intimidating and harassing foreigners, but they cannot find them.
The Dudula movement has alarmed foreigners to the point where a number of African embassies are understood to have urged the government to rein in a disturbing xenophobic streak that has resurfaced in South Africa in recent months, egged on by politicians.
“I have been instructed by the Zimbabwean Truckers Association to take legal action to challenge the acts of intimidation against foreigners during Operation Dudula,” says Advocate Simba Chitando.
“We have all seen the ugly acts of harassment, vigilantism, and xenophobic violence during this operation, which targets members of the Zimbabwean Truckers Association, their families, and foreigners from many African countries.”
The association wants the court to interdict the organisers of Operation Dudula from harassing and intimidating its members and their families.
“It is hard to understand how this group could get permission from the police to march, if it can be called a march, without details of the organisers, including their service address,” says Chitando.
The association has condemned the police’s handling of the Operation Dudula marches, by not advising affected members of the public, including foreign nationals and their employers, of the details of the intended march before it takes place.
“Our instructions are now to take legal action against the SA Police Services for failing to protect foreign nationals, as they are obligated to do, as well as their employers, during Operation Dudula.”