Tension erupted in Johannesburg on Saturday as police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up protesters who pushed into the G20 summit’s security zone. Members of the anti-migrant group Operation Dudula said they wanted the world to pay attention to South Africa’s growing problems, including rising crime and unemployment.
The group’s leader, Zandile Dabula, said frustration was boiling over, claiming people were “tired of foreigners” entering the country while President Cyril Ramaphosa “ignores the matter.” She added that they hoped visiting world leaders would urge him to “close your borders so there’s law and order in your country.”
Supporters of the opposition uMkhonto we’Sizwe (MK) party, led by former President Jacob Zuma, also joined the demonstration.
Protesters were unhappy that officials restricted their march to a designated area nearly one kilometre from the Nasrec Expo Centre, where global leaders were meeting. They argued the distance made their protest pointless and invisible to the delegates. “Who’s going to see our message if we’re this far?” one protester, Ayanda Ndlovu, asked.
Police arrested two Operation Dudula members, accusing the group of public violence, assaulting an officer, and disobeying a court order. Dabula responded by accusing the police of abusing their authority and refusing to confront “the real issue” of illegal immigration.
South Africa continues to attract migrants from nearby nations like Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Lesotho, as well as from countries such as Nigeria and Ethiopia. Between April last year and March this year, authorities deported 46,898 undocumented migrants, an 18% rise from the previous year.
Operation Dudula, which surfaced only a few years ago, has gained influence among mostly young Black South Africans. The group has been involved in closing foreign-owned shops and even blocking children of migrants from accessing public schools.
