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Corruption Watch (CW) strongly condemns the recent threats, physical violence, and verbal attacks on human rights defenders Abahlali baseMjondolo (Abahlali), the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI), and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) by anti-immigrant organisation Operation Dudula and its allied groups. This follows Operation Dudula’s marches on 17 July to the Durban and Johannesburg offices of the SAHRC and SERI’s Johannesburg office to hand over a memorandum of demands, including a call for South Africans to be prioritised in public healthcare.
Abahlali joined the SAHRC and SERI in solidarity, and its members have subsequently received death threats from Dudula supporters – simply because they defended the human rights of marginalised people who are constitutionally entitled to access to basic services including healthcare, regardless of their resident status.
In a statement released on 18 July, SERI confirmed that it had informed Operation Dudula that a delegation would be on hand to receive the memorandum. This was to honour Dudula’s constitutional right to protest and was an expression of understanding of its concerns. However, Dudula elected not to hand over the memorandum but instead resorted to violence, attempting to forcibly enter the SERI office, which actions soon spread to threats of violence to people in the crowd and required the police to intervene.
“We cannot allow a private organisation to pronounce on the constitutional rights of foreign nationals in this country,” said CW. “This undermines our Constitution and ignores the fundamental human rights that are extended to all South African residents, whether citizens or not. It is well known that factors such as widespread corruption, infrastructure collapse, and governance failures are the real causes of the so-called healthcare crisis, rather than blaming it on the presence of immigrants.”
Abahlali revealed in a statement released on 19 July that since the march to the SERI offices, it had been targeted by a vicious social media campaign, which included numerous death threats. As South Africa’s largest social movement representing the interests of shack dwellers, the homeless, and the poor, the organisation is no stranger to harassment, victimisation, and even killings of their leaders, as a report released by Amnesty International in July 2024 documented so clearly.
Similarly, SERI has consistently been at the receiving end of violence and intimidation, as a leading human rights organisation providing professional and legal assistance to individuals, communities, and social movements seeking to protect and advance their socio-economic rights.
For media enquiries contact:
Oteng Makgotlwe
Cell: 076 473 8336 E-mail: OtengM@corruptionwatch.org.za
