Operation Dudula Movement: SAPS briefing with Ministry

Meeting report

The Chairperson congratulated the new National Commissioner, General Sehlahle Masemola, on his appointment. She thanked the Minister and the President for the swift, efficient and professional manner in which they had managed this transition. The Committee would continue to support the new National Commissioner and his team.

Minister’s comments on Operation Dudula

Mr Bheki Cele, Minister of Police, said that the briefing today would focus on Operation Dudula. The briefing would need to have a broader discussion going forward, especially on the content and context.

There had been questions as to why the police did not stop these kinds of movements. The police had no right to stop any South African in how they associated themselves, so long as they did that within the law, unarmed and did not cause any violence. It had not been easy for the law enforcement in South Africa to manage this. There had been meetings with the people who planned the march, to discuss the times, route and content of the memorandums. However, these better ways of handling such movements were cancelled when the decision was made by the Constitutional Court that everybody and anybody in South Africa could wake up the next morning and assemble to march as they wished, without informing the police, city manager or mayor. This had made life very difficult, as this movement could be stopped only when it caused violence, which meant that there would need to be evidence of the throwing of stones and the burning of cars, etc.

He said that time and again, he had heard that it was the police who were the problem. He had approached the Minister of Justice and Correctional Service to figure out if there was any way to deal with this movement. The Minister had promised to look into it, and maybe refer back to the Constitutional Court, because a lot of problems had been caused by that decision. The police could not stop people from marching, but the police should be enabled to be better prepared so that these marches did not cause problems for other people who were not involved.

Chairperson’s comments

The Chairperson thanked the Minister for always being exemplary in assisting the Committee. She thanked Gen Masemola for spending his first day as the National Commissioner with the Committee. It was historical that the Committee was attended by the National Commissioner on his first day in office, which set a very good precedent for the Committee. She was thankful for the seamless transition and would send a letter of appreciation to the former National Commissioner.

SAPS on policing the Operation Dudula movement

Gen Masemola introduced the South African Police Service (SAPS) delegation.

Lt Gen Michael Motlhala, Divisional Commissioner: Visible Policing and Operations, said that the purpose of the presentation was to brief the Committee on the policing issues related to the Operation Dudula movement and its activities.

As background, he said the Operation Dudula Movement gained prominence in June 2021 when it organised an operation in Diepkloof, Soweto, advocating the removal of foreign nationals in the country, the closure of foreign-owned shops, the removal of drug peddlers, as well as action to be taken to alleviate the heightened crime rate experienced in Diepkloof.

Recent developments had reaffirmed intelligence reports that the Operation Dudula movement was gaining momentum in Gauteng, but indications were that it was spreading to other provinces, such as KwaZulu-Natal and to a lesser extent, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The activities of the movement were likely to heighten tensions and cause instability within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Foreign nationals from the neighbouring countries might create "chats" and utilise social media platforms to mobilise and plan retaliatory attacks on all South African citizens employed and working in respective neighbouring African countries if the planned attacks on foreign nationals continued. The situation may also affect foreign nationals who were legitimately employed in South Africa, as well as refugees and asylum seekers.

Lt Gen Motlhala described the activities of the Operation Dudula movement, the SAPS case management and coordination, and said early warnings from the Crime Intelligence Division regarding operations, including Operation Dudula, had been captured on the threat matrix of the National Operational Command Centre (NOCC). This had been communicated to the relevant Provincial Operational Command Centres (POCCs) for planning and operationalisation.

He said the root causes contributing to the conflict between citizens and foreign nationals may not be within the domain of the SAPS to deal with, but required an "all of Government” approach to address the situation.

(See presentation for further detail.)

Discussion

Rev K Meshoe (ACDP) agreed that Operation Dudula could not be allowed to take over the functions of the police. This was the perception that was being created on the ground, and the police would have a serious challenge to change this perception. He questioned how the SAPS would change this perception, particularly when they had been perceived as being powerless during the Operation Dudula movement last year.

He observed that the Minister had said that the Constitutional Court judgment had made it very difficult for the police to do their job. He asked whether SAPS had identified the clauses within the constitution that were being used by the Constitutional Court that had stopped the police from doing what they needed to do. It was not right that there were vigilante groups that were allowed to search people, because the police themselves were not allowed to search people in the streets without a warrant. How were ordinary people allowed to search premises and search people when the police themselves needed permission to do so?

He noted that the Operation Dudula movement was branching out to other provinces. He recalled that the police had been powerless and could not stop the July 2021 unrest they had been overwhelmed. He questioned what the police would do if a repeat of the July 2021 unrest occurred across all the provinces.

Mr O Terblanche (DA) referred to the presentation's statement that in the unlikely event of a concerted mobilisation, SAPS would potentially not have the resources to contain the situation to operate on multiple fronts, and said this was concerning. He agreed with Rev Meshoe’s observation about the July 2021 unrest. If this was the case, then the new National Commissioner had a serious challenge. The Committee could not accept such statements, because it had a responsibility to ensure that the police would be able to contain such situations.

He asked if there was a coordinated effort between the different departments to ensure that service delivery would be improved because apparently one of the main focuses of Operation Dudula was to address the lack of service delivery for the communities. He asked what counteractions and strategies were in place to deal with such eventualities.

Mr H Shembeni (EFF) said there were a lot of questions regarding Operation Dudula, as this movement had become out of hand. There were now more voice messages from foreign nationals that were regrouping against Operation Dudula. He questioned what would happen since the SAPS could not stop Operation Dudula, and other forces were also coming in. This would cause a problem in South Africa.

He referred to the previous convictions involving cases of Operation Dudula. He observed that a person named Moses Tshilidzi Khanyandwa had faced several accusations of illegal evictions, and asked what was happening with this case. He questioned why Operation Dudula had closed down ordinary complexes that were not owned by foreign nationals, and why the movement was demanding security fees from foreign nationals, as this was a crime. He recalled that the Committee had already asked the Minister if the criminals were winning against the SAPS. He asked if the police were escorting or stopping these people from doing crimes. If the police were not stopping crime, then it meant that they were assisting those people to commit crimes in their presence. He questioned whether the SAPS had invited the other departments to address this conflict. He had once questioned the presence of Operation Dudula at one of the meetings in Norwood because it seemed that the movement was a legitimate organisation that was operating with the SAPS.

He urged that something had to be done as soon as possible -- and that SAPS could not say that it could not stop Operation Dudula’s operations in the near future. He emphasised that the mandate of the SAPS was to protect South Africa and its inhabitants.

Mr M Shaik Emam (NFP) said it was incorrect to blame the SAPS because the police had not created the environment in which the country found itself. The SAPS had nothing to do with the high unemployment, looting, corruption, illegal and undocumented foreigners coming into the country, and the inflow of drugs into the country. The Committee needed to be realistic, as the SAPS was already overwhelmed with the high levels of crime in the country as a result of the high unemployment rate, the poor socioeconomic conditions, the spatial planning of the country, and the availability of alcohol and drugs etc. The Minister had repeatedly raised these concerns. He said that there needed to be a holistic approach to this matter.

One would not be surprised if political parties were behind the Operation Dudula movement as well because when people wanted relevance they aligned themselves with organisations of this nature. These problems came from leaders within the communities.

He questioned why the movement was selective in its attacks, particularly on black foreign nationals. These operations did not check if those that worked in the Chinese shops were documented, but they selectively attacked foreign nationals. He did not think that anyone would leave their country, home, family and friends to come to another country for pleasure -- it was already traumatic to leave everything behind. It should not be forgotten that these were the very same countries that had stood by South Africa when the country needed them the most.

The SAPS was expected to deal with this problem, but he questioned if other departments, like the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Employment and Labour, were also doing something. All these departments needed to come together and engage to establish the root causes of this conflict in the country.

The influx of undocumented foreigners impacted the employment status of this country. With millions of people going to bed hungry, one could expect what people had been doing, because they were getting frustrated that the system was not protecting the locals. Foreigners were needed, but should also comply, as local people complied.

The municipalities were responsible for giving people the authority to protest and march. He questioned whether the police had the manpower to deal with this when they already had so much to deal with. He stressed that a holistic approach was needed to address these conflicts. The problem of Operation Dudula had been underestimated and it was going to get progressively worse because the foreign nationals were also saying that they had had enough and would retaliate. He urged the Committee to ensure that the SAPS brought all the other relevant authorities on board to address this.

Ms Z Majozi (IFP) said that the Operation Dudula movement was a complex issue, as one could not blame the police for not dismantling these forums. The perception was that these forums were working with the police officers in the local municipalities. This perception needed to be addressed so that people on the ground were aware that it was not the police that was involved in these forums.

She agreed with Mr Shaik Emam’s comments on the acts of criminality involved in these operations. It would be very important to address this nationally, provincially and locally so that there were no dead or injured bodies. The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services should be invited to solve these issues and address the concern that the police were not able to handle these movements because of the Constitutional Court judgment. The Committee should not be afraid to talk about these issues because of its relations with other countries, because there were also laws in other countries. There was no South African who could just go to another country and set up a business without the required legal documents. The frustrations of unemployment were creating such conflicts, which left the Department of the Police having to do the job of every department, and it was not fair that it was the only department that was expected to deal with these operations. It was about time that the Committee spoke out about these issues, and also time that the other departments came on board.

The Chairperson said that a number of these matters could be discussed when the Committee did its strategic planning session. This was to generally assess the state of policing in the country. The Committee would summarise and plan another engagement on Operation Dudula. There was certainly a huge concern over the situation, and the Committee needed to respond effectively.

Ms N Mente (EFF) said that it was very important for the Minister to respond to the questions raised because the issue of Operation Dudula was very sensitive and was already causing high tensions in society. Given that Africa was moving in unity in terms of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, there could not be people who talked in a different language to that of the continent. She observed that the presentation had referred to an intelligence report, and understood that an intelligence report could not be disclosed in its fullest form. She hoped that these intelligence reports identified the ringleaders of these movements. However, the Committee had not heard of any plan or received any assurances on how the SAPS planned to nail down these movements.

She agreed with Mr Shaik Emam that these movements seemed to target only black foreign nationals. The Department of Police needed to understand such sensitive issues. These movements targeted poor black people, not just their black brothers and sisters from Africa, and had already been targeting South Africans under the false pretense of looking for drugs. She questioned how the police had been invited by a vigilante group to accompany them for compliance inspections. She questioned who those police officers were who had engaged in legitimising vigilantism.

Mr A Seabi (ANC) agreed with the Chairperson that it would be difficult to exhaust this discussion within this short period because today was scheduled for the strategic planning session. The Committee would need more time to discuss this item conclusively. He said that the Members of the Committee were political and community leaders and the people who were engaged in these movements were from the communities that the Members led. The Committee also had a role to play and it could not continuously put all the blame at the door of the police. He reiterated Mr Shembeni’s remark on the mandate of the police. The Constitution did give every person the right of association, and the police could not argue with this, but they had to deal with matters of criminality. The reports of people being forced to pay ransoms were criminal activities that must be reported. No police would suspect that a ransom had been demanded until it was reported, but the community members did not report such crimes because they were afraid.

The police worked in stressful environments and they needed the support of the Committee. He agreed that this would need a coordinated approach, but the political leaders could not play a blame game. No country could deal with crime without the support of its citizens and various communities.

The Chairperson said she appreciated the comments made by Mr Seabi, and anticipated that a number of the concerns that had been raised would come up during the strategic planning session. The Committee all agreed that Operation Dudula had the potential to destabilise the country. The President’s attempt to improve the economy of the country and promote investments could not be challenged -- it had to be enhanced and supported. This matter would be dealt with in more depth.

Ms B Marekwa (ANC) agreed with Mr Seabi that the police could not solely deal with the issues of crime. Acts of citizenry were allowed in South Africa, but with high levels of responsibility. The presentation had referred to other departments that also had a major role to play. There was a need to ensure that the SAPS was strengthened, while further ensuring that the joint role of the entire criminal justice cluster take a lead in all issues of fighting crime and the safety and security of citizens of this country. There was no way that the Department of Police could singlehandedly fight crime.

Minister’s response

Minister Cele said that the Department had pleaded with the Committee to try and invite other relevant departments because the Department of Police had serious issues to address. He revealed that last week he had sat down with the police in the Western Cape and listened to their frustrations. He had been told that there was a person involved in taxi violence, cash heists and extortion, but had been released on bails eight times in connection with those cases. The police were questioning themselves on where they should go from there. He urged that these discussions should happen across the board so that the police could have an outlet to voice their frustrations.

He urged Members not to order the police to become involved in politics. Some of the statements that ordered the police to get involved in politics were very dangerous. The police could not stop organisations, but could arrest individual criminals. The police had no right whatsoever to determine which organisations should exist or not, so they should not occupy a political space.

Closing remarks

The Chairperson said that the Committee was appreciative of the fact that the Minister and newly appointed National Commissioner could be with the Committee this morning. The fact that the President had appointed a National Commissioner in such a short space of time was a clear indication that he had prioritised the issue of fighting crime in the country. The President had set the agenda to address the challenges that were faced.

The country could not afford another July 2021 unrest situation. The Committee would really have to interrogate the various reports investigating the July unrest, and once it had the Human Rights Commission's report, it would then have to respond effectively to the developments in the country. The Committee would certainly address these challenges.

The Committee would return to address the concerns of Operation Dudula in all its facets, which would require a multi-disciplinary team to attend to this challenge. The SAPS had highlighted the weaknesses in public order policing. She was confident that as the Committee did its oversight and worked with the Ministry and National Commissioner and his team, they would get to the bottom of fighting crime.

The meeting was adjourned.

[the meeting continued for the Committee Members as they held an internal strategic planning session in a closed meeting]