Dudula Movement going to the polls
Marulaneng
Operation Dudula Movement in Limpopo has taken resolution to contest the upcoming 2024 General Government Election.
The resolution was taken during the Limpopo Provincial Consultative Conference held at Marulaneng Tribal Office on Sunday 7 May 2023. Conference further resolved that Operation Dudula National Executive Committee (NEC) should urgently put systems in place and contest the 2024 General Elections.
Dudula Movement Convener in Limpopo, Davies Magolego, said the resolution to register Dudula Movement as a political party was guided by the findings of the Technical Advisory Board (TAB), which was established earlier this year to analyze both Operation Dudula as a Brand and the reputational value of the brand.
“The TAB concluded its analysis and presented its findings to the National Executive Committee (NEC) at the beginning of April 2023. After going through the report and its recommendations, the NEC, in its own wisdom, elected to share the report with the membership, supporters and sympathizers with the sole objective of seeking a mandate to change the organization’s public engagement strategy,” he said.
Magolego added that accordingly, the NEC convened a consultative conference that was scheduled for 7 May 2023, while the main event was at Johannesburg City Hall, members and supporters convened in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Western Cape, KZN and North West Provinces.
“It must be noted that, for the longest time, the NEC held an uncorroborated view that Operation Dudula is under siege, this view was informed by a number of worrying factors, notwithstanding this view, it remains undisputed that majority of South Africans are troubled by migrants who consciously elect to “come” and “stay” in our country illegally,” he said.
Magolego said the movement has noted that corrupt businessmen and women, masquerading as decent and honorable government officials at the Department of Home Affairs, have made South Africa an attractive destination for tourists and migrants with nefarious objectives.
“Operation Dudula was just a civic platform that consolidated and became a voice of communities who remain concerned with an influx of illegal foreigners in SA. Sadly, the State President, Cyril Ramaphosa, decided to single out Operation Dudula and labeled the organization a “vigilante group” that should not be supported by the ANC or government, needless to say, Operation Dudula has not asked for anything from the ANC but wanted the government elected by the poor and unemployed to act on illegality,” he said.
Magolego said they decided to register the formation as a party because they were sidelined by the government and want to be represented and have their say in Parliament.
“The consultative conference concluded that Operation Dudula is under siege and must fight back so that it does not lose a platform to raise issues around illegal foreigners who control 85% of the informal trading sector. This is a sector that contributes about 18% to SA’s Gross Domestic Product. This is called a hidden economy. This is one of the contributing factors why SA is Grey Listed globally,” he said.
Magolego indicated that Operation Dudula will not apologize for calling for mass deportation of illegal foreigners.
“We are not going to stop Operation Dudula Movement programmes. We will continue to fight the legibility of foreigners in the country while putting South Africans first,” he said.
Magolego said unlike other political parties, Dudula Movement will be working on identifying and monitoring employers who consciously hire illegal foreigners with an intent and willingness to pay a fine. Remove and replace illegal foreigners with deserving South Africans across all restaurants or non-scarce skills jobs on a 7 day notice.
“Our movement will be identifying and removing illegal foreigners who irregularly occupy RDP houses and return them to deserving people. We will use all available legal instruments to compel estate agencies or persons who sell or lease out properties to obtain FICA documents in terms of Schedule 1 of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act as amended,” he said.
Magolego committed that between now and 2024 National General Elections, Operation Dudula campaign will be focusing to create jobs, reclaim RDP houses, and reclaim vendor stalls and spaza shops to the benefit of South Africans.