South African Anti-Migrant Leader Detained In Jo’burg

The leader of an anti-migrant group in South Africa was detained overnight at a police station in the commercial capital of Johannesburg.

The reason 33-year-old Nhlanhla Lux Dlamini’s arrest remains unclear.

His group, Operation Dudula, has been campaigning against undocumented foreign nationals in the country.

Speaking with journalists outside the Johannesburg Central Police station after his arrest, Dlamini said “We are going to allow the process of the law to happen,” he told journalists. Dlamini also urged his followers not to respond with violence over his arrest.

Public broadcaster SABC quotes an official of the group as saying that Dlamini is expected to appear at the Roodepoort magistrate’s court on Friday morning.

Support for the group has been growing among South African communities who feel marginalized.

However, there are concerns that its campaigns could lead to yet another outbreak of xenophobic violence in the country.

Two controversial groups – the Alexandra Dudula Movement and Operation Dudula – which are campaigning against undocumented foreign nationals have emerged recently and support seems to be growing among South African communities who feel marginalized.

Poverty is the main driver of the tension as South African residents believe – whether rightly or wrongly – that foreigners are the cause of many of their difficulties.

Dudula is a word in the Zulu language that loosely means to “push back” or “drive back” – this gives a clue about what they want.

Though the two groups are separate, they have been inspired by the same cause – they both hope to drive out undocumented African migrants from their communities.

They believe by doing this they can ensure that jobs and business opportunities go to South Africans.

What started out as wanting to eradicate drug dealersMembers now want the many foreign shop owners in South Africa to shut down their businesses and leave the country.

They also want small businesses, such as restaurants and shops, to only employ South African citizens. This is because campaigners believe these places overlook South Africans and hire undocumented migrants instead because they can pay them less than the minimum wage.

Authorities have said while this may happen in some places it is not a widespread problem.

Both groups have denied that their motives are xenophobic and argue that they are simply protecting the livelihoods of South Africans, something they say the African National Congress (ANC) government is failing to do.

For the foreigners, there is a sense that they are being blamed for wider problems.

“We’re not taking anyone’s job, we create our own opportunities, we’re not stopping South Africans from doing the same,” Mozambican Sam Manane, who has been selling snacks in Alexandra for the past 10 years, told the BBC.

“We’re just being targeted.”