“Human dignity has no nationality.”
This is how judge Leicester Adams of the Johannesburg high court viewed Operation Dudula’s actions and ruled that it has no authority to prevent undocumented foreign nationals from accessing public healthcare and education in SA.
This comes after the members of Dudula have been blocking foreign nationals from gaining access to public health facilities in Gauteng. They have also targeted schools in Soweto, where they’d remove children suspected of having parents who are foreign nationals.
The court said only government authorities have the legal power to request IDs from patients, not private groups or individuals.
According to judge Adams, Dudula and its members have been interdicted from demanding that private persons produce passports or identity documents to prove their legal status in the country.
“Operation Dudula [is] interdicted from unlawful conduct and conduct which amounts to them taking the law into their own hands and hate speech,” said Adams.
The order specifically restrains Operation Dudula, cited as the first, eleventh and twelfth respondents, from: “Intimidating, harassing or assaulting individuals they identify as foreign nationals. Making hate speech based on nationality, social origin or ethnicity at public gatherings, online or through any other medium,” he said.
Operation Dudula [is] interdicted from unlawful conduct and conduct which amounts to them taking the law into their own hands and hate speech.
— Judge Leicester Adams
He further said he restrained the organisation from interfering with access to healthcare services for foreign nationals. Interrupting the operations of schools or harassing learners, parents or educators.
The ruling reinforces that the right to dignity, basic healthcare and education applies to everyone in SA, regardless of documentation status.
The high court stressed that Operation Dudula’s actions amounted to unlawfully taking the law into its own hands, behaviour South African law does not permit.
This judgment serves as a strong message that mob justice and xenophobic intimidation have no legal standing and that fundamental rights remain protected under the constitution.
Sowetan
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