Anti-foreigner vigilantes target schoolchildren in South Africa under Operation Dudula

JOHANNESBURG – After a widely publicised campaign to stop foreign nationals in South Africa from accessing public healthcare, proponents of that country’s notorious Operation Dudula have taken their act to schools, where they intend to stop pupils without citizenship from enrolling for the next school year.

This week, the group began its campaign in Soweto, where they delivered letters to schools, asking them to unenroll children who do not have documentation for the 2026 school year.

“No South African child will be deprived of education in favour of illegal foreigners.”

Operation Dudula leader Zandile Dabula said that the operation was meant to urge schools to follow the country’s laws.

“We are here to remind principals, more especially about the Basic Education Amendment Act 32 of 2004, that when they admit foreigners in their schools, they need to make sure there’s proper documentation, due to a passport, study visa or permanent residency.

“The list is long. So, we do not expect to have undocumented foreigners in the schools next year,” she said.

Dabula said that Soweto was just the beginning of a long campaign.

“This is just the start of it. This is the first one. We have 11 schools we still need to go to. We started here in Ward 29 because this is the ward we are contesting for the byelection. We are going to use it as an example to show that this is doable,” Dabula said.

The Gauteng Department of Education spokesman Steve Mabona said they were against any disruptions to school operations.

“Pupils are admitted based on the admissions criteria, in the following order of priority: home address within the school’s feeder zone, sibling(s) already enrolled at the school or previous school attended, work address within the school’s feeder zone, home address within a 30km radius of the school, and home address beyond a 30km radius,” said Mabona.

Meanwhile the Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube has warned Operation Dudula members that they will face the ‘full might of the law’ if they disrupt schools.