Simmering tensions erupt once again at Pan
ALEXANDRA – This is the timeline of the Alexandra Dudula Movement as it can be seen today with the chaotic scenes at the Pan Africa Square.
There have always been tensions in Alexandra between foreign nationals and the Alexandra Dudula Movement.
This sprang to the fore at the height of the R2. 2 billion Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) before it was wound down in 2018.
The Dudula Movement first surfaced in the midst of the alleged corruption within the ARP which allegedly saw many RDP houses that were being built for locals in Alex falling into the hands of foreign nationals.
The movement then took it upon itself to evict all foreign nationals occupying some of the RDP houses, which the foreign nationals claimed they had either been allocated the houses by the ARP or they had bought the houses from the locals.
It was at this stage that Dudula, which means ‘removal’, came to the fore as they carried out evictions in River Park, Tsutusmani and other areas of Alexandra such as Ext 7, 8, 9 and 10 where the ARP had built houses.
Dudula operated in those sections of Alexandra for many years, going door-to-door asking people to produce their IDs and document that proved they were allocated the houses and forcibly removing those suspected of being foreign nationals.
This went on unabated for several years with law enforcement agencies standing on the sidelines. Numerous articles were published on this saga in Alex News over the years.
Dudula then blossomed into a national movement as it spread its wings into other disgruntled communities around the country, especially around the issues of street hawking which the locals feel should be the preserve for them only.
When trading opened at the Pan Africa Square precincts, Dudula claimed corrupt government and municipal officials issued trading licences to mainly foreign nationals after allegedly taking bribes.
When the looting frenzy of last July broke out, hawking stalls owned by foreign nationals at Pan were also targeted along with established shops.
When the looting frenzy fell silent and people wanted to return to their businesses, an organisation called Men@Work went around Pan telling hawkers not to open as yet as they have been tasked with re-registering all the hawkers and issuing new stalls to bring order to Pan.
Dudula also came forward and indicated that they would like Pan to be the preserve for local hawkers only and when their demands fell on deaf ears, they decided to take it upon themselves to ‘fiyela’ [sweep] Pan clean of all foreign nationals vending in the streets.
This started with a march on February 13 this year which was allegedly preceded by a stakeholders meeting that included SAPS, CPF, JMPD, Alexandra Dudula Movement, and #OperationFiyela leaders and other community organisations.
In an interview with Alex News, Dudula and #OperationFiyela leader Agnes Malajtie said they would not stop their action against foreigners at Pan until it was ‘swept clean of all foreigners’.
The activities of Dudula then spread to areas such as Hillbrow, Joburg CBD and Yeoville where the protesters fought running battles with the police.
This has brought us to where we are today.
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