Lerato Mbhiza
Operation Dudula confirmed it has registered with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) as a political party and has dropped its non-profit organisation status.
Dudula president Zandile Dabula said the party’s manifesto is to reclaim the township economy by promoting South African-owned businesses and spaza shops.
This emerged during the organisation’s first National General Assembly held in Diepkloof, Soweto on Sunday.
Dabula also warned that Dudula will be intensifying its operations targeted at spaza shops, particularly those operated by foreign nationals.
This comes after numerous incidents in recent weeks where children fell ill and some died after consuming food and snacks allegedly bought from foreign-owned spaza shops.
However, several organisations have raised concerns that Operation Dudula’s move to become a political party will encourage xenophobia, an assertion that has strongly been refuted by Dudula’s Isaack Lesole who said they do not consider themselves to be xenophobic.
“Operation Dudula resolved to contest for elections because we believe that the government of today is useless and its time has expired. There is no compromise because the level of service delivery in the country has deteriorated, and what is more disheartening is the fact that you have foreign nationals who own 90% of the township economy.
“The government of today is not ready to enforce the immigration laws, and it is important that we stand up and remove those that are allowing this lawlessness in our country.”
Lesole said they are determined to shut down all foreign-owned spaza shops in the country because most are operated illegally.
“All the spaza shops that are owned by foreign nationals are going to be closed. There is no discussion about it. Just Region D, you have about 3 600 spaza shops that are not complying with the laws. It cannot be allowed.
“It’s a country (SA) where everybody from far away countries comes and does things that they can’t do in their own countries. So, for that reason, Operation Dudula is going to close all of these spaza shops and recommend that these people be arrested because we believe that the majority of them are actually trading with duplicate licences.
“They have corrupt and fraudulent asylum permits, and that’s the reason they are trading on expired goods.”
INSIDE POLITICS
