South Africa’s popular anti-immigrant group, Operation Dudula, has sparked public outrage after its members were caught on video blocking access to a government hospital and denying entry to anyone unable to prove South African citizenship.
In a viral video seen by First Daily correspondent on Wednesday morning, Operation Dudula members are seen stationed at the entrance of the Roodepoort Clinic, west of Johannesburg, confronting patients and demanding ID documents before allowing them inside.
Other videos seen by other correspondents show how black South Africans were chasing black Africans from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia, and many other African countries from government-owned hospitals across the country.
“You cannot enter this hospital without showing your ID to prove you are South African,” one of the Operation Dudula enforcers barked at patients.
The disturbing footage shows several Black African patients visibly agitated, confronting the group for what they described as shameless discrimination against fellow Africans.
“Why are you people here? Who put you here? Is this your father’s hospital?” one man seeking to access the clinic was heard yelling.
“This is a country where we all fought white people! We will involve the police.”
“Go back to your country. Yes, it is my father’s hospital! Were you there when we fought for this country in 1996?” one of the Operation Dudula members replied.
In a viral video which circulated across social media platforms on Tuesday, Operation Dudula President Zandile Dabula, openly announced the group’s intention to launch a campaign in late December 2025 and early January 2026, targeting public schools across the country to block non-South African children from enrollment.
“We’re going to launch a campaign at the end of December, the first week of January 2026. We’re going to be stationed at schools, and no foreign child will be attending school in a public school,” Dabula said.
She further stated that the group’s actions would not extend to private institutions, saying, “They can rather take them to private [schools], we don’t care, but at public schools it’s going to be reserved for South African children only.”
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Dabula’s comments reflect Operation Dudula’s long-standing anti-immigration agenda, which has included violent xenophobic campaigns targeting African migrants, particularly those from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, and Nigeria.
She claimed that some foreign children were in the country illegally and alleged that many who appeared to have legal documentation might be using fraudulent papers.
“So I’m talking about illegal foreigners who will definitely not be accepted. But those who claim to be legal, we have home affairs, bogus home affairs, and we’ve seen a lot of them. You too, you also know about these bogus home affairs,” she stated.
“They must be checked, thoroughly checked, because how did they come to this country? Are their parents documented? But they will be last in the queue,” she added.
Dabula justified the group’s planned action by citing what she described as limited national resources, invoking South Africa’s constitution to defend the exclusionary stance.
She said, “Section 27(2) says that if there are available resources, then we can share with other people, but currently we don’t have; we are short of resources.
“So foreign children will be last in the queue and then South Africans first, and then once all South Africans are admitted, then we will start admitting them. Those are only the children who are legally in this country.”