Operation Dudula Will Start Removing Undocumented Foreign Nationals From Public Schools in 2026
- Operation Dudula has announced that it will be targeting undocumented foreign nationals in public schools
- The organisation has been facilitating the forced removal of undocumented foreign nationals in public healthcare facilities
- South Africans weighed in on Dudula's intentions, and some were supportive of Dudula's drive to remove undocumented foreign nationals, while others were against it
- Wits University migration expert Professor Loren Landau spoke to Briefly News about three threats that could arise from Dudula's planned campaign
- Briefly News also spoke to migration expert Silindile Mlilo about Operation Dudula's campaign
Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues, including health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests, and immigration in South Africa, during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.
Source: Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG — Operation Dudula continues its operations against undocumented foreign nationals. It announced that it is planning to target illegal foreigners in public schools in 2026.
Dudula posted a video on its @0perationDudula X account on 29 July 2025. Its president, Zanele Dabula, said that Dudula will launch a campaign at the end of December for the first week of January 2026 to remove illegal foreigners from public schools.
Dabula said that no foreign national's child will be allowed to enter the premises of a public school. She said that foreign nationals will have to send their children to private schools and added that public schools are reserved for South African children.
Foreign nationals must be checked: Dabula
Dabula also said that foreign nationals who claim to be legally documented in the country must also be checked. She cast suspicion on the Department of Home Affairs and accused it of awarding documentation fraudulently.
Source: Getty Images
"Those who claim to be legal, as we have bogus Home Affairs, must be thoroughly checked. They must be checked to see how their parents entered the country," he said.
She said that South African children must be placed first and added that foreign children will be last in the queue, and once every South African child is placed in a school, children of documented foreigners will then be granted access to the schools.
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What you need to know about Operation Dudula's campaign
- Gauteng's Health MEC Nobantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said in an interview on 16 July 2025 that Operation Dudula cannot kick illegal immigrants out of clinics and hospitals
- On 17 July, Operation Dudula and March and March embarked on mass protests against undocumented foreigners in Johannesburg and Durban
- Dudula handed a memorandum to the South African Human Rights Commission on the same day, accusing it of being biased towards foreign nationals
- Migration expert Professor Loren Landau spoke to Briefly News on 20 July about the impact of Dudula's operation
- A social media user posted a video in the third week of July and slammed Operation Dudula as nonsense
Migration experts weighs in
Professor Loren Landau, the South African Research Chair in Mobility and the Politics of Difference at Wits University's African Centre for Migration & Society, spoke to Briefly News about three threats that Dudula's planned campaign may pose.
"The first is that people – both foreign and citizens – will struggle to get the education which they morally and legally deserve. Second, the exclusion of residents from education denudes the country’s vibrancy and economic viability," he said.
Landau added that the third threat is the most fundamental: that the government is surrendering control over public goods, including education and health care, to an unaccountable, private body.
"This threatens the rule of law and constitutional order in ways that will ultimately worsen lives for all South Africans," he pointed out.
Speaking to Briefly News, migration expert Dr Silindile Mlilo, the Project Manager for the African Centre for Migration and Society, also weighed in on Operation Dudula's campaign.
"Legally, Section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to a basic education. The Constitutional Court (Juma Musjid) also held that, unlike other socio-economic rights protected by the Constitution, the right to basic education is immediately realisable and any limitation of this right must be “reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom." As such, excluding undocumented learners would be unconstitutional, as previously mentioned," she said.
South Africans weigh in
Not everyone is on board with Dudula's upcoming campaign.
Those who disagreed
Lucky said:
"This one must be arrested."
Kern-Snuffelaar said:
"Just be very careful with this one. When people's kids are involved, things can get violent."
I love life said:
"I just feel like you are fighting a losing battle."
Gliss said:
"There are so many illegal foreign kids roaming our streets during school hours. It's heartbreaking. They should not suffer because of the actions of parents."
Those who agreed
Ngwazi said:
"Operation Dudula is onto something. MK should join them because they have the same agenda."
Sammy said:
"💯 support this. It's long overdue."
Lesiba said:
"We are with you. Illegal foreigners should be deported."
Cyril Ramaphosa slammed for migration comments
In a related article, Briefly News reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa was slammed for his recent comments on migration. He spoke during the Liberation Movement Summit 2025 on 27 July 2025 in Midrand, Ekurhuleni.
Ramaphosa said that migration should not be seen as a threat to the nation. However, South Africans did not agree with his sentiments.
Source: Briefly News
