Demands for justice: Operation Ubuntu's fight against xenophobia
Operation Ubuntu mobilises across South Africa to demand accountability from the government regarding xenophobia and the treatment of migrants.
On Saturday, Operation Ubuntu organized a national and continental day of action against xenophobia in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The protest aimed to hold the state responsible for its role in encouraging vigilante groups that target migrants. Demonstrations took place at various locations in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town. The group, representing a range of social justice organizations, presented a memorandum of demands to several government departments and the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The demands include an end to the crisis of xenophobia and the broader conditions of deprivation affecting migrants and South African citizens alike. The memorandum emphasizes that issues like housing, job scarcity, and lack of access to essential services are failures of government delivery, not the fault of migrant communities.
Key demands include land and housing justice, prevention of mineral looting, and stopping the harassment and deportation of people due to a dysfunctional documentation system that leaves millions without identification documents. Operation Ubuntu also calls for the immediate reintegration of displaced migrants and an end to inhumane conditions at the Lindela Repatriation Centre.
Other demands include establishing a structured oversight framework bringing decision-makers and the public they serve together, addressing health and social rights, climate justice, the 2026 Local Government Elections, and international and pan-African solidarity. The group also seeks the arrest and prosecution of individuals inciting violence and hate speech against foreign nationals, particularly those responsible for eThekwini social-media threats against a refugee community.
They urge an end to intimidation, harassment by informal or vigilante policing groups like amapanyaza against migrant communities and inner-city residents. Lastly, Operation Ubuntu demands a moratorium on evictions until every individual in South Africa has access to decent housing, advocating for in-situ upgrading of informal settlements instead of eviction.
They also request a two-year moratorium on expulsions to allow African migrants to obtain their documents and stop penalizing employers and households for hiring undocumented workers due to the dysfunctional documentation system.
Written by urgent.news from IOL's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
