Operation Dudula members during a previous march
By Freeman Bhengu
Former National Organiser Operation Dudula
I am issuing this statement as Freeman Bhengu, former National Organiser of Operation Dudula, because the political future of our movement cannot be decided through private arrangements, political expediency or the personal ambitions of a few individuals.
Operation Dudula was built by ordinary South Africans who sacrificed their time, money, livelihoods and personal safety in pursuit of a clear national mission.
It has developed from a grassroots movement into an organisation with a political identity and a responsibility to the people who built it.
Its future therefore belongs to its members and legitimate structures—not to any individual former office-bearer.
The public record confirms that former President Zandile Dabula resigned from Operation Dudula and subsequently became associated with ActionSA and Herman Mashaba’s political project in Johannesburg.
That is her political choice, and every individual has the right to choose their political path.
However, that choice does not automatically give any former leader the authority to determine the political future of Operation Dudula or to instruct its members to support another political party.
It is particularly concerning that an arrangement is alleged to have been made in which Operation Dudula would effectively be weakened, collapsed or redirected so that its members could support ActionSA in the forthcoming local government elections.
If such an arrangement exists, it was not mandated by the ordinary membership of Operation Dudula, and no political future of our organisation can legitimately be determined without the proper authority, transparency and mandate required by our structures and governing framework.
The Constitution of Operation Dudula provides a formal process for the dissolution of the organisation.
A movement of this magnitude cannot simply be dissolved by an announcement, a private agreement or a political understanding between individuals.
The people who built Operation Dudula deserve to know the truth, and members deserve the right to determine their own political future.
To the members of Operation Dudula:
– do not allow yourselves to be misled.
– Do not surrender your political voice to individuals who no longer hold a mandate to speak on behalf of the organisation.
– Demand transparency.
– Demand accountability
– Most importantly, exercise your democratic right to determine the future of the movement you built.
To Herman Mashaba and ActionSA, I say this directly: Operation Dudula is not a feeder organisation, a political asset or a recruitment base for ActionSA.
Our members are not political property to be transferred through private political arrangements.
We respect the right of ActionSA to contest elections, but we equally demand that our right to exist, organise and contest elections independently be respected.
OPERATION DUDULA WILL CONTEST THE UPCOMING LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS.
Our position is clear: no former leader, no political party and no private agreement can extinguish the political aspirations of Operation Dudula without a legitimate mandate from the organisation’s members and authorised structures.
We will not permit the sacrifices of ordinary South Africans to be used as a bargaining chip in somebody else’s political project.
The people built Operation Dudula.
The people must determine its future.
We therefore call on all self-respecting members and South Africans who believe in democratic accountability to remain vigilant, united and committed to the independent political future of our movement.
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