‘Alex has become a dumping place for foreign nationals’

The chair of the Dudula Movement in Alexandra insists no foreign nationals, documented or undocumented, should be allowed to trade in the township.

Simon “Msyza” Tsatsi, 48, who has spent 24 years in prison after being convicted three times of crimes including business robbery and theft, says he owes it to the Alexandra community to help take back the township economy from migrants, whom he accuses of  leaving locals with only a small piece of the economic pie.

“Life is about change. Going to prison is like returning from a rehabilitation centre where you are taught you must give back to your community, and that is exactly what I am doing,” said Tsatsi.

Tsatsi, who has never been formally employed, took the Sunday Times on a tour of Alexandra this week to point out why he has a problem with foreigners.

On Monday, members of his Dudula Movement clashed with foreigners who tried to return to the stalls from which his members had evicted them.  Six of his members were arrested for public violence. Further clashes ensued on Tuesday as police helped some of the foreign nationals to return to their stalls.

Tsatsi insists he is not xenophobic.

He said that in the last month, he led a group of about 100 residents in “operations” in which about 58 foreigners working at Alexandra’s Pan African Mall were forced to pack up their stalls and surrender them to locals. Similar scenes unfolded in other hotspots around the township.

“In Kenya, Angola and Malawi they won’t give you a chance [to trade as a foreign national] but since democracy, SA, particularly Alex, has become a dumping place for foreign nationals,” Tsatsi said.

“We are dying as South Africans because of it. Even domestic worker jobs are hard to come by in the suburbs, where our mothers used to be, because now the foreigners are employed there, because of cheap labour.”

We have consulted with government and informed them of our concerns … but they have done nothing

—  Simon “Msyza” Tsastsi

Some who follow the movement regard Tsatsi as a “messiah” bold enough to act for change.

“Whatever Tsatsi has told you is what we believe in. Many of us sit around in the township with business ideas but we cannot implement them because where would one start with space taken up for foreigners?” said Bongiwe, who will  not reveal her last name.

Her friend, who also won’t identify herself, added: “If the cycle is not broken now, my sister, who is still in school, will go through the same thing. Until when will it be like this? Change has to come and it’s now or never. Already we are crowded in Alex — we live on top of each other, we struggle for services and we compete for jobs with foreigners. It’s not OK.”  

On a drive around the township on Wednesday night, Tsatsi fielded calls from members. He advised one on how to approach a radio debate on the movement’s principles and another seeking advice on how to deal with a supporter who had called for a more radical, violent approach to deal with foreign nationals who refused to vacate their shops.

“Please make sure you deal with that member,” Tsatsi said, adding that while some thought them criminals because of his rap sheet, he wanted no bloodshed.

“Xenophobia is not part of the plan. That is why we have consulted with government and informed them of our concerns … but they have done nothing. If government was doing what it was supposed to be doing, there would be no need for this. We are doing this to help them.”

On Thursday, police and immigration officers descended on several shops near the Pan-African Mall, arresting several undocumented foreigners in an operation that continued on Friday.

But on Wednesday night, Tsatsi pointed out empty vending stalls and hair salons that he claimed his organisation had “repossessed” since it  launched “Operation Fiela” on February 13.

“The Dudula Movement was started in 1994. Back then, it was called Siyabangena.  At the time, there were flats in extension 12 and houses which were occupied by Nigerian nationals. Those houses were taken back [by Siyabangena]. At 17, I was among the youngest with the group,” he said.

Now, he says, the group is  continuing to evict foreigners who have bought or are renting RDP houses which it believes should only be occupied by locals.

Tsatsi claims they have taken control of more than  400 houses since 2018.

“Nigerians are doing it, [taking over] houses in the suburbs, so why can we not do it in our township? But we are not hijacking it, we are taking it because it is our right as South Africans,” he said.  “From January until now, I think we have taken over about 35 houses.” 

Tsatsi led this reporter to a double-storey RDP house which towers over its neighbours. Until last month it was occupied by a Swazi citizen, which the movement  they evicted.

“He was living at the bottom while he had rooms he was renting upstairs. He paid for the renovations but he had no right to even be in this house as a foreigner so it’s his loss,” said Tsatsi, adding that it remained locked until a decision was made on who would take it over.

Once a house is  “repossessed”, he said, the person to whom it is “awarded” helps to evict other foreigners and free up a home for  another local in need — on a “pay-it-forward” basis. “But sometimes the houses are allocated to people who are not able to come and help us physically, like people with disabilities and the elderly.”

Tsatsi is at pains to point out that the Dudula Movement is not part of Operation Dudula, which operates in the Johannesburg inner city and Soweto.

“The vision and work ethic is different. They [Operation Dudula] sing and engage with companies but there is no action. They will go to these shops, order them to close but next week the shops are open again. It means they have done nothing. Meanwhile, they have made trending video clips that make it appear as though they are working,” he said.

“Dudula Movement is not a political organisation. I am not political. I have never worn T-shirts associating me with a particular organisation. It’s a community organisation.”

Tsatsi said some Alexandra residents have criticised his group for targeting black foreigners.

“It’s not about that. We are doing it for this community and whether those people were green or pink, we would do the same against them to protect it.

“We are fighting for a better life for our children, the future of Alex. We are doing this because the government doesn’t want to listen to us. Sometimes as a father of the house, you must make difficult decisions when you have a problem. I am taking Alexandra on my shoulders to say undocumented foreign nationals must go.”