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On 4 November 2025, the High Court in Johannesburg will hand down its judgment in Part B of the matter Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia and Others v Operation Dudula and Others. This case, brought on behalf of Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia (KAAX), the South African Informal Traders Forum (SAITF), the Inner City Federation (ICF), and Abahlali BaseMjondolo, challenges the xenophobic and racist speech and conduct of Operation Dudula and certain of its office-bearers. The applicants are also seeking relief from relevant organs of state for failing to discharge their duties to combat xenophobia and Operation Dudula’s unlawful conduct.

The litigation was launched in a two-part application in May 2023 with Part A having been heard in February 2024 and Part B heard in June 2025. Part A of the application sought an initial special order to protect the identities of approximately 40 deponents who have provided supporting and confirmatory affidavits in their capacity as people who either personally witnessed or experienced the unlawful and violent conduct of Operation Dudula. In February 2024, the High granted an order in Part A that prohibits the publication of unredacted court papers that would reveal the identities of deponents who deposed on behalf of the applicants.

Part B of the litigation specifically addresses the unlawful conduct of Operation Dudula and its members, seeking an order that prohibits various actions, including harassment and intimidation of individuals. Operation Dudula has harassed and intimidated people by demanding to verify identity documents, forcing businesses to close, preventing informal traders from operating, evicting people from their homes without a court order, wearing uniforms that resemble those of the police or the military, denying people access to health care or education by removing students and teachers from schools based on nationality – all this with no authority and in deliberate violation of the rights of people. Operation Dudula elected not to participate in this case. 

Part B also seeks orders against various organs of state. Among these is an order that requires the Government to fully implement its National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (NAP). In addition, applicants are seeking an order that interdicts the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Department of Home Affairs from colluding with Operation Dudula or conducting dragnet raids targeting whole communities at Operation Dudula’s instigation, and requiring the SAPS to investigate the crimes committed by Operation Dudula.

Contact details:

• Edward Molopi, SERI senior communications and advocacy officer: Edward[at]seri-sa.org / 082 590 9638.

>> Download the full statement here. 

Today, 16 October 2025, marks World Food Day. To commemorate the day, Netwerk24 has published an op-ed written by SERI's Dr Yvonne Erasmus entitled, Hoe hanteer ons honger in ’n land van oorvloed? (Hunger in the land of plenty: How do we move forward?). The op-ed has been published in Afrikaans.

In the op-ed, Erasmus reflects on the paradox of South Africa's abundant food supply alongside vast food insecurity. She argues that while addressing food insecurity is complex due to the multiple causes of the problem, it is vital that the Department of Agriculture, together with other government stakeholders such as the Departments of Health and Social Development, uphold and advance the right to food as enshrined in the Constitution. The country's draft National Food and Nutrition Security Plan (NFNSP), led by the Department of Agriculture provides these stakeholders with an important opportunity to prioritise the crisis of hunger through its offering of a coherent roadmap along with measurable objectives.

She also writes that:

"Alhoewel dit nie grondwetlik gebonde is nie, moet supermarkte as pligdraers van die reg op voedsel beskou word. As 'n onderneming wins maak uit iets wat noodsaaklik is vir menslike oorlewing, kan meer gedoen word om voedsel bekostigbaar te maak vir diegene wat dit die nodigste het, soos om pryse te verlaag of 'n voedsame mandjie kos te subsidieer. Supermarkte kan ook deursigtiger wees oor hoe noodsaaklike voedselpryse vasgestel word sodat dit maklik deur eksterne rolspelers gemonitor kan word en supermarkte aanspreeklik gehou kan word. Laastens is werkgewers van huiswerkers en plaaswerkers, benewens regtehouers, waarskynlik ook pligdraers. So 'n verantwoordelikheid vereis dat billike lone betaal word, dat mense toegelaat word om hul eie kos te kweek, en wanneer kos voorsien word, dat dit voldoende is wat gehalte en hoeveelheid betref."

"Although not constitutionally bound, supermarkets should be considered duty-bearers of the right to food. If a business is built on profiting from something that is essential to human survival, more can be done to make food affordable for those most in need, such as lowering prices or subsidising a nutritious basket of food. Retailers can also be more transparent about how essential food prices are set so that these can easily be monitored by external actors and retailers can be hold to account. Finally, employers of domestic workers and farm workers are, in addition to being rights-holders, arguably also duty-bearers. Such a responsibility requires that fair wages are paid, that people are allowed to grow their own food, and then when food is provided, it is sufficient both in quality and quantity."

 This op-ed draws on SERI's research report entitled ‘Food for Thought: Reflections on Food (In)Security. Laws, Experiences, Interventions’.

• Read the full op-ed here.
• Download the Food (In)Security report here.
• Download the Food (In)Security executive summary here.

On 4 October 2025, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) joined thousands of people at the Curries Fountain Stadium in Durban to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of Abahlali baseMjondolo (Abahlali), marking an important milestone in the movement’s journey of struggle and resistance. Over the past twenty years, Abahlali has remained firm in its commitment to participatory democracy, emancipatory forms of politics, and social justice for impoverished people. It has stood firm as an inspiring beacon for people and social movements around the world. 

The movement has grown to over 180,000 members living in informal settlements in provinces across South Africa. This membership comprises of men, women and youth who have found an ideological home that has given expression to their needs as landless people seeking to restore their dignity. Moreover, Abahlali has a global footprint with strong connections to similar movements on the continent and around the world.

As we reflect on Abahlali’s remarkable journey, it is important to recall the circumstances that led to its formation. Abahlali was formed in March 2005, a decade into South Africa’s democracy, when residents of the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban blocked a road in protest. Local government had sold land earmarked for a social housing project for these residents to a private developer without consulting the residents. For Abahlali, this was a betrayal, emblematic of the ongoing exclusion of the poor from decision-making. It served as a catalyst for a series of demonstrations by informal settlement residents demanding an end to the violation of the constitutional promise of an egalitarian society. In October 2005, shack dwellers organised themselves and committed to confronting the prioritisation of private property interests above impoverished people living in our cities. 

In the past 20 years, Abahlali have remained steadfast in upholding the right to the city. The movement’s annual commemoration of “Unfreedom Day”, held on 27 April when South Africa celebrates Freedom Day, highlights that for many shack dwellers, true freedom remains elusive. On this day, Abahlali highlights the difficult living conditions of shack dwellers who endure displacement by shack fires and floods, and live in densely populated spaces without sanitation, water and electricity. 

Abahlali’s fight for access to land and adequate housing has found expression in courts and on the streets enriching our democracy and jurisprudence. A defining moment came in October 2009 when the movement successfully challenged the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act in the Constitutional Court. Abahlali rejected government’s policy of developing a ‘city without slums’, representing a repackaged apartheid policy of ‘influx controls.’ Abahlali’s victory at the Constitutional Court laid the ground for informal settlements across the country to insist on their existence and access to basic services, as well as the right to be developed in situ (where they are). It is this legacy and impact that SERI’s wishes to remember and salute. The milestone comes at a time when politicians have developed an appetite to reverse hard fought victories, which have affirmed the rights of shack dwellers to defend themselves against arbitrary eviction, without a court order. 

Abahlali has grown despite relentless repression from both the state and non-state actors. Since 2009 the movement has lost 24 members to targeted assassinations and excessive force by the police. SERI salutes the courage of the movement’s members and its leadership for refusing to capitulate in the face of such violence. 

We remember the activists who lost their lives, and their families, defending their rights to dignity, access to land and to live in decent, safe and healthy conditions, with honour and respect. 

SERI has had the privilege of a front row seat witnessing the movement’s growth. SERI executive director, Nomzamo Zondo reflects on the movement’s importance: “Abahlali’s presence is a powerful reminder that the poor are not a problem to be managed, but people whose rights, voices, and struggles must shape our democracy. Without them, our democracy would be poorer. We salute Abahlali on their 20^th anniversary and honour their unwavering commitment to justice and dignity.”

Contact details:

• Edward Molopi, SERI senior communications and advocacy officer: edward[at]seri-sa.org / 082 590 9638.

>> Download the full statement here.

On 30 September 2025, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) in collaboration with our partner United Domestic Workers of South Africa (UDWOSA) submitted recommendations to the Department of Employment and Labour on the National Minimum Wage Annual Review 2025. The submission recommends that the national minimum wage should be adjusted upwards, and that the adjustment must explicitly consider the rising costs of food and other essentials. It emphasises the need to move beyond a narrow productivity or inflation-based approach to wage-setting towards the adoption of a fair wage framework in reviewing the minimum wage and importantly highlights that wages that do not meet the basic cost of living perpetuate cycles of poverty and inequality, particularly for domestic and farm workers who remain among the most precarious labour groups in South Africa. 

The recommendations are grounded in the lived experiences of SERI’s client groups, the findings of SERI’s recent research report on food insecurity, and international standards, particularly the fair wage framework, as articulated by the International Labour Organization and United Nations human rights bodies, which recognise that wages must go beyond subsistence and enable workers and their families to live in dignity. 

The submission focuses on the national minimum wage within the context of the fair wage framework, the issue of food affordability and the various coping and survival strategies employed by precarious workers to minimise the impacts of food inflation as well as the implications of these factors for the national minimum wage.

This submission is endorsed by our partners, including the Commercial, Stevedoring, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU), Izwi Domestic Workers Alliance, and the South African Domestic Workers Union (SADSAWU). Additionally, it has the support of public interest organisations including Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and the Union Against Hunger (UAH).

• Access the full submission here.