Xenophobia: The Gradual Death Of African Brotherhood, By Kazeem Akintunde
By Tuesday next week, all African migrants in South Africa should be back to their home countries. According to popular opinion of those behind the migrants-must-go campaign in South Africa, African migrants are the cause of all their woes, be it political, spiritual, or economical. To show that they mean business, they have also promulgated that migrants can no longer walk free on the streets of South African cities. Or at least most of them. Many migrants have reportedly been harassed, their businesses looted, and some have paid the supreme price by being killed by their fellow African brothers.
Even before the June 30th deadline, many African countries have begun repatriating their citizens back home. As at the last count, countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Somalia, Mauritania, and Zambia have had their citizens repatriated back home in the last few weeks. So much for African solidarity.
While the June 30th deadline was given by anti-immigration groups in South Africa, they seem to enjoy the tacit approval of the government in Pretoria. South Africa, just like many other countries in Europe and America, have long attracted migrants from across the continent, who entered the country legally and illegally. Official records in South Africa put the number of foreign nationals at 2.4 million in 2022, about 3.7 percent of the total population of 65 million people.
Most South Africans hold the wrong belief that the high number of undocumented migrants contribute to unemployment in their country and put pressure on public services. The latest round of xenophobic attack on migrants began in April this year. However, since 2008, there have been three waves of anti-immigration protests, all turning violent and resulting in casualties and the looting of shops and other property. Much of the anger has targeted, in particular, nationals from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Nigeria, and Ghana.
The high levels of unemployment, crime, and social inequality, which are lingering consequences of years of apartheid rule, have long frustrated South Africans. Those frustrations are now being directed at foreigners who are seen as taking economic opportunities away from struggling citizens. Immigrants are also accused of involvement in crime.
The rise of vigilante-style movements like Operation Dudula and March and March, which have emerged amid mass anger has further fuelled anti-immigration sentiments. Again, local politics in South Africa is a factor. Right-wing political groups like Patriotic Alliance, which is led by Gayton McKenzie, are among those which frame migrants in a negative light. In his campaign ahead of the 2024 elections, McKenzie, a convicted criminal seeking the position of Home Affairs Minister, campaigned on a promise to launch mass deportations of “illegal” foreigners.
The latest wave of protests were ignited in late April by the March and March group. Thousands of South Africans took to the streets for days across several cities, including Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban on the pretext that they are only protesting against undocumented residents. However, most of those protests turned out to be avenues for many lazy South Africans to loot and steal from migrants. Targeted migrants that resisted were molested and, in some cases, killed.
At least two Nigerian men died in April during the latest wave of violence. One of the men, Amaramiro Emmanuel, was killed after being beaten by officers from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) on April 20, according to a statement by the Nigerian Consul-general, Ninikanwa Okey-Uche. The other, Ekpenyong Andrew, was arrested in Pretoria before being found dead. Indeed, Nigerians are being harassed daily in South Africa despite having legal status, countering claims by South African citizen groups that attacks have targeted only undocumented residents. Legitimate businesses are being looted, while children are forced to stay away from school. The anger against most Nigerians, particularly the men, stem from the fact that the South African females prefer dating Nigerian men, whom the ladies admit take proper care of them.
Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu has come out to say that Abuja is not happy with the treatment meted out to Nigerians in South Africa despite the country’s sacrifice for South Africa’s independence. According to her, the federal government is already considering measures to be taken against Pretoria.
While governments in several African countries are still thinking of measures to take against South Africa, the people of Africa are already up-in-arms against their South African counterparts, choosing the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup to show their anger. A shocked world saw many Africans openly supporting the Mexican national team in their opening game against South Africa, where Mexico went on to defeat South Africa 2-0, a result that many viewed as symbolic of the backlash against the country’s handling of migrant issues. In the weeks leading up to the tournament, reports of intimidation, anti-immigrant protests and attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa drew criticism across the continent, straining the sense of African solidarity often displayed during major international sporting events.
The fallout was evident both online and offline, with some African supporters adopting Mexican flags as profile pictures, sharing pro-Mexico content on social media, and celebrating South Africa’s defeat. The hashtag #MexicoVersusXenophobia also gained traction across several African countries. Many Africans are now wishing and praying for South Africa to be eliminated from the group stages so that they can return to their beloved country.
A visibly disturbed South Africa Football team captain, Ronwen Williams, at a post-match press conference, appealed to football fans across Africa to rally behind Bafana Bafana at the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup despite growing resentment over xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals in his country. Williams said players should not be held responsible for political and social issues beyond their control.
Hear him: “I have always said that, as Africans, we are one, and we should support each other in both good and bad moments. We have our politics, we have our problems, and we’ve got our own fights that we deal with back home. Every country does. So, I don’t know where all the toxicity came from, but it does hurt. As I mentioned, I have been attacked, and obviously my country has been as well, for things that are going on back home. I have always said players are human beings, too. We go through it, and sometimes it gets to be a bit too much. You want to focus on doing your job, which is being a footballer, but then you get dragged into politics, and you don’t want to get into that space,” he stated.
I doubt if his appeal has any meaning to most Africans who have been displaced in South Africa. The truth is that many of the South African youths who are behind these xenophobic attacks do not factor in the contributions of most other African countries to their struggle for independence in the 70s and 80s. Then, Nigeria was widely considered as one of the frontline states without a physical boarder, investing billions of dollars and unparallel diplomatic capital to end apartheid in South Africa. Nigeria’s multifaceted support ranged from financing liberation movements to issuing Nigerian passports for exiled anti-apartheid leaders. The Southern Africa Relief Fund, which was established in 1976, was an initiative that required all Nigerian civil servants and public officers to donate a percentage of their salaries (known as Mandela Tax) in support of the struggle. Students in several universities also skipped meals to make contributions, ultimately raising tens of millions of dollars.
Nigeria also provided millions of dollars annually directly to the African National Congress, (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress, (PAC), whilst also providing secret military training for ANC and PAC guerilla forces. Nigeria championed anti-apartheid causes at the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity, (OAU). Nigeria boycotted the 1976 Olympic Games and the 1979 Commonwealth Games, and nationalised British Petroleum (BP) in 1979 to punish the British government for its stance on Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa.
Despite its contributions in ending the apartheid regime, it is the same Nigerians alongside several other Africans that are now despised in South Africa. The same Nigeria, which served as a safe haven for many South African exiles that were provided with Nigerian passports which allowed activists like Oliver Tambo and Thabo Mbeki to travel the globe and lobby against the apartheid regime. Several South Africans students who were forced to flee their country were offered free education, shelter, and scholarships in Nigeria.
With the June 30th deadline fast approaching and with the assurance from Odumegwu-Ojukwu that no willing Nigerian would be left behind in South Africa, it is hoped that our leaders strive to make Nigeria a better place for her citizens to live and thrive, and be spared the pains of living as refugees or despised imposters in another man’s land. It is becoming clearer all over the world that migration is now being frowned upon, hence the need to develop our own country. The growth and development of our citizens should be the focal point of our foreign policy development and not the much-mouthed African solidarity which we have not benefited much from.
As for South Africans, now that the ‘aliens’ are getting out of their country, we wish them the best of luck in taking charge of their supposed lost opportunities and improve their living conditions. What they should note is that nothing much would change in their conditions if they remain lazy and unwilling to do the hard work of nation building. As for the South African ladies after the hearts of Nigerian men, the world is now a global village, and where there is a will, there is a way. Go where the love is.
South Africa has let down the entire African continent and the repercussions of their actions are still unfolding. Just last week, a South African woman, Asandra Denise, was sentenced to a cumulative 130 years in prison for cocaine smuggling in Sierra Leone. Justice Andrew S.C Johnson found the defendant guilty of a five-count drug indictment. According to court records, Denise, a resident of Nenvonds in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, was arrested at Freetown International Airport in Lungi after security operatives discovered her in possession of 365 pellets of compressed cocaine weighing approximately 5.4 kilograms. I have a feeling that this is one of more harsh retaliatory treatments to come to them from across Africa due to the seed of hate that they have sown, and they should be prepared to reap the harvests.
See you next week.
