Ghana recently petitioned the African Union (AU) to formally address the resurgence of xenophobic violence in South Africa because the issue has ceased to be merely a domestic security concern. Other African governments, including Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Kenya, have warned their citizens or assisted nationals in South Africa to be cautious as the attacks against migrant Africans intensify and become more violent.
For years, South Africa has represented opportunity to many Africans. Today it is a place of unpredictability for thousands of migrants. The pictures are getting too familiar — looted businesses, empty homes, scared families and foreign nationals running from rioting mobs. But as the headlines are dominated by violence, the background story and the genesis of all this is economic frustration and political ideologies intersecting in ways that threaten one of Africa’s founding ideals, continental solidarity.
The uncomfortable truth is that South Africa’s xenophobia crisis is no longer just about migration. It has become an outlet for public anger in a country that struggles with persistent unemployment, inequality, systemic failure and declining public confidence in government. We know why migrants are being targeted, but why have they become the easiest people to blame?
The crisis beyond the headlines
South Africa has experienced recurring cases of xenophobic violence for nearly two decades. But the latest demonstrations have taken on renewed political significance, with organized anti-immigration groups staging nationwide protests while demanding stricter immigration enforcement and the removal of undocumented migrants.
The consequences have extended beyond South Africa. African nations have expressed concern over the safety of their citizens, while diplomatic tensions have arisen with Pretoria’s management of the xenophobic activities.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, an organ of the African Union, condemned the attacks, reminding South Africa that immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the state, not vigilante groups or ordinary citizens. The Commission warned that xenophobic violence opposes the principles of African solidarity and violates the rights guaranteed under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
That intervention has shown how the case has escalated. What was once viewed as a domestic policing issue is increasingly being treated as a continental challenge affecting migration, diplomacy and regional integration.
How economic frustration became political capital
To understand the rise of xenophobia is to know what triggers it, and one of the triggers is the worsening South African economy.
The country still faces one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. Youth unemployment is particularly severe and many communities are facing higher living costs, unstable electricity, and growing inequality.
Millions of South Africans cannot access the economic opportunities promised after apartheid. Many believe successive governments have failed to deliver jobs, affordable housing, quality health care, and functioning public institutions. After years of economic stagnation and corruption scandals, the public’s confidence in state institutions has steadily declined.
Economic frustration, however, doesn’t automatically translate into xenophobia. Politics is what turns frustration into hostility. Migration is being used more frequently now as a campaign strategy by politicians and organised anti-immigration movements, claiming that foreigners are supposed to be blamed for unemployment and crime in South Africa. Their message is clear: remove migrants and South Africans will face fewer problems.
But will that really solve the problem? South Africa’s unemployment crisis has long been linked by economists to structural factors including weak economic growth, persistent inequality, corruption, poor governance, unreliable infrastructure and skills mismatches. There is little evidence that migrants are the main cause of these challenges.
Still, they have become the clearest targets of public anger, and the state’s response has only made things worse.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned xenophobic violence and reiterated that it’s the state’s responsibility to enforce immigration laws. He has also respected the concerns of citizens regarding illegal immigration and their right to peaceful protest. But critics say repeated condemnations have not been paired with firm action against the vigilante groups carrying out the attacks. Violence has recurred over the years, and many migrants say the state’s capacity – or willingness – to uphold the rule of law is an open question, leaving them feeling inadequately protected.
The danger lies not just in the violence itself, but in the state’s uneven response, say researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand. Repeatedly acting without consequences, vigilante groups can begin to see themselves as legitimate enforcers of immigration laws rather than illegitimate actors outside the law. This risks blurring the distinction between peaceful protest and illegal persecution.
Complex economic problems seldom generate simple political messages. Scapegoating does not.
When government failure becomes migrants’ burden
Perhaps the greatest irony of South Africa’s xenophobia crisis is that many of the grievances directed at migrants stem from failures of government institutions themselves.
South Africa’s immigration system has reportedly experienced administrative backlogs and an accumulation of work, leading to years-long delays. Many asylum seekers and legal migrants have had to wait for months or even years for permits to be processed or renewed. Others have experienced corruption in the system, with officials accused of asking for bribes or facilitating fraudulent documentation.
For migrants who try to follow the law, the result is often unpredictability rather than protection and certainty. Bureaucratic delays mean some people may have a legal right to stay in the country but no valid documentation due to procedural bottlenecks. Others might have bought their documents from corrupt officials without knowing.
When anti-immigrant protests erupt, however, the differences disappear between those who chose to remain undocumented and those who are victims of the system. Documentation is less important to angry crowds than appearance, language or nationality. Both illegal and legal migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees are therefore often victims.
The public anger is directing at migrants rather than pushing for the establishment of better immigration management and more accountability in public institutions.
Someone to blame
When jobs are limited and economic opportunities shrink, societies often search for outsiders to blame. Initially, those outsiders may be foreign nationals. But when frustration persists, the definition of “outsider” begins to expand.
Today it may be Zimbabweans, tomorrow it may be Nigerians. Next, it may be South Africans from another province. Eventually, communities may begin turning on themselves. The target changes because the main problem remains unresolved.
History shows that during periods of economic or political distress, societies often seek scapegoats. Once one group has been blamed, the search for new “outsiders” can continue if the main systemic problems remain unresolved.
What happened to African solidarity?
Perhaps the most painful aspect of South Africa’s xenophobia crisis is the contrast with the continent’s history.
During apartheid, South Africa’s struggle was Africa’s struggle. The South African history organization highlighted some of the contributions the contributions of several African nations to South Africa’s fight for freedom:
- Nigeria was one of the strongest supporters of the anti-apartheid movement, providing financial assistance, scholarships and diplomatic backing to South African liberation movements.
- Zambia hosted the African National Congress (ANC) in exile for decades, becoming the movement’s political headquarters outside South Africa.
- Tanzania trained liberation fighters and hosted educational institutions for South African exiles.
- Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and other nations that shared borders with South Africa endured military invasions, economic volatility and political pressure because of their support for South Africa’s freedom.
The Organization of African Unity helped coordinate political pressure against apartheid while African governments believed that South Africa’s freedom was integral to Africa’s own future. The continent stood together because it believed that an attack on one African nation affected all. Today, African unity is being threatened.
The African nations that sacrificed security, resources and diplomacy to support South Africa’s fight to freedom are now evacuating their citizens from South Africa who no longer feel safe living there. This should concern all African leaders — the unity that was fought for is now being ridiculed.
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Why this matters beyond South Africa
The bigger picture involves the whole of Africa.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) seeks to deepen trade liberalisation in Africa. The African Union continues to advocate for greater regional cooperation, mobility and shared prosperity. These aspirations also depend on trust.
If African migrants always become victims of violence in one of the continent’s largest economies, confidence in regional integration unavoidably suffers. Businesses become reluctant to invest while skilled workers and “hustlers” become hesitant to relocate.
Governments become more wary in bilateral relations. The consequences are economic as much as they are political. And more generally, South Africa’s experience is a challenge for countries everywhere.
The more economic uncertainty there is, the easier it is to use migration as a loose cannon for people’s anger. There have also been similar discussions in Europe, North America, and elsewhere.
What next?
South Africans have valid concerns about unemployment and border control. Governments have a duty to guard borders, enforce immigration laws and make sure that public institutions run optimally. But these cannot be achieved through xenophobia.
Progressively, the migrants become convenient scapegoats for frustrations that are the result of deeper systemic and structural issues like poor governance, corruption and persistent inequality. Until those problems are rectified, the frustrations of millions of South Africans will remain.
The continent that once united to fight apartheid must now decide whether it can unite once again — not against a common enemy, but against the politics of blame itself.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — In the Cover Photo: Second Pan-African Congress at the Palais Mondial in Brussels, Belgium, September 1921. Cover Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
