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Xenophobia threatens black South Africans the most

22 August 2025 | Story Dr Nombulelo Shange | Photo Supplied

Opinion article by Dr Nombulelo Shange, Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, University of the Free State

The rising xenophobic violence and exclusion towards African nationals from outside of South Africa is increasingly becoming an emotive issue that is impossible to engage and unpack. In the social-media, “Trumpification” age we live in today, truth-telling and evidence are secondary or even completely irrelevant against the loud, “smart-sounding opinions” rooted in lies and misinformation spread online. Some have used statistics to show that foreigners only make up roughly 4% of our population, which is significant, but not enough to account for our rising unemployment and South Africans’ difficulty in accessing social services and goods such as education and healthcare. There are bigger challenges rooted in our incomplete revolution, rooted in coloniality, where resources and land were left at the hands of the white oppressor, in exchange for “peace”. There are bigger challenges rooted in corruption and poor governance. But even with these realities, many bury their heads in the sand and opt to believe the incomplete story that foreigners are our single greatest problem.

Self-inflicted harm

Many others have turned to history as a reminder of how African countries in different ways, aided our armed struggle and apartheid resistance, warning that we might need the continent soon and we would have alienated all of our neighbours if we continue down this path. Others have turned to politics and economics, which show us the importance of having strong economic ties with neighbouring countries to ensure growth and development. We saw this in part historically with the European Union and we see it today with the rise of Asian markets like China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and others. Some of the pluralistic approaches to the rapid growth of many of these Asian markets is in relaxing borders to enable the flow of people, ideas, technology, money and resources. But South Africans continue to respond by fighting for the isolating barriers put up by colonialism and later apartheid in order to strengthen their cruel inhumane policies and stronghold against black people.

We often do this to our own detriment as black people and people of colour, structures such as Operation Dudula and March on March, seldom march to white schools in the suburbs to demand that white people prove their citizenship and belonging. They do this in predominantly black or mixed areas, applying a self-imposed apartheid dompas system, that limits our movements. They ignore the fact that many South Africans themselves are undocumented because of a variety of historical and contemporary issues and struggles related to accessing important services like Home Affairs. They base many of their strategies on hateful intangible stereotypes like the belief that foreigners are dark, cannot speak South African languages or pronounce specific words. The ideas around what it means to be South African are usually very linear and often prioritise namely Nguni culture and languages. So, if you are not a light skinned, Zulu/Nguni person, without your ID, you find yourself at risk of being harmed or being denied important services like healthcare in an emergency for example. We are too quick to forget the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic; illness does not care who you are, what race or nationality you are, it spreads and places all of us at risk. Denying foreigners access to healthcare, while many of them live in overcrowded black townships, places black South Africans in harm’s way and can lead to a public health crisis in areas where people were struggling to access healthcare long before the influx of foreigners in the country.

Silence and inaction of our leaders

Noticeable in this whole mess and scary new norm, is the silence and inaction of our leaders. The violent and harmful actions of South Africans can in part be explained by their desperate state stemming from poverty, unemployment, and violent crimes experienced today. The tensions can in part be explained by a lack of adequate awareness of the diverse historical and contemporary importance of the continent and our immediate neighbours for our own growth and development. The overwhelming silence of our leaders is hard to make sense of. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leaders remain some of the few leaders that condemn this violence and call for a united Africa. It is believed this stance even cost EFF supporters in the 2024 elections, but they still continue to hold onto this important ethical stance, while more prominent leaders shy away from the issue. Many of these leaders were themselves either born or raised in exile or started their own families outside of the country and were the direct beneficiaries of the kindness and sacrifice that many African countries showed us during apartheid. In this new climate of having to prove “South Africanness” and therefore belonging gymnastics, many of them would have their belonging questioned. But rather than call out the violence and put protections in place, while creating awareness on diverse complexities that create “South Africanness”, our leaders are silent. And perhaps more startling, is that our government is partly made up of a political party that campaigned on the hate of foreigners. Including political parties like the Patriotic Alliance in governance has helped formalise fringe ideas like the “abahambe” slogan, which was a chant directed at African foreigners, threatening and instructing them to leave. The threats have materialised, and foreigners are having different kinds of violence enacted on them.

Afrophobia protects colonial borders

Many social commentors warned that the xenophobic utterances embedded in slogans such as “abahambe” coming from Patriotic Alliance leader, Minister Gayton McKenzie, are deeply rooted in anti-black hate. The TikTok accounts of creators such as: Nikita Lexi, Tara Roos, Samantha Jansen, Kaapie in Korea, Romantha Botha, and many others, have provided interesting and important context and caution with their historically rooted, evidence-based truth-telling that speaks to a plethora of contemporary South African issues, including race. Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, McKenzie has now recently come under fire for posting old racist and sexist tweets, where the biggest frustration is over his repeated use of the “k-word”. The minister’s actions raise a lot of questions about the intersecting links between Afrophobia, tribalism, hate towards blackness and self-hate as a psychosocial condition plaguing many black people and people of colour, especially in South Africa. What we learn from the minister’s tweets is that Afrophobia is often used to mask racism. It is concerning for a government minister to hold such views, while they are responsible for providing services to the predominately black masses, and artists, in the case of McKenzie.

What might be perhaps the most damaging and harmful to us as black South Africans, is that our Afrophobia disconnects us to valuable, self-affirming spiritual, social, historical, ecological and economic ties we have with the African continent. We protect the colonial borders that tore our families and cultural groups apart. Our hate is a worship of the colonial shackles that dismembered our ancestors, histories and experiences and that still stifle us today.

News Archive

It’s Rag Time!

2014-01-14

Zakes Bantwini, Mango Groove and Robbie Wessels
Photos: Supplied

Kovsie Rag Community Service will start 2014 off with the well-known Rag festivities, with enthusiastic students already starting with float building in January. The theme for Rag CS 2014 is ‘Movies.’

As from 20 January, a cheerful atmosphere will be present at the Kovsie Rag farm, with senior and junior students working hard, while social cohesion is developing between them. Great entertainment will be part of these festivities, with the likes of DJ Euphonik and Adam performing on 31 January.
In the midst of all these activities, the annual ‘Chicken Run’ evening collections will take place on 21, 23 and 28 January, as well as the Ritsim sales in Bloemfontein and surrounding areas on 24-25 January.

The hard work will reach its peak with the judging of the floats on the morning of 1 February, after which the floats will depart at 09:00 for the first procession of the day. This route will end at Twin City Mall at 11:00, where 10 000 meals will be distributed to communities in Heidedal and Mangaung. Learners from Heidedal schools will entertain the public with their talents.

Our very popular family festival will already start at 16:00 with the opening of the gates at Chevrolet Park Cricket Stadium. Young and old will be entertained by well-known and vibrant artists, such as Robbie Wessels, Mango Groove, Zakes Bantwini, as well as a spectacular firework show. Come early to ensure a great spot on the grass.

The float winners will be announced at 17:00, whereafter the main procession of the day will depart from the Tempe robot in Nelson Mandela Drive at 18:00. The public can look forward to this ever popular procession through the streets of Bloemfontein, with decorated floats and students cradling collection tins proceeding to Chevrolet Park. The 2012/2013 UFS Rag queen, Mr Rag and their retinue will greet the public from the main float. Finalists for the 2013/2014 UFS Rag queen and Mr Rag titles, as well as drum majorettes, will also accompany the procession.

Do not miss out on this wonderful family festival – come early, bring your family and picnic blanket/chairs to ensure a great spot on the grass – a variety of refreshments will be on sale.

Tickets available from Computicket and entrance gates.

Tickets: R60 per person
R30 per child under 12

We would also like to make use of this opportunity to remind you of our vibrant 2013/2014 UFS Rag coronation ball, where the UFS Rag queen and Mr Rag CS for 2014 will be crowned on 14 February 2014 in the Callie Human Centre, UFS Campus.

Limited tickets will be available at R500 per couple and can be bought from the Rag Community Service office from 5 February 2014.

Enquiries:

Karen Scheepers +27(0)51 401 2423 ( ScheepersK@ufs.ac.za )
Esmé Wessels +27(0)51 401 3769 ( Wesselse@ufs.ac.za )

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