SOUTH AFRICANS ARE NOT XENOPHOBIC.#actionsa #jacintangobese #jacinta #marchandmarch

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]There is no flag big enough to cover up the fury of a provoked nation.

[00:00:08]Coming up.

[00:00:11]>> [music] >> Two giants well-traveled both internationally and continentally generationally far apart also in principles and beliefs came but to one agreement that South Africans are not xenophobic.

[00:00:35]You guys know I always disagree with Thabo Mbeki in so many issues, but on this issue of xenophobia I totally concur.

[00:00:47]Listen to this.

[00:00:49]There are many Nigerians who live here who don't get attacked by anybody.

[00:00:56]But there's a certain level of criminality.

[00:01:02]It doesn't affect only Nigerians.

[00:01:05]But the truth of the matter is that there are Nigerian criminals who are involved in drug dealing.

[00:01:14]And that's true.

[00:01:17]And there are Nigerian criminals who are involved in prostitution.

[00:01:23]And that's true.

[00:01:26]And you'll find like in this incident now in this area of Johannesburg, Rosettenville where there'd been attacks on people it's been against criminals, not Nigerians.

[00:01:41]There's no South African who goes around chasing Nigerians because they're Nigerian. It doesn't exist.

[00:01:48]>> [applause] >> But but they will act they will act against this person whether it's a Nigerian or South African, who they say "This one >> [clears throat] >> is feeding our children drugs and destroying young lives."

[00:02:06]Then they Then they report to the police.

[00:02:10]And the police don't act.

[00:02:13]Then the community takes the law into its hands.

[00:02:17]That will happen.

[00:02:19]It's incorrect to read that as being an offensive against Nigerians in South Africa because it's not true.

[00:02:30]So, I'm saying when we talk about xenophobia and Afrophobia, we need to be very careful about it.

[00:02:39]And I'm really trying to discourage this idea that there is an African population in South Africa which hates other Africans.

[00:02:50]That population doesn't exist.

[00:02:55]I totally agree with Mbeki here, guys, regardless of our differences, of course.

[00:03:02]I mean, you remember that foreigners have have always been coming to South Africa. I mean, like I mean, working in mines. And that's how even the Funeka law, which was developed. I remember Julius Malema once touched on that.

[00:03:20]It's only when they start committing crime and of course affecting the local people or the local citizens of South Africa that the problem started.

[00:03:29]But not that South Africans are by nature xenophobic.

[00:03:33]Gwede Mantashe, on the other hand, guys, not only do we agree on the issue of xenophobia, but we see eye to eye so many issues politically and corporately with him. I mean, I've loved I've loved the guy way back. He was still young by then.

[00:03:54]And listen to him here again throwing some jabs about xenophobia. And again, I totally conquer with him.

[00:04:03]And listen to this, guys. And again, not only him, but listen also to a Cameroonian lady who's breaking it all down for us to understand how honest people out there, honest media out there in Africa view the issue of xenophobia in South Africa.

[00:04:23]Check this out. It is either we hate South Africans or we are jealous of them. Because if not, tell me why it is not okay for them to deport illegal immigrants in their country, but it's okay for other countries to deport illegal immigrants in their country. You know why I'm talking about this?

[00:04:40]Um the recent news or the update from Ghana is that some military officers from the Ghana Immigration Service have been deployed. They are right now on the street, particularly in Accra or Kumasi.

[00:04:51]Now, they're arresting illegal immigrants and beggars, right? And the report says that over 600 illegal immigrants have been um they have been arrested. Now, they are definitely going to be deported to their to their respective countries. Now, when you go through the comment section, oh, this is this is good. This is nice. And then the comments from South Africans, it got me thinking.

[00:05:10]When South Africans do the same thing, right? They have not even started deporting these people, mind you. They are these people are even yet to be arrested, right? Now, Ghanaians would have been the first to come out to say that, oh, you know, the the the the the excuse that we always use that these countries always use against South Africans is we helped you guys through the apartheid or we contributed money.

[00:05:29]So, my question is this, other African countries did not help Ghana when they were going through a lot?

[00:05:35]Nigerians in particular because now they're talking about they're focusing on Nigerians. Nigerians, you have to leave Ghana. Nigerians, you have to leave Ghana. We don't want you there.

[00:05:41]You know, they accuse them of all the crimes or the bad things happening in Ghana. So, the question is this, Nigerians have never helped Ghana before?

[00:05:49]Is that what you're trying to tell me?

[00:05:50]Now, they're even asking Ghanaian landlords not to rent your properties to illegal immigrants or to foreigners. So, the question again is is it only like is it only South Africa that the whole of the African continent helped?

[00:06:03]Make it make sense. Now, let's take a look at Uganda. Um as of now, Uganda is equally deporting illegal immigrants. I think more than uh 300 of them have been arrested already and still and and and as well they will be deported to their respective countries. Now, nobody is talking about it. They're not calling that process xenophobia. But, when South Africans do it, it's they they they are being xenophobic. And today, I want us to be very very candid. Let's be very very honest. Now, let's talk about this Emmanuel Asamoah who was who was confronted. This young man who was just being questioned, right? I think that we blew things out of proportion. I'm not going to leave myself out. Yes, we blew because if you watch that video keenly, they were just having an exchange. They were having a conversation. They were questioning him. And then, upon his document where he presented his documents to the South Africans, it was discovered that what that he was there illegally. You know you know that, right? This is a video. He was there illegally. Now, as the case was progressing, right? This is one thing we noticed. Even the Nige- even the Ghanaian Foreign Affairs Minister this they discovered that indeed he was not there legally. And what did they do?

[00:07:09]They literally asked for his um they asked him to come back, right? Yeah.

[00:07:13]Now, Ghanaian the Ghanaian government asked for the young man to come back to Ghana. Are you getting me? Because they understood at the end of the day that this young man was in South Africa illegally. Now, we talk about uh people who have been on the life in South Africa. Let's be very honest. Let's be honest uh with ourselves. Has anybody been on the life? Yeah, there have been arm robbery. An Ethiopian was shot, but was he shot as a result of the protest?

[00:07:36]Did they in the hands of South Africans? Are South Africans the ones be for it? You know the answer. The answer is no. South Africans are protesting peacefully.

[00:07:45]Granted, I've been walking from one shop to the other, but if you watch all the videos as you're seeing them now, they've been questioning, "Do you have documents? Why are you here?" And most of them go to those go to those shops, to those companies, to those businesses, right? That belongs to foreign nationals who are not treating their South African employees right. Now, there is this video I want you guys to take a look at where these South Africans, they called a lot of business owners in South Africa. If you take a look, they're mostly white. Now, they were questioning them like, "How is it possible that you have a business that you own a business in South Africa but you do not have any South African employee?" It's wrong.

[00:08:23]Take a look at the video. able to hire South African because of these reasons.

[00:08:29]Wait, so what you're basically saying is if two shops don't have like we all suffer.

[00:08:35]Yes.

[00:08:37]And that's fine.

[00:08:39]You get That's why we're saying every business owner because we do speaking with the management.

[00:08:46]Every country has rights that protects the interest of their citizens. To open a shop in Ghana, a lot of you know that.

[00:08:52]Even the Ghanaians are talking about, right? No foreign national has a right to get into retailing. If you want to open a business in Ghana, you must become a wholesaler and you must have at most 20 Ghanaians working for you, isn't it? Ghanaians do not want that because that is their own benefit of being a citizen of Ghana. And that is the same right that South Africans are fighting for, isn't it? So, how is it that when you people do it, it is not a problem, but when South Africans do it, we call them xenophobic or we say we accuse them of of xenophobia attacks? That is That is totally unacceptable. Anyways, I want you guys to listen to uh one of I don't want to say South African. Yeah, he is from South Africa, but he is a true inspiration. He's a motivational speaker, an entrepreneur, a businessman.

[00:09:38]We're talking about Vusi Thembi Themba Khwalo. Take a look. You guys are aware of the issues that are taking place in South Africa at the moment, I'm sure. You're also aware of the tone, the language, and the texture of these issues. I want to make three absolute statements. The first is this.

[00:09:57]Contrary to what you're seeing on the media, South Africans are not xenophobic. Contrary to what you're seeing in the media. Statement sounds a blasty statement, especially because of some of the things you would have seen online. I'm not saying that there are no xenophobic people in South Africa. It's not what I'm saying.

[00:10:11]I'm simply saying saying the entire nation is xenophobic would be missing the point.

[00:10:17]There are 65 million people in South Africa.

[00:10:20]We have 11 official languages. We're one of the most diverse societies in the world, and even though that is the case, we get along with most people.

[00:10:27]If you go and look at the largest companies in South Africa as in the CEOs or boards of those companies, you will find that the CEOs or boards or C-suite executives are many people from the rest of Africa. So, I I I think I I I felt that it was important for me to say that.

[00:10:41]The second point I want to make is this.

[00:10:43]I think that there is an agenda to turn us against each other. And I think we feed that agenda when we feed the noise and the fire. But, what I'd like to think we can do is to reach across the divide, have actual conversations, understand what's happening as they say in Kenya, kwa ground, on the ground, so we can find each other. And then the third point I want to make. I was in Ghana last week. I went to the Kwame Nkrumah Museum. When I was in the Kwame Nkrumah Museum, I learned that Kwame Nkrumah, the man who is arguably the liberator of Africa, the first liberated nation in the continent of Africa was Ghana, 1957. And the man who liberated that nation was removed from power through a coup by his own people. Then I started reading about the history of your own nations, and I learned that you've had several of your own coups.

[00:11:27]Then I looked at what happened in the Congo, and I realized that Patrice Lumumba was removed by his own people.

[00:11:33]And I say all of that just to make this simple point. We as a people have to do better, man. This us as a people dragging each other as a people, fighting each other as a people, swearing at each other as a people, calling each other names as a people, it has to stop at some point.

[00:11:48]And I genuinely hope that we can use the church as a platform to bring Africans together.

[00:11:53]Because we're different until we start worshipping under the same Christ. And so my hope for every single person in this room, I hope for every single one of you is that you'd find the courage to be the light.

[00:12:04]Just as you and I were instructed to be.

[00:12:07]Go out to the world and be a light to the world.

[00:12:10]I love that speech. I don't find South Africans xenophobic. I don't think this is a xenophobia attack as reported. Now, talking about Ghana still, right? Now, let's take a look at this video. As I'm talking, you're watching it. You see the way these police officers are, you know, they're taking, they're arresting all these illegal foreigners, especially the beggars, to their vans. Are you seeing it? Now, they're holding weapons.

[00:12:31]They're even using sticks to push the women. Are you seeing it? Let's be very honest. If this video, if this had happened in South Africa, the world, there would have been an uproar by now.

[00:12:41]Everybody would have been saying xeno- Everybody would have been denouncing this. They'd have said, "Oh, this actually The South Africans have been xenophobic." And boom, Ghanaian media would have started talking. "Oh, look at the way they're treating our women. And what have these women done to these unarmed, innocent women?" I mean, the narrative changes.

[00:12:58]But Ghana is doing it, and nobody's talking about it. Everybody's applauding. "Yeah, this is the best way to go about it." Everybody knows, and the South Africans themselves have accepted and have acknowledged the fact that their government has failed them.

[00:13:09]So, let's stop using that excuse that "Oh, you should be using your government. It is not your right." South Africans have the constitution. The way Ghana is being governed is not the way South Africa is being governed. You see, to each their own. In South Africa, according to their constitution, it is okay for the citizens to govern when their government fails them. So, that's exactly what the South Africans are doing. They are governing. But, let's be very honest. This This people It's true that a one or two South Africans who have been doing, you know, the abnormal, like for example, looting shops, you know. But, the majority of them they have been marching peacefully. They have been handing memorandum. Even when the Igbo king situation broke out, if it were Nigeria, this is They would have That man would have been arrested by now. Let's be honest.

[00:13:54]His property would have been vandalized.

[00:13:55]We know what we're talking about.

[00:13:57]Nigerians would not take that lightly.

[00:13:58]You get? But, South Africans are marching peacefully. Even when they went to pay a visit to the Nigerian High Commissioner in Pretoria, South Africa, what did they do? They just went there and were singing. Then, they presented a memorandum. They literally read it out to the man and gave the man a chance to talk. You see, they went there peacefully. That's what they have been doing. But, now, we here we go ahead to do our own and our own is okay. And South Africans, it's not okay because we helped them during the apartheid. That was just on a lighter scale. There's this video I watched where Jacinta said, "When you talk about giving us money, we are grateful for the money that you handed to us, right? But, how many of you died? How many of your parents died? How many of your families died? How many of you fought?

[00:14:39]Fighting is different. South Africans gained their independence through sweat, blood, and tears. They literally fought.

[00:14:46]Some died. Some were injured. Some were dismembered. You see? For them to gain their freedom. And in all honesty, this is what I mean. They gained independence around 1994. So, those who were born in 1994 are like 22 years old now, isn't it? That's 132. This is how old South Africa is. And are they still truly free? Of course, not. They are not truly free. There's still a lot of marginalization going on in that country, isn't it? So, this why they still fighting. But, now, they have They have you. They have you to deal with.

[00:15:13]They have you You've brought in a lot of problems to solve. So, I, personally, to conclude, I do not believe that South Africans are xenophobic. I do not believe that South Africans are as bad as you all have painted them out to be.

[00:15:26]You guys genuinely understand what they're going through. And what they're going through is something that you would never accept in your respective countries. I'm going to leave you with this video. Now, it's coming from Victoria Africa. It's the young lady.

[00:15:39]She was among the South Africans who confronted or questioned the Ghanaian man, Emmanuel Asamoah. And there was something she said, "What is wrong or what is xenophobic in us asking foreign nationals to go and fix their country?" What is xenophobic about that? So, once again, I'll ask you, are South Africans truly xenophobic or they're just being hated or maybe being jealous? When we are telling you to go and build, you find that offensive. Or how what what is xenophobic about telling a a an African migrant to go build their country? We are a laughing stock in the in in in in the entire continent. African people don't believe in in in building. Now, I've seen also a a reaction from most of the Ghana um citizens that were saying they are plotting their foreign minister because he is dealing with this matter uh uh uh uh dealing with South African government decisively and Ghana people cannot be touched. The same people that have that are that that caused Ghanaian people to come to migrate and come and do nails in foreign country. You are today you are plotting them.

[00:16:45]You are They are the reason why you have left Ghana because your government is failing to create opportunities in your country. But today you are defending them.

[00:16:53]So, what type of thinking and mindset is this that we see from African people? We have seen uh uh a number of TV shows, uh influencers in Ghana condemning our behavior. Instead of doing the same, instead of ensuring that they protect their constitution and also they they they they develop their country and and and create opportunities for the Ghanaians, you are you you you are fighting South Africans that want law and order to prevail in their country.

[00:17:19]You are fighting South Africans that want to develop their country. We want South Africa to develop. We want to attract potential investors as a country that will help us create jobs for our people. You should be doing the same, familiarizing yourselves with your constitution and ensuring that it protects the the citizen of Ghana and and and it benefits the citizens of Ghana as a sovereign state or any African state. You are not doing that.

[00:17:42]You are busy fighting. You are looking for sympathy. And then, it's always Africans that are looking for sympathy from the entire world.

[00:17:49]You guys don't believe in building.

[00:17:51]Africans they are our focus as each and every African state was to to be like the likes of China or European countries. I mean, before I go, let me add this. I believe that foreign nationals or present rulers, the government from these different countries, they are pushing this narrative through the media because they don't want to fix their country. Are you understanding me? So, they they want South Africans to carry all the burden.

[00:18:13]If not, what is the normal view about this? Because even Cameroon, every year we do deport illegal immigrants from our country. It is something that is very normal. So, I just believe and I do concur with what Vusi said that this is truly a propaganda. This is truly an agenda.

[00:18:30]Wow, I love her honesty, guys. And note, please note, she doesn't even stay in South Africa, but she's she's so honest and so unbiased and sober-minded.

[00:18:43]That's what I like about her. About her, she's honest.

[00:18:47]Fellow South Africans, there's nothing wrong about fighting for your country.

[00:18:52]Fighting to defend your country.

[00:18:55]Fighting [snorts] to get rid of illegal immigrants from your country.

[00:19:01]There's totally nothing wrong in so doing.

[00:19:05]You are well within your right to do so.

[00:19:08]Let's fight for our country and defend it.

[00:19:12]Because whether our country is destroyed or survives, it's all in our hands. Failure of which we'll wake up one day with no country we call our own.

[00:19:24]What do you think?

[00:19:25]Let me have your [clears throat] comment below. And of course, if you are coming for the first time, guys, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.