Xenophobia in South Africa: We Need to Talk

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]I really am voicing my dissatisfaction, my disgust, my disdain, my my misunderstanding of why. Good day, beautiful people. It's Effia Tetteh Anan, also known as MC Fifii Oheema, and I am back here on the African Diaspora News Channel with another hot take.

[00:00:21]Now, we know the story. Everybody loves Pan-Africanism until it's time to open the door.

[00:00:29]Yes, South Africa, come to the front.

[00:00:31]We're talking about you.

[00:00:34]Now, I want you guys to also go on over to my Instagram page and take a look at the video. I posted a shorter clip we're talking about some of these issues earlier, previously.

[00:00:45]Um and I really am voicing my dissatisfaction, my disgust, my disdain, my my misunderstanding of why we can look at one another in this day and age and still see each other as an enemy.

[00:01:03]We are living here in the Western world where we're so far from our culture, the idea of community that Africa and Africans have always fallen back on that it's expected here.

[00:01:16]But in the continent, on the continent, to see such actions is so confusing, so disorienting, and I I'm not alone when I say we're fed up with South Africa right now.

[00:01:31]It wasn't too long ago where we were seeing beautiful images come out of social media, TikTok regarding South Africa.

[00:01:39]Right? People saying, "Oh, I'm booking my trip to SA. Can't wait to get to SA."

[00:01:42]Myself included.

[00:01:45]Now, people are changing their minds due to how people who look like us are being treated.

[00:01:52]Right now, South Africa is in the headlines for multiple reasons all at the same time.

[00:01:57]African nationals are being targeted by xenophobic violence.

[00:02:03]Ghana's had to bring one of its citizens home after an attack violent attack went viral.

[00:02:10]Um >> [gasps] >> Where do we begin? Let's talk about Julius Malema, one of South Africa's loudest political voices on black economic freedom and has as he's been sentenced to prison in a firearms case.

[00:02:26]At the same time, white South Africans are being positioned internationally as victims who need protection.

[00:02:33]You guys remember when Donald Trump and Elon Musk were talking about them potentially stepping in because white farmers or white people's lands in South Africa were being taken from them?

[00:02:43]Okay.

[00:02:44]So many questions. Who does South Africa see as part of the struggle and who does it see as disposable?

[00:02:53]Let's talk about Julius Malema first. He is the leader behind the EFF, which is the Economic Freedom Fighters.

[00:03:03]And that name matters. Economic Freedom Fighters.

[00:03:07]The party positions itself around land, jobs, nationalism, free education, health care health care, housing, and the idea that political freedom after apartheid did not automatically create economic freedom for black South Africans.

[00:03:24]We They were fighting The whole continent was fighting apartheid and when it ended, what did that mean for those most affected?

[00:03:33]The EFF's own platform list its major pillars as land explor um exploration without compensation for equitable redistribution, nationalization of mines, which is huge because we see a lot of these nations, I'll talk about the Sahel states, talking about nationalizing resources?

[00:03:54]Gaddafi tried to do that, they killed him.

[00:03:56]Right?

[00:03:58]Um, other country leaders have tried to do that, they've mysteriously were killed.

[00:04:02]So, nationalization is not what Western powers want.

[00:04:08]Right?

[00:04:10]And they're looking to nationalize mines, banks, and strategic sectors, building states capacity, um, and free a quality education, health care, housing, and sanitation. So, here's the thing, whether you agree with Malema or not, uh, he represents the frustration that is real.

[00:04:30]Um, real like South black South Africans were politically liberated from apartheid, but still many were locked out of the economy. Apartheid in South Africa ended legally, but the economic architecture of apartheid did not disappear overnight.

[00:04:46]So, as we continue to talk about him, I mentioned earlier that he's been sentenced to prison.

[00:04:52]April of 2026, so this just happened last month.

[00:04:56]Um, it was over 2018 incident where he actually let off, um, a shotgun in at a rally, right? And, um, he was convicted of those charges including unlawful possession, um, and discharging a firearm in a built-up area. So, currently he's released pending appeal.

[00:05:16]Um, so he's not in prison, so let's thank God for that. But if his sentence is upheld, it could mean that it disqualifies him from parliament.

[00:05:24]Now, was it the best thing for him to do? No, but the timing is very interesting.

[00:05:30]As one of the loudest voices for Pan-Africanism, for economic liberation for black people, for South Africans, they're trying to silence him.

[00:05:47]I want to be very clear here. People need to be held accountable, especially public figures.

[00:05:52]But, you know, firing a gun at a rally, it is serious. It is. Let's Let's just say that. It is. But, the question that we really want to ask is whether the law was broken.

[00:06:05]Um we're asking questions around why now, the timing is interesting.

[00:06:11]Um why does it feel like the large the biggest the loudest black economic freedom fighter is about to be silenced? It could cut the whole head off the whole movement.

[00:06:22]It's intentional.

[00:06:24]Right? Especially at a time where South Africa is under international pressure um around race, land, migration, and xenophobia.

[00:06:34]Accountability and political silencing can sometimes wear the same suits, and that's why people are watching this timing very closely. This is happening while, you know, South Africa is dealing with xenophobic attacks. Several countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, uh Zimbabwe, have warned their citizens in South Africa to be very careful as foreign nationals are being targeted amid anti-immigration protests.

[00:06:58]Um Ghana and Nigeria have also retreated their citizens following attacks.

[00:07:03]Right? Initially, what we were first seeing was Nigerians being beat up in the streets, being questioned, asked for documents. Even when they provided legal documents, the documents were taken, and they were being beat up like public humiliation, beat up, physically assaulted for the whole of Instagram to see, the whole of the internet to see.

[00:07:21]Right? And then we started seeing other people from other African countries going through the same thing.

[00:07:30]So, in the same moment when South Africans are debating black economic liberation, illegal immigration, unemployment, land, and who belongs, this is not a coincidence that the public conversation that these issues are feeding each other.

[00:07:49]Right? You know, when people are poor, they're angry, unemployed, politicians and vigilante groups often hand them an enemy.

[00:07:58]And most often, too often, that enemy becomes another African.

[00:08:05]You know, I really want to talk about Ghana's response to this because Ghana has put out strong statements. You know, the foreign John Mahama's talked about it. Honorable Samuel Balakwa has been very vocal about it as well um in terms of the outrage as to what's being hap what's happening to their citizens in in South Africa.

[00:08:26]And what Ghana really did was do more than just say that we're sorry this is happening. They're saying, "If you're unsafe, come home." Right? Um if you're in distress, they're going to help you come to return back to Ghana, which is huge, you know? Um this connects to a bigger conversation um that I've been having that mobility is power. I've done some other videos on that. African people should be able to move, build, trade, work, and invest across the continent. I want you guys to understand something. I was in Europe for about 11 days.

[00:08:58]The EU countries move within with uh between each other like nothing. I was going to Luxembourg. I was going to Luxembourg. I drove through multiple countries in order to stay to get to Luxembourg. I was in Luxembourg, came out of Luxembourg to get to Luxembourg.

[00:09:15]Okay? And nobody stopped me to ask me for a passport. There was no physical borders. There wasn't any of those things that they have put on us that they have told us that we need.

[00:09:26]Now, to be honest, I was a little bit concerned because I'm thinking, "Once you get into Europe, you can really disappear and nobody will know where you're at." So, yes, there are some security concerns. But these people have given this to their own. Yet, when it comes to Africa, they want to tell us where we belong, what part of the continent we live in, what our borders are, and they want us to look at each other like enemies, like we're not the same, although they move and intertwine freely.

[00:10:01]Let's think about that.

[00:10:03]And we're buying into that. We're talking about who belongs, who doesn't belong. We're Africans, first and foremost.

[00:10:09]We should be able to move wherever we want within the continent because the continent belongs to us.

[00:10:17]You will forget that we used to be uh tribes that moved throughout the continent, right?

[00:10:27]>> [gasps] >> It's just disappointing to see that we on the continent are getting so far away from how we view each other and see each other historically cult like culturally wise.

[00:10:39]It's It's very disappointing to see, you know.

[00:10:44]You can't scream Pan-Africanism in your speeches and then treat Africans like enemies at the border.

[00:10:50]It doesn't make sense.

[00:10:52]We saw people in the clinics looking for medical care and people going in and yelling, "Are you South African? Prove it." and kicking them out.

[00:11:00]It's It's It's mind-boggling.

[00:11:03]And then recently, we've even seen some irony here where white South Africans are joining in with the South Africans who feel like it's their duty to cleanse South Africa of immigrants and saying that the white South Africans are more aligned with them than other black Africans.

[00:11:20]I saw a video of that lady. What's her name? We There are videos right here um saying that the white South African lady had more right to be there than than the black African.

[00:11:30]Are we so lost that we are siding with the colonizer?

[00:11:35]They came to your country, took it from you, and had children, generations, and now do you feel like they're more aligned with you than the person who looks like you, born on the same continent as you?

[00:11:51]And sorry for discussing, but it's it really >> [sighs] >> you know?

[00:11:59]Um South Africa's employment crisis is real, you know? The official unemployment rate rose to 32% in the first quarter of 2026. That's up from 31% at the end of 2025. The youth unemployment rate is even more alarming with stats from South Africa reporting that 4.7 million unemployed young people are from between the ages of 15 to 34 in Q1 of 2006.

[00:12:27]So, we understand that there's struggle, there's a lot going on, you know? The The unemployment crisis is real.

[00:12:35]You know, but to blame other Africans for that they're coming to steal your jobs. Where else have we heard that before, right?

[00:12:44]We hear that in the Western worlds, right? In the US, it's largely the Mexicans are coming in and they're taking our jobs and our women and all these things, right? We see oh, the Indians are coming in Canada, the Indians are coming to take all our jobs, our kids will never be able to get jobs and all these xenophobia.

[00:13:01]The idea that somebody else is coming to take things that you feel like is rightly owed to you, rather than looking at the government and their policies and how they have failed to create opportunity for you. Some migrants are not just taking jobs, they're creating businesses, they're filing skills ga- they're filling skills gaps, running shops, cutting hair, building trade networks, and surviving in conditions many locals reject. They're doing things for the most part that y'all don't want to do.

[00:13:30]Yet you're mad that they're doing it and they're making money.

[00:13:35]I don't see.

[00:13:39]This doesn't mean that South Africans are lazy. I just I don't like that framing. Like I think that was the first thing people were in different Oh, they're just lazy. They don't want to work, right? But it does mean that we have to ask what is happening in the economy, education systems, and labor markets that makes migrants able to quick to move quickly while citizens feel locked out. I really respect the Ghanaian government. You know, they were able to relocate um the gentleman um let me get his name right. Emmanuel Asamoah.

[00:14:15]Um he was in that viral video where he was publicly humiliated um and Ghana's government stepped in and brought him back home. So, they said that he returned to Ghana in early May and after diplomatic intervention. And Ghanaian authorities have told citizens who feel unsafe in South Africa, "Brafie, come home. Contact Ghana's High Commission for assistance in relocations."

[00:14:39]At the government of Ghana's expense.

[00:14:41]We'll pay for it. Come back home. We got you.

[00:14:43]And this is the bigger picture and push that Ghana is having in terms of wanting to bring the diaspora back to back home as well as our own citizens. Like come back to our country and let us build together.

[00:14:54]You know?

[00:14:55]After he returned home, it's reported that Emmanuel received 200,000 Ghana cedis as seed capital to rebuild his life and start a business in Ghana.

[00:15:07]Ghana's High Commission to South Africa also said Ibrahim Mahama, who is the brother of the President John Mahama, offered him employment and wanted his story to inspire other Ghanaians facing hardship abroad to come on home.

[00:15:21]This is bigger than South Africa. It's about Africa as a whole, you know, because if African countries cannot protect Africans, who who are we building unity for?

[00:15:33]If Ghanaians, Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Malawians, Kenyans, Mozambicans, and and other citizens are unsafe in another African country, then our our Pan-Africanism is still too fragile.

[00:15:44]Ghana bringing Emmanuel home and supporting him is powerful, but the deeper goal should not be that every African must run back with their passport country about with their passport back to their country.

[00:15:56]The deeper goal should be able to create a continent where Africans are not treated as disposable in Africa.

[00:16:05]Africa cannot rise while Africans are being chased from African streets.

[00:16:11]Okay?

[00:16:12]So, here's my call to action.

[00:16:14]We need to change our thought process around who we are calling illegal citizens or illegal immigrants.

[00:16:22]No one who is African should be considered illegal in any part of Africa. Let's change our framing, our thought process here.

[00:16:31]African governments need to be able to protect their citizens abroad and create real reasons for them to to want to stay, want want to build up their nations. But, that's not to say that they shouldn't also want to build up other parts of the continent.

[00:16:48]To African youth, do not let politicians turn your frustration into hatred for one another. They're allowing us or creating scapegoats of our own selves, and we're biting into that.

[00:17:02]And to the diaspora, we need to stop romanticizing Pan-Africanism and start demanding that systems make it real and reflect what true Pan-Africanism is.

[00:17:14]My final question to you guys is if South Africa's crisis is really about illegal immigration or is immigration being used to distract unemployment from an unemployment inequality, land, and failed leadership?

[00:17:29]Drop your thoughts in the comments. I really want to have a discussion about this.

[00:17:34]Let's talk.

[00:17:36]Thank you for watching. I'll see you in another one.

[00:17:39]Peace and love, and make sure you follow me on Instagram @fifithequeen92.

[00:17:46]And I'll see you back here next time.