TAURAI MHAKA
As South Africa grapples with renewed anti-immigration sentiment and growing hostility towards foreign nationals, Africa finds itself confronting an uncomfortable question: what happened to the spirit of African solidarity?
What often begins as calls to tackle illegal immigration has increasingly exposed a deeper and more troubling reality. Across parts of South Africa, hostility has expanded beyond undocumented migrants to include legal residents, asylum seekers, refugees and even naturalised citizens from elsewhere on the continent. Zimbabweans, Malawians, Mozambicans, Ethiopians, Nigerians, Somalis and Congolese have all found themselves caught in the crossfire.
Supporters of anti-immigration campaigns argue that migrants are taking jobs from South Africans, depressing wages, straining public services and contributing to crime. In some communities, Ethiopian-owned businesses have become particular targets, accused of outcompeting local traders and dominating township retail markets.
These concerns cannot simply be dismissed. South Africa is facing one of the gravest unemployment crises in the world. Official figures place unemployment at over 31 percent, while broader measures that include discouraged job seekers are significantly higher. For millions of South Africans, economic exclusion is not an abstract policy debate but a daily reality.
Yet the evidence suggests that blaming foreigners for South Africa’s economic woes is a dangerous oversimplification.
Even using the highest estimates, immigrants account for only a small share of South Africa’s population. Researchers estimate that between 2.5 million and 4 million foreign-born residents live in the country, representing roughly 4 to 7 percent of a population exceeding 63 million. While there are undoubtedly undocumented migrants among them, experts generally agree that a substantial proportion are legal residents, refugees, asylum seekers or documented workers.
In other words, more than 90 percent of the people living in South Africa are South African citizens. If unemployment remains stubbornly high, the causes run much deeper than immigration alone.
The roots of the country’s economic frustrations lie in years of slow growth, energy shortages, governance failures, corruption scandals and declining investor confidence. South Africa’s economy grew by less than 1 percent in 2023 and remained largely stagnant through 2024 and 2025. Such growth rates are simply insufficient to generate enough jobs for a youthful and expanding population.
The anger visible today is therefore understandable. The targets of that anger are not.
Ironically, many of the migrants facing hostility occupy spaces in the economy that others have struggled to fill. Across South African cities and townships, foreign-owned businesses often operate longer hours, rely on collective financing models and build extensive community supply networks. Many migrants also work in sectors facing labour shortages or bring skills and qualifications that remain in demand.
This is not to suggest that migration is without challenges. Employers who exploit vulnerable migrant workers can distort labour markets and undermine local wages. Weak border management creates legitimate public concerns. Criminal elements exist among both citizens and non-citizens.
But none of these realities justify collective punishment based on nationality.
Nor do they explain why Africa’s most industrialised economy has become increasingly hostile towards fellow Africans seeking opportunity.
South Africa remains the economic giant of Southern Africa. With a gross domestic product of more than US$400 billion, its economy is larger than those of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique combined. For decades it has served as a magnet for workers, entrepreneurs and professionals from across the continent.
The migration flows into South Africa are not occurring in isolation. They reflect wider economic realities across the region. Economic decline in Zimbabwe, limited opportunities in parts of Mozambique and Malawi and broader challenges across several African economies have pushed people to seek livelihoods elsewhere. North Africans and West Africans have similarly looked southwards in search of opportunity.
In many respects, South Africa is experiencing the consequences of governance failures far beyond its borders.
Yet migration following economic opportunity is hardly a new phenomenon.
There was a time when Zimbabwe was regarded as the breadbasket of Africa and one of the continent’s most prosperous economies. During those years, thousands of Malawians, Mozambicans and Zambians crossed into Zimbabwe seeking work on farms, in mines and in industry. Many settled permanently. Their children and grandchildren became part of the national fabric. Today, they are simply Zimbabweans.
Botswana has followed a similar path, welcoming workers from across Southern Africa. Côte d’Ivoire became home to millions of West African migrants. Kenya continues to attract professionals and entrepreneurs from across East Africa.
Migration has always been part of Africa’s story.
People move towards opportunity. They always have.
What makes the South African case particularly painful is the country’s own history. During the struggle against apartheid, African nations opened their borders to South African exiles. They hosted liberation movements, provided training facilities, offered scholarships and mobilised diplomatic support. Countries with far fewer resources than South Africa shared what little they had because they believed in a common African destiny.
The continent stood with South Africa when it needed Africa.
Today, many Africans are asking whether that solidarity is being returned.
Yet this should not become a debate about historical debts. South Africa’s challenges are real, and so are the pressures created by unmanaged migration. The solution, however, cannot be xenophobia.
The solution lies in economic growth, effective governance and regional cooperation.
South African policymakers must address the structural obstacles preventing the economy from creating jobs at scale. Neighbouring governments must confront the corruption, policy failures and economic mismanagement that drive citizens to seek opportunities elsewhere. Regional bodies must strengthen labour mobility frameworks and improve migration management.
Most importantly, political leaders must resist the temptation to turn migrants into convenient scapegoats.
History teaches a simple lesson: when societies normalise hostility towards outsiders, the category of “outsider” eventually expands.
There are already signs of this dangerous evolution. What began as anti-foreigner sentiment is increasingly taking on tribal and ethnic dimensions within South Africa itself. Communities that once united against outsiders are beginning to turn against one another.
The politics of exclusion rarely stops where it starts.
The irony is that South Africa’s prosperity has long depended on its connections with the rest of Africa. While migrants are often accused of benefiting from South Africa’s economy, South Africa itself derives enormous benefits from access to African markets.
The country is one of Africa’s largest trading nations, exporting manufactured goods, financial services, telecommunications products, mining expertise and retail brands across the continent. African countries collectively account for a significant share of South Africa’s exports, making the continent one of its most important markets outside Europe and Asia.
From supermarkets and mobile phone networks to banks and insurance firms, South African companies have established a formidable presence across Africa. Millions of consumers from Lagos to Lusaka, Nairobi to Windhoek purchase goods and services from South African businesses every day. The success of these companies demonstrates the value of African integration and the opportunities created when borders facilitate the movement of capital, goods and services.
Yet integration cannot be a one-way street. If South African businesses are welcomed across the continent, it is difficult to argue that Africans seeking employment, education or entrepreneurial opportunities in South Africa should automatically be viewed with suspicion. The movement of people is not separate from economic integration; it is one of its natural consequences.
This is particularly troubling at a time when South African companies are among the greatest beneficiaries of African integration. Telecommunications giant MTN, retailers such as Shoprite, financial institutions like Standard Bank and media conglomerates such as MultiChoice operate across dozens of African markets. South African businesses generate billions of dollars in revenue from consumers throughout the continent.
Africa has welcomed South African investment because economic integration benefits everyone.
If African markets are open to South African capital, African people should not become enemies simply because they cross borders in search of opportunity.
Ultimately, South Africa’s xenophobia crisis is not merely a South African problem. It is a reflection of Africa’s unfinished business: economies that fail to create jobs, governments that fail to deliver opportunity and a continent that has yet to fully realise the promise of Pan-Africanism.
