Xenophobia's Cost
- Emerson Sam Emerson
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
There are injuries that time quietly repairs. Then there are those that refuse to heal, reopening each time memory brushes against them. For many across Africa, South Africa has become a lingering wound.
South Africa is a nation battling unemployment, crime and inequality—many countries face the same struggles. A country that once stood as Africa's greatest symbol of justice, is now too often linked to images of fellow Africans fleeing violence, watching their businesses burn, or living in fear simply because of where they were born.
That contrast hurts deeply and is hard to ignore.
For decades, South Africa represented the triumph of hope over hatred. The defeat of apartheid was celebrated not just as a national win but as a victory for the whole continent. It showed that even the world's most stubborn system of racial oppression could fall to courage, sacrifice, and a strong belief in human dignity.
Yet South Africa did not walk that path alone.
Its freedom was built by many hands from beyond its borders.
During apartheid, thousands of South African exiles found safety in neighbouring countries. Zambia served as the headquarters of the African National Congress (ANC) in exile. Tanzania welcomed liberation movements from across Southern Africa. Botswana, Mozambique, Angola, and Zimbabwe hosted refugees even as they faced their own economic difficulties. Nigeria established the Southern Africa Relief Fund (South Africa History Online, 2024; ANC Archives, 2023) and donated millions of dollars to the anti-apartheid fight (premiumtimesng.com). Malawi, though at times careful in its politics, also gave South Africans a place for education and safety. Many liberation leaders openly said that African solidarity helped defeat apartheid just as much as the resistance inside South Africa. (books.google.com)
Former South African President Nelson Mandela often reminded the world that his country's freedom grew from the sacrifices of other African nations. After his release from prison, he travelled across the continent and publicly thanked African governments and ordinary people for supporting the struggle through years of isolation and exile.
This shared history is why every wave of xenophobic violence aches far beyond South Africa's borders.
The scenes have become sadly familiar.
Shops owned by foreign nationals turned to ashes.
Families are quickly packing what they can before fleeing areas they once called home.
Street vendors chased away by angry crowds.
Workers are beaten not for any crime, but because their accents show they came from another country.
These are not just single events reported in newspapers. They have become symbols of a continent trying to balance its dream of unity with fear and resentment.
The violence that erupted in 2008 killed more than 60 people and displaced tens of thousands. Similar attacks returned in 2015, 2019, and in later years (African Union Commission, 2019; United Nations, 2019). African governments, the African Union, the United Nations and human rights groups condemned the violence. They warned that xenophobia threatens peace in the region and Africa's collective future.
Yet we must tell this story honestly and not blame all South Africans at once.
The worries behind these tensions are real.
South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. Youth unemployment is especially bad. Violent crime affects many communities. Public hospitals and schools are under heavy pressure, and millions of families struggle with rising costs.
In such hard conditions, people look for someone to blame.
Many South Africans say undocumented migrants add pressure on jobs, housing, healthcare, and services. Others argue that weak border controls allow criminal groups to grow alongside legitimate migration (Migration Policy Institute, 2023).
These concerns should not be ignored or laughed at.
Every country has the right and duty to control its borders through proper laws.
But there is a clear line between enforcing immigration rules and mob justice.
The law checks papers.
Hatred checks nationality.
The law punishes criminals.
Violence punishes innocent people.
Burning a Somali-owned grocery store does not create jobs.
Looting a Zimbabwean shop does not reduce food prices.
Attacking a Malawian worker does not fix inequality.
In fact, such violence makes the economy worse by destroying businesses, scaring away investors, and weakening already struggling communities.
The United Nations has repeatedly said that xenophobic attacks cause deep human pain and do little to address poverty, unemployment, and crime. The African Union has called on South African leaders to better protect migrants and punish those behind the violence instead of allowing it to continue without consequences.
Perhaps the biggest loss is not property or shops.
It is trust.
Across Africa, parents now think twice before sending their children to study in Johannesburg, Durban, or Cape Town. Businesspeople reconsider their investments. Skilled workers wonder whether they will be welcomed or merely tolerated.
The good name built over many years is at risk of being damaged by repeated images of fear.
South Africa's own leaders have recognised the danger.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has repeatedly condemned xenophobic violence (Presidency of South Africa, 2019). He has said that criminal acts by a few cannot justify attacks on entire communities of foreign nationals. He has reminded South Africans that many African countries provided shelter during apartheid and warned that attacking fellow Africans dishonours that history.
After attacks on Nigerians, former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari urged South Africa to protect Africans living there and called for stronger ties between the two nations.
Business leaders share the same worries.
South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe has often said that Africa's success depends on working together, not fighting. He argues that investment grows best where there is peace, stability and respect.
Their words point to an uncomfortable truth.
It could be argued that South Africa's biggest enemies are not migrants selling fruits on the streets or fixing cars far from home. Its deepest problems are unemployment, corruption, economic inequality, poor service delivery and violent crime. None of these can be fixed by turning against neighbours.
Real solutions need stronger government, not stronger fists.
They include secure borders governed by clear rules, modern immigration systems that distinguish honest migrants from criminals, holding employers accountable for illegal labour, policies that create real jobs and drive industry growth, investment in education and skills training, and policing that targets crime rather than nationality.
These things need patience, political courage, and good leadership.
Violence only needs another victim.
There is also a higher cost for the entire continent.
South African companies operate in many African countries. African businesses invest in South Africa. Universities educate students from across the continent. Every year, engineers, doctors, teachers, journalists and entrepreneurs move across borders, bringing skills that help many societies (World Bank, 2024).
If every African country starts treating outsiders as enemies, then every African will one day feel like a foreigner somewhere.
That would destroy the dream of unity that modern Africa has tried to build.
Perhaps the deepest irony is this.
The fight against apartheid was never just about changing who was in power.
It was about proving that human dignity does not depend on race, nationality, or background.
That idea inspired the world because it said every person deserves equal respect and opportunity.
Its moral power remains one of South Africa's greatest gifts to history.
Whether that gift lasts depends not on words, but on actions.
(I think/One could say that [B. James]) South Africa can control its immigration laws without losing compassion.
It can put its own citizens first without treating fellow Africans as less than human.
It can protect its economy without punishing entire communities.
History rarely remembers nations only for their money or military power.
It remembers how they treated the vulnerable when fear tried to lead them astray.
When future generations look back on this time, they will surely ask how South Africa addressed unemployment, inequality, and crime.
But another question may matter even more.
When fellow Africans came knocking at its door, did they meet the lasting spirit of Ubuntu*[1]- or a nation that had forgotten the very humanity it once fought for?
Glossary
*Ubuntu - a Xhosa term meaning humanity
Reference List
1. African National Congress. (2023). ANC Archives.
2. African Union Commission. (2019). Statement on Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa.
3. Amnesty International. (2023). South Africa: End Xenophobic Violence and Protect Migrants.
4. Human Rights Watch. (2008). Neighbours in Need: Xenophobia and Violence in South Africa.
5. Human Rights Watch. (2022). South Africa Country Report.
6. Mandela, N. (1994). Long Walk to Freedom. Little, Brown & Company.
7. Migration Policy Institute. (2023). Migration Trends in Southern Africa.
8. Presidency of Nigeria. (2019). Statement on Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa.
9. Presidency of South Africa. (2019). President Ramaphosa Condemns Xenophobic Violence.
10. South African History Online. (2024). The ANC in Exile.
11. Statistics South Africa. (2025). Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
12. United Nations. (2019). UN Condemns Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa.
13. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2008). South Africa Xenophobic Violence Situation Report.
14. World Bank. (2024). South Africa Economic Update.
About Emerson Sam Navaya
Malawian witer: Emerson, is a Sub-Editor at Malawi Eye
He studied Media & Communication Studies
Edited by Dr Jive Lubbungu
Comments