Afrophobia: Challenge To African Unity

One of the most troubling issues confronting the African continent today is the forced eviction and persecution of black African migrants in South Africa. Following the June 30 quit notice issued by self-styled South African vigilantes to black African migrants, several countries, including Nigeria, have begun evacuating their citizens from the former apartheid enclave.

This latest reprehensible development follows earlier waves of such attacks in 1994, 2008, 2015, 2019, 2021–2022, and 2025–2026 during which black African migrants and their businesses were targeted, resulting in deaths, injuries and the destruction of livelihoods. The violence has largely been driven by economic frustration, with some South Africans blaming fellow Africans for unemployment and other socio-economic challenges instead of addressing the structural causes of their country’s problems.

Even before the eviction deadline, several Africans had reportedly been killed, while many others lived under constant threats of violence, forcing them to seek refuge in embassies and other safe locations pending evacuation.

On the appointed date, thousands of youths armed with clubs and other crude weapons marched through the streets of several South African cities, chanting anti-immigrant slogans and issuing threats. In their fury, they made no distinction between documented and undocumented migrants.

Consequently, Nigerian returnees have been arriving home in batches, recounting heartbreaking stories of businesses abandoned, investments lost and dreams shattered as they fled the so-called Rainbow Nation.

The response of the South African government has been disappointing. By failing to decisively rein in identifiable vigilante leaders openly threatening fellow Africans, the government has created the impression of complicity through inaction. It is difficult to understand how the administration of President Cyril Ramaphosa could ignore such blatant threats to lives and property.

This attitude is particularly disturbing given Nigeria’s immense contributions to South Africa’s liberation from apartheid. According to research by the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), Nigeria contributed an estimated $61 billion between 1960 and 1995 through direct financial assistance, institutional support and substantial economic sacrifices in the struggle against white minority rule.

A significant portion of that support came through economic measures. Nigeria maintained a long-standing oil embargo against the apartheid regime, reportedly sacrificing about $41 billion in potential oil revenue. In 1979, it also nationalised the assets of British Petroleum (BP) and Barclays Bank in protest against the United Kingdom’s continued economic relations with apartheid South Africa.

Nigeria further demonstrated solidarity through the Southern Africa Relief Fund (SARF), popularly known as the “Mandela Tax.”

Beyond government funding, civil servants, students and ordinary Nigerians contributed millions of dollars to support the anti-apartheid struggle. Nigeria also provided annual financial assistance to liberation movements such as the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), while offering scholarships, free education and even Nigerian passports to South African exiles.

On the diplomatic front, Nigeria championed the anti-apartheid campaign by leading international efforts, chairing the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid and mobilising support for sanctions and sporting boycotts that helped isolate the apartheid regime.

It is, therefore, deeply ironic that a nation which benefited immensely from African solidarity now allows fellow Africans to be vilified, attacked and driven from their homes. This is not merely ingratitude; it is a betrayal of the very ideals upon which post-apartheid South Africa was built.

Migration is a natural human phenomenon. Living and working legally in another country is not a crime. South Africans themselves reside and prosper in many countries across Africa and beyond without facing such organised hostility. If South Africa continues down this path, it risks isolating itself from the rest of the continent and undermining the spirit of African unity.

Equally troubling is the muted response of the African Union (AU). At a time when the continental body is championing economic integration and free movement under the African Continental Free Trade Area, it cannot afford to remain silent while one of its leading members violates these principles. The AU should unequivocally condemn the attacks, demand that the South African government fulfil its responsibility to protect all lawful residents and consider appropriate measures to discourage similar conduct elsewhere on the continent.

We commend the Nigerian government for indicating its intention to seek compensation for businesses and properties destroyed or abandoned by Nigerian victims. Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Temitope Ajayi, has disclosed that the government is already compiling records of affected businesses and properties. He also confirmed that the overwhelming majority of Nigerians in South Africa are lawful residents who entered the country through legitimate immigration channels. Apart from investments, Nigeria must also seek heavy compensation for lives lost in this madness.

Beyond seeking reparations, however, government must focus on rehabilitation. The federal government and the states should collaborate to provide returnees with financial support, skills assistance and other reintegration programmes to enable them rebuild their lives. In this regard, Edo State deserves commendation for promptly dispatching a high-level delegation to receive its returning citizens at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and begin arrangements for their reintegration. Other state governments should emulate this example instead of leaving the entire responsibility to the federal government or abandoning their indigenes to their fate.

The tragedy unfolding in South Africa should serve as a reminder that African unity must be defended not merely in speeches but through concrete actions. South Africa owes Africa—and particularly Nigeria—a moral debt that cannot be repaid with hatred, violence and persecution.