A Nation in Turmoil: Understanding South Africa’s Renewed Xenophobic Crisis
How did South Africa produce an anti – South Africa has endured a deeply unsettling period recently as hostility toward African immigrants intensifies dramatically. The escalating campaign has claimed at least four lives and forced thousands of foreign nationals to abandon their residences in terror. I had the opportunity to discuss these developments with Fezokuhle Mthonti, a Johannesburg-based cultural historian and author, to understand the forces propelling this movement and its potential to fracture South African society fundamentally.
The Battle Cry of “Abahambe”
“Abahambe!”—meaning “They must go!”—has become the rallying slogan for protesters demanding the expulsion of foreign nationals. The intensity of demonstrations has frightened African migrants so profoundly that many now sleep on sidewalks, anxious about potential attacks within their own homes. Some are even hoping for early repatriation to their countries of origin. Governments from Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe have coordinated efforts to bring tens of thousands of their citizens back home.
This situation proves particularly painful for a nation that countless African migrants once viewed as a beacon of possibility and advancement. While xenophobic outbreaks have happened before in South Africa—with disturbances reaching back to 2008 and 703 fatalities recorded since apartheid’s conclusion—Mthonti emphasizes that the current wave represents something unprecedented in the post-apartheid era.
“This is a new moment,” Mthonti observes, noting that unlike previous episodes, this violence carries substantial financial backing and receives validation through mainstream media coverage.
Government Response and Political Legitimacy
The current crisis has even garnered official attention. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently met with and shook hands with two prominent protest leaders last week, while simultaneously urging demonstrators to maintain peaceful conduct. This governmental engagement lends additional credibility to the movement’s demands.
A Fragile National Identity Under Pressure
According to Mthonti, Black South Africans maintain an unusually precarious relationship with their sense of belonging. Despite gaining citizenship in 1994, that status has consistently felt uncertain. For impoverished rural populations especially, the transformative promises of post-apartheid South Africa have failed to materialize as expected.
“When there’s a particular global economic crisis – we see this across the world – there’s a turn to fascism, to conservative values, to scapegoating politics,” Mthonti explains.
She argues that this tendency intensifies within South Africa’s unique historical context, characterized by a delicate national identity and ongoing political shortcomings. The historian also interprets the campaign as part of broader marginalization affecting the working poor—communities that the state has essentially abandoned to survive independently.
Intimate Violence Among Neighbors
Mthonti highlights a crucial distinction in the current crisis: both South Africans and migrants belong to the same socioeconomic stratum, struggling together against institutional neglect. This shared vulnerability makes the violence particularly disturbing.
“It is why [this] xenophobia is more troubling,” she notes. “The violence is more intimate. These are people who are next door to one another, who are suddenly turning on each other, because now there are these conversations about ‘us v them’.”
The Irony of South Africa’s Foundation
Mthonti points out a profound contradiction: South Africa itself was constructed through the labor of people removed from their homelands and integrated into capitalist systems, particularly mining operations. Sandton, located in northern Johannesburg, stands as Africa’s most affluent square mile. “The reason we have Joburg is because of indentured labour,” Mthonti reminds us, emphasizing that slavery, abduction, and migration form essential chapters in the nation’s story—from Cape Town to Durban.
Three Systems of Violence
South Africa remains a relatively recent post-colonial society bearing the weight of multiple historical traumas. “We are deeply marred by three systems of violence,” Mthonti states. “Not every country can say they have had apartheid, colonialism and slavery. Inherently, that violence meets itself in different ways.”
The anti-Black racism that South Africans confront carries particular depth. Unlike many African nations that achieved independence earlier, South Africa did not conclude apartheid until 1994. “In the 1960s, [when] African countries were cohering around post-coloniality, racial self-esteem was developing. South Africans were left out of that,” Mthonti explains.
“South Africa is a profoundly new nation that still needs to resolve a lot of these issues,” she concludes, noting that historical amnesia compounds the problem. “[Post-apartheid], there was an attempt to fit into the neoliberal order as if nothing had happened, as if we were a country with a new slate, not realising the real tribal divisions and economic inequalities that persisted beneath the surface.”
As South Africa navigates this renewed crisis, the question remains whether the nation can finally confront its layered history and build a more inclusive future for all who call it home.
