From apartheid victim to African aggressor: The moral crisis of xenophobia in South Africa

There was a time when South Africa represented the conscience of Africa’s struggle for justice. It was the land that symbolised resistance against oppression, racial domination and human suffering under apartheid. Across the continent, African nations stood firmly beside South Africans during that painful period.

Countries such as Ghana offered diplomatic support, moral solidarity and economic sacrifices because the liberation of South Africa was seen as the liberation of Africa itself.

Today, however, a painful contradiction confronts the continent. The same South Africa once defended by African solidarity is increasingly becoming a place where fellow Africans live in fear. Repeated xenophobic attacks against African migrants have exposed not only a growing social crisis but also a dangerous moral failure that threatens the dream of Pan-African unity.

The images are disturbing and shameful: African-owned shops looted, migrants assaulted, innocent people chased from communities and families living under constant fear simply because they come from another African country. For many Ghanaians residing in South Africa, these attacks are not distant news headlines but frightening realities affecting their safety, livelihoods and dignity.

The question Africa must boldly ask is this: How did a nation once rescued by African brotherhood become a place where Africans are treated as enemies?

Xenophobia in South Africa cannot be dismissed as isolated criminal activity or temporary public anger.

It reflects deeper frustrations linked to unemployment, inequality, poverty and political disappointment. South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world despite decades of democracy. Many young people feel abandoned by economic systems that have failed to deliver opportunity and stability.

However, frustration can never justify violence against fellow Africans.

Blaming foreign nationals for economic hardship is both dangerous and misleading. Immigrants did not create corruption, failed governance, weak public services or structural inequality. In fact, many African migrants contribute significantly to South Africa’s economy as traders, professionals, entrepreneurs, artisans and workers. They create businesses, pay taxes and strengthen local economies. Yet, during periods of tension, they become convenient scapegoats for national frustrations that require deeper political and economic solutions.

What makes the situation even more painful is the betrayal of Africa’s historical memory.

During apartheid, African countries opened their borders to South African exiles. African students protested in solidarity. Governments imposed sanctions and risked diplomatic consequences to isolate the apartheid regime. Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and many others considered South Africa’s liberation a continental responsibility. Africans shed tears, resources and political energy for the freedom South Africans enjoy today.

To now witness Africans attacked in the streets of Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria represents more than social unrest; it is a moral contradiction that undermines the values upon which democratic South Africa was built.

Kwame Nkrumah once declared that “the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa.” That vision was rooted in the belief that Africans share a common destiny. Xenophobia destroys that vision. It weakens African solidarity and turns brothers into rivals.

The global consequences are serious.

Africa cannot demand greater respect in international politics while Africans are unsafe within Africa itself. The continent speaks proudly about regional integration, free trade, economic cooperation and borderless opportunity through initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Yet such ambitions lose credibility when African migrants are hunted, humiliated and excluded in African societies.

The world is watching closely. Every xenophobic attack damages Africa’s image as a continent seeking unity, peace and global leadership. It reinforces negative stereotypes that Africa remains divided and unstable. More dangerously, it weakens Africa’s moral authority to speak against racism, discrimination and injustice globally.

South Africa, because of its historical significance, carries an even greater responsibility. Nelson Mandela became a global symbol not because he promoted division, but because he preached reconciliation, forgiveness and shared humanity. The continued rise of xenophobia threatens to destroy that legacy and replace hope with fear.

African governments must stop treating xenophobia as a temporary embarrassment.

Stronger diplomatic engagement, migration policies and citizen protection measures are urgently needed. The African Union must also move beyond ceremonial statements and demonstrate real continental leadership in defending African lives and dignity.

At the same time, South African political leaders must avoid rhetoric that indirectly fuels hostility toward foreigners. Leadership matters. When public frustration is manipulated for political convenience, violence often follows.

Responsible leadership should unite societies, not deepen resentment.

The ordinary African citizen also has a role to play. Africans must reject narratives that portray foreigners as enemies. The future of the continent depends not on division but on cooperation, innovation and shared prosperity. No African country can rise sustainably while hatred against fellow Africans continues to grow.

Africa’s liberation struggle was built on solidarity. Its future must be built on the same principle.

If Africans begin to fear one another more than they fear poverty, corruption and underdevelopment, then the continent risks becoming its own greatest obstacle. The tragedy of xenophobia is not only that it destroys lives; it destroys the very idea of Africa as a united people with a common future.

South Africa once taught the world the meaning of resilience and freedom. It must not now become the symbol of Africa’s moral decline.