Today, as Africa commemorates Africa Day and reflects on 63 years since the founding of the Organisation of African Unity — now the African Union — South Africa finds itself facing an uncomfortable contradiction.
The country that once embodied the ideals of African solidarity is again grappling with growing anti-immigrant sentiment, protests against undocumented migrants, and renewed accusations that foreign nationals are responsible for crime, unemployment and pressure on public services. Recent demonstrations in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban have exposed deep frustrations within communities struggling with poverty, inequality and economic stagnation.
These frustrations are real. South Africa’s unemployment crisis remains among the worst in the world, with millions of young people locked out of economic opportunity. Crime levels remain painfully high. Public services in many communities are under strain. It would be dishonest to dismiss citizens’ concerns outright.
However, Africa Day forces South Africans to ask a difficult but necessary question: who should carry the blame for the country’s failures?
Former president Thabo Mbeki recently reignited this debate by warning against what he described as “anti-African” sentiment. Mbeki argued that South Africans are “pointing fingers at the wrong people” by blaming migrants for problems rooted in governance failures, economic decline and weak leadership.
His comments were controversial, but they touched on an important truth. South Africa’s structural problems did not begin with migration. Corruption, state capture, failing municipalities, collapsing infrastructure, poor economic growth and weak governance have all contributed significantly to the country’s current social tensions. To reduce such a complex crisis to the presence of undocumented migrants risks oversimplifying reality.
At the same time, it would also be naïve to pretend immigration management does not matter. Every sovereign state has the right — and responsibility — to secure its borders, regulate migration and ensure the rule of law is respected. The failure to properly manage undocumented immigration has created frustration among citizens who feel abandoned by the state. This vacuum has increasingly allowed vigilante-style activism and populist rhetoric to flourish.
The danger emerges when legitimate concerns about border management evolve into xenophobia or hostility towards Africans more broadly. South Africa has walked this path before. The xenophobic violence of 2008 left dozens dead and thousands displaced, damaging the country’s image across the continent. Today, several African countries have again warned their citizens living in South Africa to remain vigilant amid rising tensions.
This matters because South Africa’s democratic identity has always been deeply tied to Pan-Africanism. During apartheid, many African nations sheltered South African exiles, funded liberation movements and isolated the apartheid government diplomatically. Countries such as Zambia, Tanzania, Nigeria and others paid economic and political costs to support South Africa’s freedom struggle. Africa Day is partly a reminder of that shared history.
Yet Pan-Africanism cannot survive on symbolism alone. It must also confront modern realities: unemployment, urban overcrowding, weak border systems and uneven development across the continent. Calls for African unity ring hollow if ordinary citizens feel economically excluded or unsafe in their own communities.
The challenge for South Africa, therefore, is balance. The country must reject xenophobia and violence unequivocally while also acknowledging that migration policy cannot remain unmanaged. These are not mutually exclusive positions. It is possible to support lawful immigration enforcement without dehumanising foreign nationals. It is possible to defend national interests without abandoning African solidarity.
Africa Day should not merely be a ceremonial celebration of flags, speeches and slogans. It should serve as a mirror. For South Africa, that mirror reflects both its proud Pan-African legacy and its growing internal anxieties.
The continent’s future will depend not only on unity between governments, but also on whether ordinary Africans can coexist in dignity, opportunity and mutual respect. South Africa — perhaps more than any other African nation — carries a special responsibility in shaping that future.