The Beijing+30 Women’s Movement expresses its grave concern and unequivocal condemnation of the rising and increasingly violent wave of Afrophobic attacks unfolding across South Africa.
The attacks, which indiscriminately victimise young and old, working people, sick people and even women in labour, constitute a grave humanitarian crisis and a stark betrayal of the Pan-African principles on which democratic South Africa was founded.
This is no longer solely a moral failing; it is a threat to national security and the rule of law in South Africa. When vigilantism goes unchecked and civilians unlawfully profile individuals, barricade clinics and exercise “street justice”, the legitimacy of the state is undermined. Lawlessness left to fester against one group of people will inevitably turn on all other vulnerable communities.
South Africa cannot credibly position itself as an economic leader on the continent nor champion the African Continental Free Trade Area, while its streets remain unsafe for workers essential to our collective prosperity. African unity is not an abstract political aspiration but a fundamental prerequisite for our economic survival. South Africa did not achieve its liberation in isolation. It relied on the sheltering and training of its exiles, as well as an immense mobilisation of resources from nations across the continent.
While xenophobic violence in South Africa is rooted in domestic political and socio-economic failures, we also recognise that African governments bear a measure of responsibility. Across the continent, many states have failed to create sustainable economic opportunities, reduce unemployment or effectively address corruption and mismanagement. As a result, millions of people are compelled to migrate in search of livelihoods elsewhere, often to South Africa, the continent's most industrialised economy. In this sense, African governments must be held equally accountable for their failures towards their citizens, even as we condemn the populist scapegoating of migrants that fuels xenophobic violence.
When colonial powers sought to exploit Africa, they made little distinction between Central and Southern Africans or between West and North Africans: they indiscriminately pillaged and enslaved, understanding that instability sown in any one region would ultimately weaken the continent in its resistance against foreign interference. Today, we see this unfold as Africans turn against each other while remaining indifferent to foreign powers' interests in an unstable continent.
Former president Thabo Mbeki reminded us in his historic speech I Am an African: "I am an African. I am born of the peoples of the continent of Africa … The dismal shame of poverty, suffering and human degradation of my continent is a blight that we share. The blight on our happiness that derives from this and from our drift to the periphery of the ordering of human affairs leaves us in a persistent shadow of despair."
Mbeki's words articulated a vision of African belonging that transcends the divisions imposed by colonial borders: one country's blight is inadvertently that of another's. To attack fellow Africans is therefore to attack ourselves.
In this spirit, Nelson Mandela said: "I dream of the realisation of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent … I dream of an Africa which is at peace with itself."
The vision is under threat today more than ever.
Crucially, we must recognise that the attacks do not emerge in a vacuum nor are migrants the architects of our domestic crises. Instead, vulnerable populations are being made the scapegoats for public services that have been hollowed out by institutional mismanagement and decades of corruption.
The staggering scale of misappropriated funds demonstrates that South Africa's challenge is not an inherent inability to finance universal healthcare, nor is it a resource deficit caused by immigration. Rather, it is a catastrophic failure of public administration to safeguard and properly allocate public wealth. If even a fraction of the money squandered through corruption were directed towards rebuilding our hospitals and healthcare infrastructure, the country would be well positioned to ensure quality healthcare universally. Righteous public anger over failing service delivery is being violently redirected at vulnerable people who simply lack the political power and protection to defend themselves.
Furthermore, women and girls remain among the most affected during periods of social violence and instability. Afrophobic attacks expose women to gender-based violence, worsened through the breakdown of community support systems during instability. Women migrant traders, domestic workers, caregivers, informal sector workers and pregnant women face heightened risks while carrying the burden of sustaining families and communities through crises.
As the Beijing+30 Women's Movement, we therefore call for urgent action from the government, the private sector, civil society, educational institutions and media organisations.
Proposed strategic actions
1. Assert sovereign governance and legal accountability
The only way to begin substantive justice is by urgently pursuing legal accountability for individuals or groups who have incited, organised and participated in Afrophobic violence. We call on the South African Police Service and the National Prosecuting Authority to investigate and prosecute these crimes committed by individuals, organisations and media outlets. The state cannot abdicate the rule of law because this will create a more unsafe South Africa for migrants and citizens alike.
2. Strengthen economic inclusion through the social business model
The government and the corporate sector must combine efforts and invest in localised economic empowerment initiatives that benefit both South Africans and migrant communities alike. By encouraging a social business model that prioritises a high Social Internal Rate of Return, we can fund women-led cooperatives and youth employment initiatives.
3. Demand responsible political and media leadership
Political leaders and media platforms must be held accountable for hate speech that has scapegoated migrants for structural economic problems. We call on parliament and the Electoral Commission of South Africa to strictly enforce codes of conduct. Hate speech and incitement to violence must be publicly condemned and legally addressed. Public discourse must be grounded in facts and constitutional principles, especially by media outlets.
4. Promote women's leadership in peacebuilding and social cohesion
Women must be centred in all peacebuilding efforts. Women leaders, especially those working at the grassroots level, must intervene when targeted violence occurs against migrant women. It is a disturbing regression of the feminist framework that participated in the building of democratic South Africa to see women in afrophobic organisations participating in the obstruction of migrant workers from receiving vital medical attention and promoting misogynistic rhetoric.
5. Establish state- and community-led Pan-African forums
Local government and civil society organisations must establish dialogue forums focused on conflict prevention. The forums must serve as practical spaces to address localised service delivery failures without resorting to anti-migrant scapegoating.
6. Create rapid response protection networks
NGOs, legal aid organisations, faith institutions and community activists must coordinate emergency response systems. This includes safe shelters, legal assistance, trauma counselling, multilingual hotlines and rapid reporting mechanisms for those facing immediate threats of violence.
7. Advance a Pan-African feminist framework
We call for a renewed commitment to Pan-African feminist solidarity that recognises the interconnected struggles of African women across borders. The perpetuation of nationalism and xenophobic discourse is antithetical to the African renaissance. Our constitutional values must serve as a framework that protects all those who live under the Constitution; if those values fail the most vulnerable, they fail us all.
Patrice Lumumba prophetically declared: "Africa's unity is our salvation." We affirm that the humanity and dignity of all African people living in South Africa, irrespective of nationality or immigration status, must be upheld with the same respect afforded to South African citizens.
South Africa cannot stand on the world stage as a champion of human rights and a leader in international institutions while allowing identity-based violence to flourish within its own borders. We call upon the state to uphold its constitutional obligations, protect all persons within its borders and ensure equal access to public services.
Any assessment of South Africa's unemployment crisis and breakdown of the public healthcare sector must recognise that its primary drivers are decades of economic mismanagement, corruption and inadequate job-creation policies, not the presence of migrants.
We reject the politics of fear and exclusion. In a constitutional democracy founded on the rule of law, grievances regarding service delivery cannot justify the violation of the rights and dignity of others. Lawlessness cannot be permitted to prevail. Acts of violence against migrants must be met with swift accountability, institutional renewal and an unequivocal commitment to justice.
Issued by: Beijing+30 African Women's Movement