“Animal skins, bows, and arrows may symbolize ancient heritage, but they do not create modern economies.” —Dr. Anthony Obi Ogbo
There is a profound difference between immigration enforcement and xenophobia. Immigration enforcement is the lawful regulation of who enters, resides, and works in a country through established legal processes. Xenophobia, by contrast, is hostility or hatred toward foreigners based on nationality or origin, often resulting in discrimination, intimidation, and violence.
South Africa has immigration laws. It has border-control mechanisms. It has visa requirements, work permits, deportation procedures, and legal pathways governing foreign nationals under its Immigration Act and Refugees Act. The country is also pursuing reforms to modernize its immigration system and strengthen border management. In short, South Africa already possesses the legal tools to regulate migration. What it does not possess is the moral license to outsource immigration enforcement to angry mobs.
That is precisely why the ongoing anti-immigrant campaign championed by activist Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma and her so-called March and March movement is deeply troubling. Their campaign claims to target illegal immigration and argues that government authorities have failed to enforce existing laws. But the movement’s methods tell a different story.
Breaking into stores and looting goods is not immigration enforcement. Threatening business owners for employing foreigners is not immigration enforcement. Driving people from their homes, terrorizing communities, and indiscriminately targeting migrants, many of whom are legal residents, is not immigration enforcement. It is barbarism, or perhaps xenophobic vigilantism, in the most destructive manner.
The protests have already been linked to violence, looting, deaths, mass displacement, and widespread fear among foreign communities. Thousands of migrants have fled their homes in anticipation of attacks, while authorities have deployed thousands of troops and arrested hundreds of people for offenses ranging from robbery and public violence to immigration violations. Experts have repeatedly challenged claims that immigrants are primarily responsible for unemployment and crime, noting that the evidence simply does not support such sweeping accusations.
Even more disturbing are allegations circulating within political circles that elements behind these protests, including Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, the leader of a so-called March and March protest, may be seeking political leverage ahead of future elections. But whether politically motivated or not, the consequences of these actions are already obvious. South Africa is damaging its international reputation.
This is a constitutional democracy. If citizens believe their government has failed to enforce immigration laws, the remedy is political action. They organize, advocate, litigate, vote, and replace their leaders through democratic processes. They do not appoint themselves immigration officers, judges, and executioners.
The tragedy is that many of the foreigners being targeted are legal immigrants who have built businesses, paid taxes, employed South Africans, and contributed to local economies. Across the country, immigrants own retail stores, manufacturing operations, restaurants, technology ventures, and service companies that collectively create thousands of jobs.
Economic growth comes from enterprise, innovation, investment, and productivity—not from intimidation and destruction. One does not create employment opportunities by chasing away entrepreneurs and burning down businesses. Animal skins, bows, and arrows may symbolize ancient heritage, but they do not create modern economies.
The backlash is already gathering. African governments are repatriating distressed nationals, diplomatic tensions are increasing, and international media coverage has once again placed South Africa under an uncomfortable spotlight. Countries such as Malawi, Nigeria, and Mozambique have initiated assistance and repatriation efforts for citizens fleeing the unrest. Human-rights organizations and international observers are increasingly describing the violence as a dangerous resurgence of xenophobia.
South Africa once inspired the world with its triumph over apartheid. It became a symbol of reconciliation, constitutionalism, and human dignity. Yet today, sections of society appear willing to discard that noble legacy and replace it with an ugly politics of scapegoating.
A nation does not become stronger by persecuting foreigners. It becomes weaker, poorer, and morally diminished. The real enemies of South Africa are not immigrants. They are corruption, unemployment, inequality, poor governance, and policy failures. Foreigners did not create these problems, and driving them away will not solve them.
History will remember this moment. It will ask whether South Africans defended the rule of law or surrendered to mob passions. It will ask whether Africa’s most industrialized nation chose democracy or xenophobic vigilantism. And it will judge harshly any society that confuses hatred with patriotism and barbarism with immigration enforcement.
♦ Publisher of the Guardian News, Professor Anthony Obi Ogbo, Ph.D., is on the Editorial Board of the West African Pilot News. He is the author of the Influence of Leadership (2015) and the Maxims of Political Leadership (2019). Contact: anthony@guardiannews.us
