Opinion
By Chiedu Uche Okoye
BLACK-on-black violence was never anticipated by the pan-Africanists, who fought, tirelessly, for the decolonization of African countries. Such pan-Africanists as Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Julius Nyerere, Jomo kenyetta, Sekou Toure,and Kenneth Kaunda were pan-Africanists, who envisioned an African continent that would be economically prosperous, technologically advanced, and united.
But are the black South Africans levying war on the black immigrants in South Africa amnesiacs, who have forgotten the great roles played by African leaders in the political emancipation of South Africa? If they are not amnesiacs, they must be ingrates, who have refused to show appreciations to other African countries that fought for the dismantling of Apartheid in South Africa. The black South African ingrates and amnesiacs are the executors of the xenophobic attacks, which are targeted against black African immigrants, who live in South Africa.
Before the baton of political leadership was given to Nelson Mandela, a member of the African National Congress (ANC), the black South Africans chafed under white supremacist rule. They were dispossessed of their lands. And they suffered indignities, which reduced them to sub-humans in the Apartheid South Africa, then.
The indignities and deprivations, which the black South Africans suffered under the white supremacist rule, were limned, vividly, in such books as “Sizwe Bansi Is Dead” by Athol Fugard; “Mine Boy” by Peter Abraham; “The Long Work To Freedom”, a biography of Nelson Mandela; and others. And Dennis Brutus and Mtshali, who were South African revered poets, produced great poetical works that captured the evil happenings that took place in the racist South Africa, then.
Thankfully, later, the iconic freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela, was sprung from prison into the saddle of power in 1994. But renowned Nigerians such as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Emeka Anyaoku had played no small roles in the political liberation of South Africa from the racist white Boers. Again, Sunny Okosun, a Nigerian musician, who excelled in the genre of protest music, produced songs that called attention to the brutalization and the killing of the black South Africans in their native country.
Since the dethronement of the white supremacist rule in South Africa in 1994, that country has become the economic mecca of other black African people, who are seeking greener pastures. They’ve migrated to South Africa to seek economic fortunes as their own countries’ economies are distressed and troubled. Not a few black immigrants have settled in South Africa and raised families, there. And the businesses they established in that country are thriving.
But sadly, in the past, South Africa had quaked with xenophobic attacks, which caused the deaths of black African immigrants and destruction of their properties. Over the years, waves of xenophobic attacks have erupted in South Africa, and swept through its cities, causing deaths of black people from other African countries. Xenophobic attacks have become a permanent feature of the evolving South Africa’s socio-political history.
Recently, black native South Africans gave directive that black immigrants should leave the rainbow country before June 30; otherwise, they would face bloody attacks. The threat issued by the native South Africans had led to the evacuation of black people from South Africa by their countries. Thousands of Nigerian evacuees have returned to Nigeria, leaving behind their businesses, which are worth huge sums of money.
But do they have justifications for ejecting black immigrants from their country? They alleged that black people from other African countries had taken jobs meant for them? They, also, alleged that black immigrants engage in crimes such as illicit drug trafficking and armed robbery. The most asinine allegation leveled against black people who are citizens of Nigeria is that black South African ladies prefer Nigerian men rather than South African men.
The reasons adduced by black South Africans for carrying out xenophobic attacks on black immigrants are as Jejune as they are unprovable. Are native black South Africans not perpetrating crimes in their home country? Should their women’s choice of marital partners be their motivation and justification for carrying out sanguinary xenophobic attacks on black immigrants?
But have the native black South Africans forgotten how black people from other African countries rallied behind them during the Apartheid era? Have they forgotten that notable and iconic South African freedom fighters sought refuge and political asylum in Nigeria during the heady days of racist violence in South Africa? Either the native black South Africans are amnesiacs; or they are ingrates, who do not want to show appreciation to African countries that helped them to end white supremacist rule in the rainbow country.
What is happening in today’s South Africa was not what Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Agostinho Neto, Jomo kenyetta, Sekou Toure, and Julius Nyerere envisioned for the African continent. Those departed pan-Africanists were advocates of the principle of pan Africanism.
Yours faithfully,
Chiedu Uche Okoye
Uruowulu-Obosi
Anambra state
Okoye is a poet.
A.I
July 17, 2026
Tags: Chiedu Uche Okoye xenophobic attack in South Africa