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Xenophobia and Vigilantism
is Hurting South African
Interests Abroad

A nation that turns on its African neighbours in violence does not just wound the foreigner — it wounds itself, its economy, and its standing on the continent.

✦

By Collen MakumbirofaMakumbirofa FarmsMay 2026

The xenophobia, violence, and vigilantism being unleashed against foreigners in South Africa is not a localised community problem — it is a national crisis with international consequences. Every act of looting, every mob attack, every chant of hatred that crosses South Africa’s borders sends a message to the rest of the continent and the world: that this country is becoming a dangerous, unreliable, and unwelcoming place. That message is already doing irreparable damage.

“South Africa’s economy is going to be destroyed by this wanton violence and movement of hatred. By the time we realise it, the damage will have gone beyond repair.”

A Government That Must Act — Now

The South African government cannot afford to watch from the sidelines while communities descend into mob rule. The state has both the authority and the obligation to apply limited, targeted force to stop the violence before it spirals further. Just as critically, the country’s intelligence services must be actively working to identify, monitor, and disrupt the networks that are organising and mobilising these attacks — the groups coordinating looting, inciting hatred, and costing innocent people their lives, their livelihoods, and their sense of safety.

⚠ Regional Consequence

If this situation is not brought under control, a day is coming when African nations will begin to turn against South Africa in response. Diplomatic relationships will sour, trade ties will be severed, and the communities that will bear the heaviest cost of that isolation will not be the wealthy and the powerful — they will be the middle class and the poor, the very people already struggling the hardest.

Africa’s Enemies Are Watching and Laughing

Make no mistake: the enemies of African people and African progress are watching these scenes of Africans attacking Africans with deep satisfaction. Every burning shop, every displaced family, every act of violence between neighbours from different countries is exactly what those who wish to keep Africa weak and divided want to see. We must not give them that satisfaction. The continent’s future depends on African unity — on solidarity in times of difficulty, not savagery.

Africans must be united and help each other in times of difficulty. While we destroy one another, our common enemies watch from the corner — and celebrate.

Leaders Must Speak Louder — And About More

Political leaders who condemn xenophobia must also find the courage to speak about the deeper forces driving mass migration to South Africa in the first place. Corruption that bleeds national treasuries dry. Elections that are rigged to keep discredited leaders in power. Governments that cling to office long after they have lost any capacity or mandate to govern. These are the conditions that push millions of Africans to leave their homes and seek survival elsewhere. To speak about xenophobia while staying silent about its root causes is to treat the symptom and ignore the disease.

Do Not Chase Away the Skilled — You Will Eat Dust

A Hard Truth

Southern Africa cannot afford to chase away its minority communities — including white South Africans who possess the skills, capital, and networks to help revive and grow the economy. If you drive them away with threats, land seizures, and racial hostility, you will not inherit their wealth — you will inherit their absence. What follows is predictable: dust, perpetual poverty, and intensifying infighting among those left behind. This is not theory — it is a pattern that has already played out in countries across the continent. The lesson is there for those willing to learn it.

Rhetoric Does Not Feed Anyone

Political slogans are free to produce and easy to shout. They cost nothing to the person delivering them. But they create no jobs. They do not grow the economy. They do not stock shelves in public hospitals with medicines that sick and dying patients desperately need. Governing is not about performance and noise — it is about results. The people of South Africa deserve leaders who understand the difference and who govern accordingly.

South Africa’s greatest resource is not its gold or its platinum —
it is the diversity of skills, cultures, and peoples within its borders.
Protect that. Build with that. Or watch everything else crumble.

— Collen Makumbirofa  ·  Makumbirofa Farms

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