This archive report was first published on 7 September 2019.
Published on September 7, 2019, by Tinashe Chimedza, associate director of the Institute of Public Affairs in Zimbabwe.
South Africa's latest episode of xenophobic violence has sparked widespread condemnation across the continent. The scenes of black people attacking other black people, mainly of African origin, reveal a deep-seated instability that threatens to erode Pan-African solidarity.
Some South Africans have argued that the country's economic woes are due to external factors, such as Israel's wall, Britain's exit from Europe, and Donald Trump's border wall. However, this narrative ignores the structural web of social, cultural, economic, and political institutions that perpetuate racialized superiority in South Africa.
The apartheid system, which was officially dismantled in 1994, left behind a legacy of inequality, unemployment, and collapsed social services. The current economic system, which has absorbed a few black elites, continues to marginalize the majority of the population.
Young people, particularly in areas with unemployment rates above 50%, are desperate and feel trapped in a system that offers little hope. This sense of hopelessness has led to a rebellion of the marginalized, with many answering calls for domestic work in the Middle East or risking their lives to escape to other countries.
As Frantz Fanon noted, people who live on top of each other often revolt, but this revolt can be nasty. The Pan-African project of liberation needs a rescue from the faltering elites who have become complacent in exploiting and carting off the continent's wealth.
Julius Malema, leader of the EFF, has called for the removal of borders, while Mwalimu Nyerere stated that the nation-state inherited from colonialism is a relic of the past. It is time for Africa's leaders to reimagine a Pan-African project based on people, not just governments.
