South African opposition leader Julius Malema has strongly condemned xenophobic attacks, describing them as a betrayal of African unity.
Speaking at the Nigerian Bar Association’s annual conference in Enugu, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) president called for deeper collaboration between Nigeria and South Africa, declaring that the future of Africa’s prosperity depends on the solidarity and industrial growth of its two biggest economies.
Malema paid tribute to Nigeria’s historic role in South Africa’s liberation struggle, recalling how Nigerians sacrificed salaries, students paid the “Mandela tax,” and successive governments stood firmly against apartheid. He urged both nations to transform that legacy of solidarity into concrete economic partnerships today.
“The path forward is clear,” Malema said. “Nigeria and South Africa must industrialise together—building factories, processing resources on African soil, and creating African-owned conglomerates that can power the continent. Imagine Nigeria’s oil wealth joined with South Africa’s mining expertise—this is how we reclaim Africa’s future.”
He criticized the continent’s dependency on exporting raw materials, only to import finished goods at high costs, calling it a modern form of economic enslavement. Malema also warned African nations against piling up foreign loans, describing them as a “debt trap” that mortgages the future of generations to come.
On xenophobia, he was uncompromising: “A Nigerian in Johannesburg or a Ghanaian in Cape Town is not a foreigner—they are Africans contributing to our progress. Xenophobia is a sickness born of poverty, inequality, and government failure, and it undermines everything we stand for as Africans.”
Malema further called for freer movement across the continent, including visa-free travel between Nigeria and South Africa, harmonized trade policies, and major infrastructure projects to connect African economies into one integrated market.
Placing his message within a wider Pan-African vision, he restated the EFF’s radical call for a borderless Africa with a single currency, one parliament, and a united military command. He also expressed solidarity with oppressed peoples worldwide, from Palestine to Western Sahara and beyond, insisting Africa must build its own legal and justice systems instead of relying on Western-controlled institutions.
“We are not a dark continent,” Malema declared to loud applause. “How can we be dark when we have diamonds that shine among us? Together, Nigeria and South Africa can lead Africa into a future where we are not beggars but giants—united, industrialised, and in full control of our destiny.”