Former South African president Thabo Mbeki has condemned rising anti-migrant sentiment and warned against blaming African migrants for South Africa’s economic and social problems.
Speaking during a public discussion on migration and African integration, Mbeki said many South Africans fail to understand that the continent collectively supported South Africa’s liberation struggle during apartheid.
He argued that African countries came to regard the anti-apartheid struggle as an African struggle, not merely a South African one.
Mbeki said this historical connection explains why many Africans continue to move to South Africa and feel a sense of belonging to the country.
He warned that unemployment and other economic challenges would not be solved through hostility towards foreign nationals.
The former president also expressed concern over what he described as a decline in the spirit of African solidarity and integration that characterised the post-apartheid era.
“There is a regression that is taking place,” Mbeki said. “That sense of African integration that we had 25 years ago, I think, has receded.”
Meanwhile, Deputy President Paul Mashatile
has condemned anti-migrant protests and xenophobic violence against foreign nationals in South Africa, warning that immigration issues must be handled through the rule of law and not through mob violence or vigilante actions.
Mashatile called on South African law enforcement agencies to address immigration concerns legally and not through mob violence.
His remarks come amid growing tensions and increasing incidents of anti-immigrant rhetoric and violence targeting African migrants in parts of South Africa.