Pan-African Columnists Urge South Africa To Address Xenophobia, Foster Unity

…Hail Ray Ekpu’s exploits in journalism at 78th birthday

Pan-African columnists have urged the Government of South Africa to address economic challenges causing xenophobic crisis in the country.

Speaking at the Pan-African Roundtable lecture organised by the League of Nigerian Columnists (LNC) in Lagos, the columnists condemned xenophobic attacks against other African countries.

In his welcome address, the President of the LNC, Chief Tola Adeniyi, said the attacks were unfortunate.

Chief Adeniyi regretted that South Africa has forgotten how other African countries like Nigeria played a critical role in the fight against apartheid struggle.

In his lecture, the vice president of LNC, Ray Ekpu, said in the last few months many Africans have felt assaulted by terrible sense of humiliation based on the horrid happenings in South Africa.

Ekpu, whose 78th birthday coincided and honoured by the League for his exploits in journalism, attributed the crisis in South Africa to economic challenges such as unemployment, poverty and poor governance.

He said: “The other issue to examine is the unemployment level”.

According to Statistics South Africa, the official unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2026 is 32.7%, up from 31.4% in the last quarter of 2025. “These figures translate to these: 8.137 million people were jobless in Quarter one of this year. Youth unemployment (15-24 years) is 60.9% while those aged 25-34 years is 40.6%.

“These are figures that can cause concern to not only the government but especially to the governed. Is that the cause of the crisis? Wait for more figures. What is the poverty level in South Africa? It is between 37.9% and 55.5% of the population.

“The World Bank and Statistics South Africa say that millions of South Africans face severe daily financial and food hardships. For food poverty, the figure is between 10.8 million people and 13.8 million people. These people cannot afford basic food daily.

“About 23.2 million people lack adequate money for both food and essential non-food items. Over 71% of poor individuals are under 35 years of age. Is that the main source of the wahala? Possibly.

“The truth, the unvarnished truth, is that most countries in Africa are going through stress because of high poverty and low employment levels which are caused by poor governance, climate challenge, economic stagnation, technological advances and globalization.

“These challenges have led to high insecurity, high crime, high illegal migration to countries that they see as Eldorados. Just a few days ago, about 600,000 Moroccans trooped into Spain illegally causing quite a stir in that country.

“But it is South Africa that is on the table today because of the compelling paradox that its afrophobia exhibits. It shows South Africa as the scorpion that stings the horse that carried him across the stream; as the baby that bites the nipples that gave him milk; as the man that bites the finger that fed him.”

On his part, a former South African parliament, Coetzee Bester, said the xenophobia going on in the country is complex.

Bester said Africans should not address the crisis from the point of view of politicians and police but from the protesting communities and their struggles.

Modou Joof from The Gambia urged South Africans to address the economic concerns affecting its people, which she said is at the root cause of the xenophobic attacks against other Africans.