The President of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, has described xenophobia as a betrayal of African unity, blaming it on poverty, inequality, and government failure.
Malema spoke as a keynote speaker at the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Enugu on Sunday.
Xenophobia is a betrayal of African unity. It is a sickness borne of poverty, inequality, and government failure. Its victims are our African brothers and sisters. Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Congolese, and Somalis are not the cause of South Africa’s unemployment crisis.
The cause lies in the untransformed dichotomy of South Africa, which remains in the hands of the white minority and multinational corporations who continue to exploit while refusing to industrialise. Instead, they divert anger from the real enemy, and we must educate our people that unity, not division, is the solution to Africa’s crisis, he said during the opening ceremony of the event.
Malema, who leads a communist political party known for the red berets and military-style outfits worn by its members, emphasised that South African companies had made significant inroads in Nigeria by creating jobs and providing services, while Nigerian businesses and investors had equally expanded into South Africa.
The South African noted that Nigerian music, film, and literature continue to influence South African culture, just as South African universities and industries provide platforms for Nigerian talents.
If we want to end one-way migration, where Nigerians are forced to leave home in search of opportunity in South Africa, we must integrate our economies. Young Nigerian engineers should be able to work in Johannesburg, Cairo, and Accra, not as foreigners but as Africans contributing to Africa. South African entrepreneurs should be able to set up in Lagos without suspicion but with support as partners in a shared future.
The Economic Freedom Fighters’ president stressed that the economic strength of Nigeria and South Africa could power a new African industrial revolution.
Nigeria is blessed with oil, natural gas, and a growing agricultural sector. South Africa holds some of the richest deposits of platinum, magnesium, and coal in the world. Combined, we possess the minerals, the energy resources, and the human capital to build a self-sufficient continent.
Yet both our nations remain trapped in neo-colonial arrangements, where raw materials are extracted cheaply and exported to Europe, America, and Asia, only to be sold back to us at crazy prices as finished goods. This cycle of dependency we must break. Nigeria and South Africa must industrialise together, build factories together, and process our resources on African soil.
Africa, Its Own Saviour
The firebrand politician called for stronger political and structural integration across the continent.
We must reject the illusion that our salvation will come from Washington, London, or Beijing. Our salvation lies here in Lagos and Johannesburg, in Abuja and Pretoria, in the hands of Africans who refuse to be divided.
We must harmonise trade policies, align visa regimes, and build continental infrastructure that connects our people. We actually do not need a visa between South Africa and Nigeria in the same way we don’t need a visa for people to travel within their continent.
We are one. Both South Africa and Nigeria know the pain of colonialism. Both have faced international divisions. Both have enjoyed the pleasures of global imperialism that seeks to divide, exploit, and control us, the South African said.
Malema restated his long-held vision of a borderless Africa governed under one authority. He called for a single African president, one parliament, one currency, and one military command to consolidate the continent’s strength.
He lauded Nigeria’s role in supporting South Africa during the anti-apartheid struggle and urged both countries to lead the African Continental Free Trade Area in a way that benefits ordinary people.
The 44-year-old politician further warned African governments against reckless borrowing, urging stricter regulation of loans from the World Bank and other international lenders.
He said, Africans must love themselves, not kill one another. Black people are not loved in Africa, and not loved abroad either, but we must learn to treat ourselves better.
Rejecting the negative labelling of Africa, Malema stated that the continent is not a dark continent but one abundantly endowed with diamonds, minerals, and other resources that can drive prosperity.
