Port elizabeth: In late April, a new wave of violent anti-migrant protests erupted in South Africa, claiming lives and destroying property of African migrants. The unhinged xenophobes marauding under the code name, Operation Dudula, are running amok in towns and cities, even schools and homes, looting foreign-owned shops, harassing, and physically attacking foreign nationals. Dudula is a Zulu word for force out or knock down.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the Dudula group has been issuing threats, warning African migrants to leave South Africa by June 30 or face the consequences. The group consistently blames African immigrants for taking local jobs, driving up unemployment, and straining public resources. Social media is chock-full of videos-though unverified-showing African migrants being gored, shot, trampled, and stripped naked, sometimes under the watch of law enforcement officers.
Following the latest surge in xenophobic attacks, two Nigerians-Amaramiro Emmanuel and Ekpenyong Andrew-have been killed in South Africa. Ninikanwa Okey-Uche, Consul-General of Nigeria in Johannesburg, in a statement, said they were killed by personnel of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in Port Elizabeth. ‘On this, we are calling on South African authorities to thoroughly investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators of the gruesome act to justice. No one should take laws into their own hands under any circumstances. We hope to achieve the ultimate prosecution of the perpetrators,’ she said.
Various African countries have reacted and invoked necessary diplomatic measures, including the evacuation of their nationals living in South Africa. In line with oversight of AU treaty obligations, Ghana recommended instituting a fact-finding mission to examine the root causes of xenophobia in South Africa. While the Nigerian Government summoned South Africa’s Acting High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lesoli Machele, for urgent talks, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, pledged to work with Nigeria to ensure the safety of Nigerians.
As outrage spreads across the continent, perceptive stakeholders argue it is time to remind the Dudula group of the Mandela Tax and the Pan-African solidarity that ended the apartheid regime. In hindsight, the Mandela Tax-a mix of compulsory salary deductions for Nigerian civil servants and voluntary citizen donations in the 1970s and 1980s-was used to support South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle and the Southern Africa Relief Fund (SARF). Deserving no less attention is the Pan-African solidarity spearheaded by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), with support from regional powers like Nigeria and Tanzania.
Weighing in on the vexatious development, Amb. Akinremi Bolaji, former Director of Economic, Trade, and Investment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said there was a need for caution. According to the diplomat, the question raises a sensitive but important issue that should be answered in a way that promotes dialogue, diplomacy, historical awareness, and African unity-not retaliation or hostility. ‘Many African countries, especially Nigeria, made enormous sacrifices in support of South Africa’s liberation struggle. Nigeria contributed financially, diplomatically, politically, and morally through what many described as the ‘Mandela Tax,’ where ordinary Nigerians voluntarily supported the anti-apartheid movement.’
Bolaji made a case for strong diplomatic engagement, suggesting that the governments of Nigeria and South Africa should continue bilateral dialogue on migration, business competition, labour issues, and citizen protection while avoiding inflammatory rhetoric. At the AU level, Bolaji said that African Union institutions should more actively promote Pan-African citizenship, conflict prevention, and civic education around African brotherhood and integration under the AfCFTA vision.
Recently and quite timely, the Hakeem Shitta Photo Archives and Cultural Centre (HSPACA) unveiled a documentary to commemorate Mandela’s 1990 Lagos visit. Esther Oladimeji, Curator of the Hakeem Shitta Photo Archives and Cultural Centre, said the visit symbolised Nigeria’s unwavering solidarity with South Africa during the anti-apartheid struggle. Oladimeji said Mandela’s visit came barely three months after his release from Victor Verster Prison in South Africa. ‘Mandela did not just come on a diplomatic tour; he came home to Nigeria to say thank you for standing firmly with South Africa. The documentary revives the spirit of African brotherhood witnessed at Tafawa Balewa Square during the historic civic reception. It ensures younger Africans never forget the sacrifices Nigerians made for the liberation of South Africa.’
In the face of the current xenophobic monstrosity, the Federal Government is ramping up diplomatic pressure on South Africa. In a recent post on X, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said the Federal Government was set to evacuate Nigerians who wished to return home from South Africa. The minister said she had a phone conversation with her South African counterpart, Ronald Lamola. She said Lamola expressed concern and misgivings concerning the Nigerian Government’s plans to evacuate its citizens desirous of leaving South Africa due to recent xenophobic attacks.
Nonetheless, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa cautioned that ‘opportunists’ were exploiting legitimate grievances to orchestrate anti-immigrant attacks on foreigners. ‘We must make it clear that there is no place in South Africa for xenophobia, ethnic mobilisation, intolerance, or violence,’ Ramaphosa said. To counter protectionist narratives and Dudula perspectives, stakeholders suggest a structured awareness campaign to highlight the Mandela Tax and other weighty historical, financial, and physical sacrifices made by other African nations to dismantle the apartheid system.