We are living in a dangerous time in our occupied Azania. Across townships and communities, we are seeing the rise of tribalism and xenophobia. People are turning against each other South African against “foreigner,” one tribe against another while claiming that others are stealing jobs or bringing drugs.
But if we return to Steve Biko, we are forced to ask a deeper question: Who taught us to see each other as the enemy?

The real problem is not the people who do not own the means of production.

Many people are angry and rightly so. There is no work. Poverty is everywhere. Young people are sitting at home with no future. Communities are drowning in drugs and crime.
But blaming “foreigners” is a dangerous shortcut.
The truth is simple:

• Jobs are not disappearing because of migrants
• Poverty was not created by other Africans
• Crime is not imported it grows where people are abandoned

These problems are rooted in a system that has never changed since Apartheid ended. The economy still excludes the Black majority. Land is still not in the hands of the people. Wealth is still controlled by a few.
So instead of confronting that system, we are being pushed to fight each other.

This is how oppression survives
Biko warned us that the greatest weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
When we start to believe that our neighbour is the problem, we lose sight of the real enemy. This is what we are seeing today:

• Poor people fighting poor people
• Africans attacking Africans
• Communities divided along tribal lines
  This is not a mistake it is the result of a broken consciousness.

Tribalism is not our culture, it is a weapon

We must be honest: tribalism did not start with us. It was strengthened by colonialism and apartheid to divide Black people.
Under those systems, we were separated, labelled, and controlled through ethnic identities. That division made it easier to rule us.

Today, when we fight each other in the name of tribe, we are continuing that same system just without the white rulers standing in front.

Black Consciousness means unity
The Black Consciousness Movement taught us that “Black” is not just about skin colour it is about a shared condition of oppression.
It was meant to unite us:

• Across tribes
• Across languages
• Across borders

From this perspective, xenophobia makes no sense. How can the oppressed turn against the oppressed?

An African from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, or Mozambique is not our enemy. They are facing the same system of exploitation, just in different conditions.

We need to redirect the anger
The anger in our communities is real. But it must be directed in the right place.
We should be asking:

• Who owns the land?
• Who controls the economy?
• Why are millions unemployed in a rich country?
  If we don’t ask these questions, we will keep fighting each other while nothing changes.
  The way forward
  Returning to Biko means rebuilding our thinking and our unity.
  We must:
• Reject tribalism and xenophobia
• Rebuild African solidarity
• Educate our communities about the real causes of poverty
• Organise around land, jobs, and dignity
  Because in the end, liberation will not come from attacking each other. It will come from understanding the system and confronting it together.

As Biko teaches us, we must free our minds first. Only then can we truly free our people.

Tshezi Azania Soxujwa is a Black Consciousness-Socialist activist Based in Makhanda.