Xenophobia – Zabalaza for Socialism

From xenophobia to authoritarian politics

Koketso Moeti31 August 2026

This year marks 50 years since the 1976 youth uprising, a turning point in South Africa’s struggle against apartheid. While triggered by the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in schools, it would result in the creation of a new social force that birthed new movements of resistance and emancipatory politics. The anniversary serves as […]

Is Afrophobia a simplistic framing?

Socialist Voice Newsletter of the Marxist Group of Namibia18 August 2026

A left-wing view does not say xenophobia in South Africa is “naturally” Africanist or that “black” people are inherently united. It says xenophobia is a product of racial capitalism, township political economy, state rhetoric, and social fragmentation — and its racialised pattern of targets reflects material conditions, not essential identities. The term “Afrophobia” is analytically […]

The Politics of Division Has Entered Our Homes

Luke Sinwell15 July 2026

According to community reports, a woman was raped during an apparent housebreaking in Thembelihle this past weekend. A criminal case has been opened and the survivor received medical attention. This is not only the story of a terrible crime. It is a warning about the direction in which our communities are being pushed. Too often, […]

March Separately, Strike Together: Xenophobia, Working-Class Fragmentation, and Strategic Crossroads

Rehad Desai and Luke Sinwell8 July 2026

500 Migrants outside the Malawian consulate Woodmead, Johannesburg In townships and informal settlements across South Africa, violence against foreign nationals is no longer episodic. It is increasingly organised and spoken about in ways that normalise it. Groups such as March and March have become associated with mobilisation that targets migrants in the name of jobs, […]

No Borders, No Bosses, No Xenophobia: Build Proletarian Power from Below.

Socialism From Below6 July 2026

Keep Left/Socialism from Below statement There is no migration crisis. There is a crisis of capitalism. The violent events of 30 June remind us that xenophobia is a weapon used to divide the working class and excuse our rulers’ failings. South Africa’s crisis is rooted in an economic system that concentrates wealth in the hands […]

MAYOR’S REFUGEE DECEIT FLAMES ETHEKWINI TENSIONS

Siyafana Sonke Campaign6 July 2026

Siyafana Sonke Action Campaign condemns the utterances by Ethekwini Mayor, Cyril Xaba, feeding into the disinformation campaign targeting vulnerable migrant and refugee communities. According to Mayor Xaba’s comments in a recent podcast, he informed the interviewer that displaced refugees were demanding ‘free housing’, to the detriment of South Africans. The Siyafana Sonke campaign will not […]

THEMBELIHLE WAS BUILT THROUGH STRUGGLE: IT WILL BE DEFENDED THROUGH UNITY

Siyafana Sonke Campaign6 July 2026

The Siyafana Sonke Campaign salutes the residents of Thembelihle informal settlement in the South of Johannesburg, Lenasia, who continue to defend the values on which their community was built: solidarity, dignity and the right of all people to live without fear. Thembelihle was born out of struggle. It emerged because poor and working-class people, denied access to […]

Response to Jacintha Zuma

Bslefi Chirwa12 June 2026

It is important to be led by people who have at least picked up a pamphlet before a microphone. You’re choosing the easy way out Jacinta, because you’re simplistic in thought but radical in action. How do you blame me and EFF for crimes committed by foreigners when we aren’t government? What do you blame […]

The xenophobia outbreak in South Africa: Strategic questions facing the new social movements

Oupa Lehulere6 May 2026

June 2008 – The township of Alexandra outside Johannesburg, South Africa, has a long history of resistance to oppression and exploitation. In the late 1950s Alex (as it is popularly referred to) was the centre of bus boycotts against increases in fares and of struggles against apartheid, in the 1980s Alex was the centre of […]

News

Category: Xenophobia