“South Africans Are Not Xenophobic. The noise of a small minority does not represent the majority of South Africans.”—Vusi Thembekwayo

“Contrary to what you are seeing on the media, South Africans are not xenophobic. Contrary to what you are seeing on the media. Now, this statement sounds like a blasty statement, given all of the things you have seen on-line and in the media. I’m not saying that there are no xenophobic people or xenophobia in South Africa, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m simply saying that, saying the entire nation of South Africa is xenophobic is simply missing the point.
There are 65 million people living in South Africa. We have 11 official languages. We have one of the most diverse societies in the world. And even with all these diversity, we get along with most people. If you look at the largest companies in South Africa, the CEOs, chief executives, or boards of those companies, there are many people from the rest of Africa.
The second point that I want to make is this, I think there is an external agenda to turn us against each other. And I think we feed that agenda when we feed the noise and the fire. And so what I think we can do is reach across the divide, have actual meaningful conversations, understand what is happening on the ground, so that we can find each other. I felt it was important for me to say that.”
—South African businessman Vusi Thembekwayo, at a May 2026 business event in Lagos, Nigeria

🗣 In recent months, South Africa (uMzantsi) has witnessed a tragically familiar resurgence of xenophobic, anti-African violence, fueled by the oldest trick in the colonial book (“divide and conquer”). At a time when predatory Western corporations are kicking against the country’s equality laws – aimed at ensuring its African majority actually benefits from its economy – and when the US government is actively supporting separatist groups in the country led by white supremacists, the timing of this resurgence could not be more telling.

Under the false pretext of “protecting” their country from “criminals”, a noisy minority of historically-illiterate South Africans has flooded the streets, hunting down and attacking Africans from other nations, blocking their children at the gates of schools, removing old and sickly patients from hospitals, and calling for them to return to their countries.
In May 2026 address at an event in Lagos, Nigeria, South African businessman Vusi Thembekwayo notes that despite what viral videos online and in the media may suggest, this noise of a small minority does not represent the majority of South Africans, who remain peaceful and welcoming to their African brothers and sisters.

The neocolonial and imperialist forces that are truly behind these xenophobic attacks have neither the interests of South Africans nor any other Africans at heart, and Kmtyw=Abibifuo=Farafin=Black People (Black African People)would do well to stop playing into their hands.