Mcebisi Jonas, MTN chairman and former SA Deputy Finance Minister, gave an eulogy condemning xenophobia at the funeral of Thokozani Damasane, a Zimbabwe-born activist, (Pulse Nigeria) (Premium Times) arguing the real problems are state failure, not foreigners.
On your “nationalise SA businesses in Nigeria” suggestion — that’s a real but blunt instrument. Here’s why many Nigerians/Africans feel the anger that produces such reactions:
Repeated, visible violence against their nationals. Xenophobic violence in South Africa has recurred throughout the post-apartheid period, with severe outbreaks in 2008, 2015, and intermittently since, directed primarily at nationals from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria, Malawi, and other African countries. (Premium Times) When people see footage of fellow citizens beaten, looted, or killed simply for being foreign, it produces visceral anger that policy explanations don’t soothe.
A sense of asymmetry. South African companies (MTN, Shoprite, MultiChoice, banks) operate freely and profitably across the continent, including Nigeria, while South Africans on the ground are seen attacking African migrants. That contrast — “you take our markets but reject our people” — feels like a one-way relationship, even though it’s economically more complicated than that.
Diplomatic friction reinforces the feeling. Nigeria and Ghana have both previously summoned South African ambassadors following attacks on their nationals, several African governments have issued travel advisories, and the African Union has called repeatedly for South Africa to act decisively (Premium Times) — so this isn’t just street-level outrage, it’s been a recurring state-level grievance too.
Jonas’s own argument supports the anger but redirects it. He didn’t excuse the sentiment — he attacked it. He told mourners that scapegoating foreigners ignores that inequality, unemployment, police corruption, and self-interested politicians will all remain even if every foreigner leaves, (Premium Times) and placed responsibility for the crisis squarely on the South African government, arguing that weak law enforcement and failing systems have created fertile ground for political manipulation. (Vanguard News)
So the anger is understandable and grounded in real, repeated harm. Whether nationalising SA business assets in Nigeria is the right response is a separate question — it would likely hurt Nigerian employees of those firms, shareholders, and investment confidence more than it would pressure Pretoria, and previous responses (boycotts, ambassador summons) have already been tried with mixed results.
Boycott campaigns against South African retailers and telecoms in affected countries have already occurred (Premium Times) without resolving the underlying violence — which is partly Jonas’s point: the fix has to come from inside South Africa’s state, not from retaliation abroad.
What do you think about this. My opinion is that most times, Africa tends to be portrayed as one country but that is not true.
Myself as a Nigerian should propose that our foreign policy must be based on reciprocity.
What do you think?