Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has mounted a strong defence of African migrants, warning that growing hostility toward foreign nationals is built on a false narrative that diverts attention from the real causes of South Africa’s economic challenges.
Speaking at the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and AUDA-NEPAD Business Breakfast, Mbeki argued that undocumented African migrants are being unfairly blamed for unemployment and crime while those responsible for the country’s economic decline avoid accountability.
His comments come just days after nearly 300 Ghanaians voluntarily returned home from South Africa amid growing fears following anti-immigrant protests and concerns over the safety of foreign nationals.
“We’ve got many problems here. The problem legitimately led to high levels of unemployment; that’s correct. High levels of crime, that’s correct. But the finger is being pointed at the wrong people,” Mbeki said.
Rejecting claims that undocumented migrants are responsible for South Africa’s unemployment crisis, he insisted that the country’s economic difficulties stem from deeper structural issues.
“The levels of high unemployment in this country are not due to undocumented Africans. They are not,” he stressed.
Mbeki noted that South Africa’s economic challenges predate the current immigration debate and are rooted in developments that have unfolded over many years.
“We know the history in detail of how South Africa, from 1994 to 2008 and 2009, experienced growth rates reaching 6%, and from 2009 onward began moving in the opposite direction. It isn’t caused by undocumented immigrants,” he said.
According to Mbeki, public anger has been directed at migrants while those responsible for the country’s economic decline remain largely unchallenged.
“The people who caused that decline are laughing in a corner because we’re not pointing at them. We’re pointing somewhere else, and that is wrong,” he stated.
The former president predicted that migration into South Africa would continue regardless of political pressure or anti-immigrant campaigns.
“One prediction I will make is that Africans will continue to come to South Africa. It doesn’t matter what you do,” he said.
He urged South Africans to focus on practical migration management policies rather than using migrants as scapegoats for broader economic and social problems.
“You are not going to solve the problem of unemployment here by shouting against undocumented Africans and leaving the real culprits untouched,” he said.
In one of the strongest moments of his address, Mbeki accused anti-immigrant campaigners of targeting the wrong people while ignoring the underlying causes of unemployment and economic hardship.
“What are we doing to tell South Africans that the positions they are taking are wrong? The truth is that you are chasing ghosts while ignoring the real devil,” he said.
Mbeki also called for greater recognition of the historic ties between South Africa and the rest of the African continent, emphasizing the shared struggles that united Africans during the fight against apartheid.
“People are beating drums against the wrong people and failing to understand the organic connection between Africans across the continent and Africans here. We were together in the same struggle, and you cannot suddenly turn against them,” he said.
His remarks add to the ongoing debate over immigration, economic inequality, and social cohesion in South Africa, where tensions over migration have intensified amid rising unemployment and economic pressures.
