By our reporter 29.5.2026
As more xenophobic protests hit South African streets Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema has asked his angry fellow citizens to direct their anger towards their own government, which has failed to provide employment opportunities.
Mr. Malema who was speaking during a conference in Boksburg Ekurhuleni on Friday noted that targeting poor African migrants was a misplaced priority as they are responsible for South Africa’s unemployment crisis and service delivery problems.
“Poor Africans from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, or elsewhere on the continent are not responsible for unemployment, inequality, or collapsing public services,” Malema said.
“The growing phenomenon of Afrophobia within South Africa must be confronted with absolute political clarity because it represents one of the most dangerous expressions of false consciousness within the working class.
“Migrants did not privatise state capacity. Migrants did not concentrate ownership of land and industry. Migrants did not construct an economy incapable of absorbing labour.”
He argued that political apartheid may have ended in his country, but “economic apartheid” continues. He said unemployment figures point to the exclusion of the majority.
“Official unemployment exceeds 32%, while expanded unemployment exceeds 43%, meaning millions of people exist outside meaningful economic participation altogether,” he said.
“Youth unemployment remains a serious crisis at more than 60%, condemning an entire generation to social marginalisation despite their aspirations, education and capabilities.”