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Pieter Kriel, a political analyst, has said South Africa does not have a xenophobia problem, but is instead grappling with afrophobia.
Violence against African migrants, including Nigerians, in South Africa has been recurring. In April, videos circulating on social media showed South Africans wielding sticks as they chased and beat Black migrants, ordering them to leave the country.
In an interview with News Central, Kriel said there are non-Black migrants in South Africa, but they do not face the same level of discrimination as Black migrants in the country.
“I think we need to be very careful about xenophobia. We need to understand that South Africa does not have a xenophobia problem. We have an afrophobia problem. We have millions of Germans in the Western Cape,” Kriel told News Central.
“We have a lot of foreigners in this country, whether legally or illegally, who are not from Africa. They are not being discriminated against. They are not being chased out. This is an afrophobia, and that needs to be addressed.”
“We need to be very careful about xenophobia… We need to understand that South Africa does not have a xenophobia problem… We have a Afrophobia problem.”
Political analyst Pieter Kriel says attacks on African migrants in South Africa reflect afrophobia, driven by migration… pic.twitter.com/6atjct7Y64
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) May 1, 2026
The political analyst also urged negotiations and called for collaborative border management, investment, and trade as measures to curb hostility against Black migrants in South Africa.
Kriel further condemned the violence against Black migrants in the country.
“There is no such thing as an illegal African in South Africa. Africa belongs to Africans. I think it’s very sad to see that people are being beaten in the streets,” he added.
“We need to empathise with people. If we sympathise, perhaps we might feel bad for them. But if we empathise on a human level, ask: what are you doing here? What can we do as an African continent, a united African continent, to solve the problem not only of illegal immigration but also of joblessness in Africa, and to boost intra-African trade that would help this whole cause.
It would stop xenophobia, it would stop, more importantly, afrophobia that has been ignored by the South African government.”
