On Tuesday, 30 June 2026, marches across South African towns and cities demanded that fellow Africans deemed “illegal” leave the country. For Dele Olojede (Class II: Kilimanjaro), the moment speaks not only to the country’s current political and economic failures, but to a painful rupture in the relationship between South Africa and the rest of the continent.
Writing from the perspective of a Nigerian who witnessed South Africa’s transition to democracy at close range, Dele recalls the continental solidarity that supported the struggle against apartheid and the optimism that accompanied the country’s first democratic election in 1994.
He contrasts those memories with a present in which African migrants have increasingly become scapegoats for unemployment, failing public services and disillusionment with political leadership.
His reflection moves between South Africa’s democratic promise, the deterioration of its public institutions and the sense of betrayal now felt by many elsewhere on the continent. It ends with a challenge for those who continue to believe that greater African integration is essential to the continent’s future.
The article was first published by the Financial Times and was subsequently republished by Daily Maverick with permission.
