South Africa’s Systemic Failures Can't Be Blamed on Migrants

Blaming migrants for South Africa’s systemic failures is both unjust and shortsighted.

Photo by Cole Patrick on Unsplash

Written by: Katleho Mositoane

In 2008, South Africa was rocked by a wave of xenophobic violence that left at least 62 people dead and over 100,000 displaced. That violence never truly ended. It simply went underground. Today, it resurfaces in more institutional and insidious forms. In recent months, vigilante groups like the Concerned Tshwane Residents and Operation Dudula have barred undocumented migrants from receiving healthcare at public hospitals and clinics. These actions are both humanitarian violations and direct assaults on personal liberty, the rule of law, and the post-apartheid constitutional order.

Rather than confront this crisis head-on, the South African government has allowed it to fester. State institutions have failed to meet their constitutional obligations. Basic services are deteriorating. Unemployment is widespread. Public confidence in the government has collapsed. And groups like Operation Dudula have stepped into this vacuum, operating outside the bounds of legality and enforcing their agenda by intimidation.

Their name, Dudula, meaning “to force out” in Zulu, encapsulates their mission: to remove foreigners by any means necessary. It is a disturbing inversion of South Africa’s constitutional ideals, where rights are meant to be universal, not conditional on citizenship status.

Dudula’s claim that undocumented migrants are overwhelming the healthcare system is not backed by evidence. What is actually crippling the system is decades of underfunding, poor management, and cadre deployment. Instead of countering false narratives with facts and addressing the root causes, the state has opted for temporary crowd-control measures, dispatching police to manage the fallout. This is not leadership. It is abdication.

South Africa’s constitution enshrines the right to dignity, movement, and access to healthcare. These are not privileges but fundamental liberties. When the state selectively enforces these rights or permits vigilantes to nullify them, it erodes the legal foundation on which all South Africans rely.

At the same time, the anger of ordinary South Africans is not without context. Many who feel left behind, trapped in poverty, joblessness, and crumbling infrastructure, view migrants as competitors rather than neighbours. But this is not purely xenophobia. It is frustration with a government that has made promises it consistently fails to keep. When the state fails, scapegoating becomes an easy outlet.

Still, blaming migrants for South Africa’s systemic failures is both unjust and shortsighted. Most African migrants in the country are not economic opportunists but refugees from dysfunction. They have fled collapsing economies, political repression, and violence in pursuit of a better life. Their presence is not a threat to national sovereignty but a symptom of broader regional instability and of South Africa’s relative opportunity in an otherwise struggling continent.

To restore liberty and peace, the South African government must reinvigorate public services. While at it, it must prioritise competence, transparency, and accountability in the delivery of healthcare, housing, and employment opportunities. Civil society must combat misinformation through public education campaigns that challenge anti-migrant myths and promote solidarity over division. Law enforcement must uphold the rule of law by prosecuting those who intimidate, assault, or unlawfully restrict access to services, irrespective of their political justification.

The lesson of 2008 and every flare-up since is that when the state abandons its duty to protect individual rights, chaos ensues. South Africa should not abandon liberty in a misguided attempt to preserve it because when freedoms are denied to some, they soon become threatened for all.

Katleho Mositoane is a former writing fellow at African Liberty with a background in journalism. She has published articles advocating for personal freedom, limited government, and individual agency.