
Evil doesn't wait for language: We must name xenophobia for what it is
A friend recently commented on a Facebook post I shared about the counter-protest we held against Operation Dudula on Thursday, 17 July 2025. She referred to something Thabo Mbeki once said to a group of African congregants: 'What is xenophobia in our African languages?'
Apparently, the room went quiet. She was suggesting that maybe, if we don't have a word for xenophobia in our languages, the concept itself is foreign — or maybe not real in the way it's being described.
She went on to say that people who do have the words — shaped by other histories — sometimes use those words not to understand others, but to control them or to feel morally superior. And that those who are being labelled often have every reason to reject the labels, because they weren't part of shaping the words in the first place.
She said if we really took the time to listen, we might discover that there's no hate at all — just frustration and disillusionment.
I've been thinking about that. And I want to respond not just in the comments but more publicly here.
The fact that a word doesn't exist in a language doesn't mean the thing it describes doesn't exist. Patriarchy, racism, apartheid — all of these systems existed long before we had names for them. Evil doesn't wait for language. It just acts.
And this argument — that something doesn't exist because there's no word for it — has been used before. Hendrik Verwoerd said apartheid wasn't oppression, it was just 'separate development'. They tried to rename injustice to make it sound benign. But we all know renaming it didn't make it any less violent. If anything, it made it harder to fight.
The same is true of xenophobia.
I've stood face-to-face with Operation Dudula in the streets — at Hilbrow Clinic, where people were being chased away from medical care simply because they were foreign nationals. I was there at Yeoville Market when they were protesting to get rid of long-time traders, and that market ended up burned down. I've stood toe-to-toe with them on many occasions.
And I've also sat down with their leaders. I've had proper sit-down meetings with them — some of them former branch leaders. I've spent hours listening to them. I've brought documented evidence to show that what they were saying wasn't true. I've tried to have real conversations. I've listened to stories from leaders in the Free State. I've listened. I've negotiated. I've tried to understand. But I've also heard the scapegoating. The blaming. I've seen the twisting of truth to justify violence.
And that's what we have to call it — violence.
I've also walked with the people who've suffered because of this movement. I've taken people to police stations to lay charges. I've sat with community members from across the country who've been threatened, beaten, chased and traumatised.
Let me tell you about Dido. He was a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One day, he was chased down the street in Johannesburg with people shouting, 'foreigner!' A dog was set on him. It mauled him for four hours before someone finally intervened. He was taken to Baragwanath Hospital and lay in a coma for three months. After he was discharged, I took him into my home in Orange Grove to help him recover. Later, we arranged for him to move in with a fellow Congolese man who could support him more long-term. But during another wave of xenophobic attacks, Dido was chased again. The stress triggered a fragment from his original injury to dislodge. He suffered a stroke and died. I mourned him as a friend and a brother.
What do we call that, if not hatred?
Then there's my friend Nthombi. She was eight months pregnant, selling mielies on the pavement in Orange Grove. A leader from Operation Dudula from the Free State approached her, shouted at her, and violently overturned her mielie stand. I was there. I helped her pick up the pieces. Later, I sat down with that very man for three hours in a church-mediated conversation. I listened to him. And I didn't hear justice. I heard fear, I heard blame, and I heard an unwillingness to see her humanity.
And then there's Elvis Nyathi. He was a 43-year-old Zimbabwean man living in Diepsloot. During a door-to-door 'inspection' he couldn't produce an ID. He was dragged from his home, beaten, doused in petrol, and necklaced — burned alive. I stood with his mother while his body was loaded into the hearse. I held her. I said, 'I'm so sorry.' What words are enough to describe that kind of horror?
This isn't just frustration. This isn't just disillusionment. This is fear and anger weaponised against the vulnerable. It is xenophobia. And if we don't name it, we're complicit in it.
But there's something else I've seen — something that gives me hope.
At the counter-protest this past week against Operation Dudula, we weren't alone. Abahlali baseMjondolo came. Informal Traders Associations. The recyclers. The Inner City Federation. Civil society allies. It's no exaggeration to say that more than 90% of the people on our side of that protest were poor South Africans — people living in shacks, in inner-city slums, in difficult, often horrific, conditions. These were not the elite. These were the people Dudula claims to speak for.
And yet, these are the people who stood up and said: 'No. The problem isn't that we have foreign nationals living here. The problem is the unhealed legacy of apartheid. The problem is inequality. The problem is corruption, and neoliberalism, and capitalism. The problem is a government that has failed to deliver justice.'
These are people who know hardship. And they know that turning on their neighbours is not the answer.
These are the people who reflect the heart of Africa. Who embody ubuntu. They believe that South Africa — and Africa — belongs to all who live in it. They believe the Freedom Charter wasn't just words. That we must give it meaning. That we must fight for land, for justice, for economic transformation. That we must build real solidarity, not deepen division.
We also need to name something else. Operation Dudula isn't just some organic grassroots uprising. It is deeply influenced by the thinking and structure of colonialism.
It upholds borders that were drawn by colonial powers — borders that split families and communities and turned African neighbours into strangers.
It promotes a nationalism rooted not in Pan-African unity but in division and exclusion.
And if we're honest, the language and tactics being used carry disturbing echoes of fascism — of movements in history that mobilised poor people's pain to justify violence against scapegoated groups.
So no, we may not have always had the word 'xenophobia' in indigenous African languages. But we've known the pain and lived the trauma.
Let's not be distracted by whether we have the perfect word. Let's ask whether there is harm. And if there is, let's name it and deal with it.
Nigel Branken is a social worker, pastor and activist. He leads
, a civil society organisation committed to building solidarity with marginalised communities and confronting injustice. His work focuses on resisting xenophobia, defending human rights, and promoting systemic change. He has recently joined the South African Communist Party, aligning himself with its vision of justice, equality and collective liberation.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Citizen
7 hours ago
- The Citizen
Ramaphosa hopes diplomacy amid US push for sanctions on SA
The US House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a bill tabled by Republican Ronny Jackson calling for a full review of US relations with South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa is in the dark about the United States' push to ban ANC leaders, hoping that diplomacy will prevail. The US House Committee on Foreign Affairs this week passed a bill tabled by Republican Ronny Jackson in April, calling for a full review of US relations with South Africa. Sanctions bill The Committee voted 34-16 on Tuesday to send the 'US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act' to the full House of Representatives, where it could be subject to a vote. Jackson introduced the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act, providing tools to impose sanctions on 'corrupt South African government officials' who support America's adversaries like China, Russia and Iran, among others. ALSO READ: US Congressman Ronny Jackson introduces bill to hold SA accountable He introduced a bill that would mandate a comprehensive review of the bilateral relationship between the United States and South Africa. Jackson said Representative John James was co-leading the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act legislation. Ramaphosa responds The bill comes as relations between the US and South Africa are at an all-time low after US President Donald Trump cut financial aid to South Africa, citing Pretoria taking Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and 'strengthening ties with Iran, which supports terrorism globally'. Speaking to the media after his visit to the BMW plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria, Ramaphosa said he and his administration had taken note of the passing of the bill, adding that it would not impact South Africa's approach to dealing with the United States. 'We have heard what has happened in the US House committee, and that whole process still has a long way to go,' he said. 'Discussions will be ongoing, and we don't know exactly what is driving all this.' 'Our bilateral discussions and dealings with the United States will continue, and we will talk about all manner of things, including precisely this issue and many others. We've got good diplomatic relations with the US, and we want to enrich them and make them better. So, we are very positive,' Ramaphosa said. [WATCH] President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa is in the dark about the United States' push to ban ANC leaders. He adds that he is positive about the outcome of engagements between the two countries.#Newzroom405 — Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 24, 2025 ALSO READ: Is Trump about to slap sanctions on SA for misguided 'white genocide?' US tensions South Africa's relationship with the US sharply deteriorated during Donald Trump's second term, during which he has accused the government of anti-white racism and started a refugee programme for white farmers and Afrikaners. Relations were further strained following the remarks of former South African Ambassador to the US Ebrahim Rasool on Trump. Rasool was expelled by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he claimed in a webinar that US President Trump (and, later, Elon Musk) are leading a global white supremacist movement. Rasool was not replaced, and it was recently revealed that the US had, several months ago, rejected the South African government's appointment of Mcebisi Jonas as a special envoy to its country. The Presidency said that while Jonas, as special envoy, does not present diplomatic credentials to host countries in the way designated heads of mission or other diplomats do, he had helped facilitate trade and international relations efforts 'to reset diplomatic relations and all areas of cooperation between South Africa and the United States'. Tariffs Ramaphosa met with Trump in May amid the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two countries. Earlier this month, the US hit South Africa with 30% tariffs 'on any and all South African products sent into the United States'. The tariff will take effect on 1 August. In a letter to Ramaphosa, Trump claimed that the steep tariffs were necessary to correct what he described as 'a persistent trade deficit between the two countries'. However, this was challenged by Ramaphosa, who said the decision was based on a flawed interpretation of trade data. ALSO READ: WATCH: Donald Trump ambushes Cyril Ramaphosa in Oval Office

IOL News
15 hours ago
- IOL News
Mbeki's intervention in TRC damages litigation criticised as 'absurd' and 'muddying the waters'
Former President Thabo Mbeki's application to intervene in an apartheid-era damages claim has been criticised Image: DIRCO The Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) has described former president Thabo Mbeki's application to intervene in the constitutional damages litigation by survivors and families of apartheid-era crime victims as unreasonable and 'muddying the waters'. The application by Mbeki and his former justice minister, Brigitte Mabandla, is set to be heard on Monday, July 28, in the Pretoria High Court. The families of victims who were forcibly disappeared or killed during apartheid, supported by the foundation, filed an application against President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government early this year, seeking R167-million in constitutional damages for the state's 'gross failure'. They say there was 'a gross violation of their human rights as the state failed to investigate and/or prosecute the cases referred by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to the National Prosecutions Authority'. They alleged that there was some political interference in the cases, leading to delays of about 15 years. Speaking to eNCA on Thursday, FHR executive director Zaid Kimmie said they were not gunning for any individual or 'alleging that any particular individual was responsible'. He said they were seeking justice and the R167 million damages, and wanted to know 'potentially how this interference happened'. Those seeking to clear their names or 'cast aspersions on others' would have their opportunity in the upcoming commission of inquiry set up by Ramaphosa, said Kimmie. He said they believed that the commission was 'the correct avenue' that Mbeki and Mabandla should follow. He said the two politicians' intervention in the damages case was 'absurd' and posed a danger of muddying the waters. 'It's clear to us and all families that there was some form of interference in these cases. You don't simply have a 15-year delay in investigations and prosecutions because someone forgot to do their job. It's very clear that there was some sort of interference, and what we've asked for was that, to get to the bottom of that interference we need a commission of inquiry,' said Kimmie. He explained that the R167 million the families were seeking was carefully calculated based on the money used in supporting some of the families during inquests, investigations, prosecutions, and generally providing justice to them. 'Just to make it clear, the money that we're asking for is going to be held in trust. It will be available to any family who's in the same situation (as those in the damages case),' he said. Responding to a question about the 'unfinished business of the TRC' and whether, in his view, the state dealt with the issues adequately, Kimmie said: 'It's clear that there has been a gross violation of the human rights of these families. The state didn't do its job, did not live up to its obligations. And when the state does not live up to its obligations, then it's incumbent upon the people involved to call them to account … 'It's simply not enough to say 'well, bad things happened, these things happen', and everyone walks away.' The state had 'constitutional, legal obligations' and had officials paid to do their jobs, to investigate and prosecute cases. He said it was 'absurd' for them to 'simply decide' that a certain set of cases was 'not worthy' to be prosecuted. There have been allegations in the past that interference by the government under Mbeki during former national director of public prosecutions Vusi Pikoli led to work on the case being stopped. There have not been any proper explanation as to why the TRC cases where amnesty was not granted were not pursued. These cases include the killing of the Cradock Four — Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto, and Sicelo Mhlauli — members of the United Democratic Front and other community organisations fighting apartheid whose killings shocked the nation in 1985. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Mbeki and Mabandla deny that political interference stopped the TRC cases and claim that the application is defamatory of them. The families oppose their application, arguing that they couldn't intervene simply to rebut adverse allegations. They say the damages and other relief they seek are 'not directed' against Mbeki or Mabandla but against the state; and if they feel they are or might be defamed they have recourse through 'normal legal remedies'. 'The families assert that the application can be decided without the need to make findings in respect of individual roleplayers, which will be the task of the commission of inquiry already established by the President, although it is yet to commence its work,' the FHR said in a statement on Thursday.


Mail & Guardian
19 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Finance MMC job in Jozi a political hotbed
Who's next?: Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero. (X) The delay in appointing a finance MMC in the City of Johannesburg stems from the perception that the position is seen as a stepping stone to the mayoral seat, making it a hotly contested post, ANC regional sources the party due to hold its Johannesburg regional conference in September, two factions — referred to […] This content is restricted to subscribers only . Join the M&G Community Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently. Subscription enables: - M&G community membership - independent journalism - access to all premium articles & features - a digital version of the weekly newspaper - invites to subscriber-only events - the opportunity to test new online features first Already a subscriber?