Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has called on South Africans to address the root causes of the country’s economic difficulties instead of blaming African migrants for challenges such as unemployment and crime.
Speaking at the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and AUDA-NEPAD Business Breakfast, Mbeki said growing public frustration over economic hardship is increasingly being directed at foreign nationals, despite evidence that they are not responsible for South Africa’s structural economic problems.
His remarks come amid renewed debates on immigration and the treatment of foreign nationals in South Africa, following anti-immigrant protests and the voluntary return of nearly 300 Ghanaians who cited concerns about their safety.
According to Mbeki, while South Africa continues to grapple with high unemployment and crime rates, migrants have become easy targets for problems they did not create.
“We’ve got many problems here. The problem legitimately led to high levels of unemployment; that’s correct. High levels of crime, that’s correct. But the finger is being pointed at the wrong people,” he stated.
The former president stressed that undocumented African migrants are not responsible for the country’s unemployment crisis, arguing that South Africa’s economic decline began long before immigration became a major political issue.
He noted that the country experienced strong economic growth in the years following democracy, with growth rates reaching around six percent, before entering a period of decline after 2009.
“It isn’t caused by undocumented immigrants,” Mbeki emphasised.
He further argued that those truly responsible for the country’s economic challenges have escaped scrutiny while public attention remains focused on migrants.
“The people who caused that decline are laughing in a corner because we are pointing fingers at the wrong people,” he said.
Mbeki also predicted that migration into South Africa would continue regardless of political rhetoric or hostility toward foreign nationals.
Rather than using migrants as scapegoats, he urged authorities to implement practical migration policies while tackling the underlying causes of unemployment and economic stagnation.
“You are not going to solve the problem of unemployment here by shouting against undocumented Africans and leaving the culprit,” he said.
In a strong criticism of anti-immigrant sentiment, Mbeki warned that many South Africans are being misled into targeting the wrong people instead of confronting the real issues affecting the economy.
He further called for a renewed appreciation of the historical ties between South Africa and the rest of the African continent, stressing that Africans share a common struggle and destiny.
“People are beating drums about the wrong people and failing to understand the connection between Africans on the continent and Africans here. We are together in the same struggle, and you cannot turn against them,” he added.
