From Solidarity to Scapegoating: Pan-Africanism and Afrophobia in South Africa’s Township Classrooms
Other, pp.1-3, 2026
- Publication Type: Other Publication / Other
- Publication Date: 2026
- Page Numbers: pp.1-3
- Hacettepe University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
In late April and early May 2026, South Africa was convulsed by a new wave of deadly violence against African migrants. Nationals from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana and Mozambique were targeted; their governments lodged formal protests with Pretoria; the UN Secretary-General condemned the attacks.
Perpetrators are often reported as coming from impoverished townships, where youth unemployment remains exceptionally high. They are children of the very communities that once sheltered ANC exiles, that once sang Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika as an anthem of continental solidarity, that once produced Robert Sobukwe, Steve Biko, and the Pan-Africanist imagination of a united, free Africa.
How did we get here? The answer, I found, begins in the classroom.