Anti-immigration violence threatens Africa’s integration drive says AfCFTA head

Wamkele Mene, secretary-general of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat, has condemned attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa, saying the violence is at odds with the objectives of the continent’s flagship trade agreement.

 

The AfCFTA is intended to facilitate the movement of goods, capital and people across the continent and depends on confidence among governments and businesses that citizens can live, work and trade safely across borders.

 

Mene said the attacks are inconsistent with the principles of Pan-Africanism and run counter to the vision of an integrated African market.

 

“This behaviour is inconsistent with the values of Pan-Africanism and it is abhorrent to the very idea of the single market we are trying to build. The displacement of foreign nationals in South Africa is antithetical to that project. I reject xenophobia in all its forms,” Mene said in a statement.

 

“I am deeply embarrassed by the xenophobic vigilantism being carried out in South Africa by a loud minority of xenophobes. I am heartened by the government’s response and its determination to prosecute individuals who are causing havoc, harassing and attacking foreign nationals in South Africa, whether they are documented or undocumented.”

 

His remarks come as South Africa seeks to cement its position as one of the earliest beneficiaries of the AfCFTA, which aims to create a single market spanning 55 countries with a combined economic output of about $3.4-trillion.

 

South African exports under the agreement have reached about R2bn since 2024, with Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Rwanda, Cameroon and Algeria among the main destinations.

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Imports from AfCFTA member states including Kenya, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia totalled about R610m over the same period.

 

Mene’s intervention comes as South Africa faces growing pressure at home and abroad to stem attacks on foreign nationals. The African Union has urged the government to prosecute those responsible for anti immigrant violence and strengthen protection for affected communities.

 

Police arrested 900 people during nationwide anti-migrant protests on June 30. Protests were mostly peaceful but at times turned violent in some areas of KwaZulu-Natal.

 

The government has also sought to frame migration as a regional challenge requiring a continental response. In June, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would would dispatch diplomatic envoys to capitals across Africa to engage governments on migration and explore joint solutions. Business Day, however, understands the initiative has yet to begin.

 

At the same time, the government has moved to tighten border enforcement. In a parliamentary reply to an EFF question, the department of home affairs said the Border Management Authority had detected and deported 37,356 undocumented migrants between April 2025 and March 2026, supported by aerial surveillance along four priority sections of the border.

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Another 10,512 inadmissible or prohibited foreign nationals were refused entry at ports of entry during the same period. The department also confirmed plans to introduce a one-stop border post at Beitbridge to improve trade flows with Zimbabwe while reducing congestion.