Johannesburg, South Africa – Anita Odunyao Solarin, a 21-year-old Nigerian who has spent her total life in South Africa, finds it safer to not reveal her West African heritage.
She tries her greatest to assimilate along with her friends and barely reveals her origins. She stated this protected her from ongoing bullying – one thing she confronted since shifting to South Africa as a child.
“I strive to not present the place I am from or look Nigerian. I conceal my id in social conditions,” Solarin instructed Al Jazeera. “As a result of I’ve been doing it for thus lengthy, it’s develop into regular.”
Her earliest reminiscence of tensions between South Africans and Nigerians dates again to kindergarten, when she was abused by classmates.
“It was irritating. A child who was solely 4 years previous hated me regardless that we have been in the identical college, appeared the identical and did the identical issues,” Solarin shared.
“My college life was troublesome as a result of I used to be bullied due to my background. I used to be known as names, particularly derogatory phrases, makwerekwere [a local slur for foreigner]. South Africans have this concept that should you’re not one among them, you do not need to be right here,” she added, her frustration nonetheless evident.
Solarin grew up in Pretoria, however she felt like she did not belong in South Africa. Even a long time later, she stated, it is nonetheless simpler for her and different younger Nigerians to not reveal their ancestry.
“Not many Nigerian kids right here can say ‘I’m Nigerian’ as a result of they’re afraid of backlash and hatred. It is not secure for them,” she stated.
South Africa has a protracted historical past of anti-foreign sentiment, and social tensions in opposition to different black Africans within the nation have turned violent over time.
Nevertheless, latest occasions have deepened Solarin’s disillusionment with South Africa, with 23-year-old magnificence queen Chidimma Adetshina withdrawing from the competitors final month after dealing with extreme xenophobic harassment on the Miss SA pageant ultimate.
Chidimma Adetshina suffered a crushing defeat
Adetshina, who was born in Soweto, Johannesburg, to immigrant mother and father, proudly spoke of her Nigerian heritage throughout the Miss SA competitors, sparking outrage from South Africans on social media.
Many insist she has no proper to signify South Africa.
Solarin stated that when the controversy surrounding Adetsshina started, she raised the difficulty with some worldwide relations professors on the College of Pretoria however was largely ignored. Her colleagues, alternatively, tried to justify their view that Adezna needs to be disqualified as a result of unfounded rumors that her father could be linked to the crime.
“[Adetshina] She was bullied on-line as a result of her father was Nigerian. If it have been one other nationality, there could be no downside,” Solarin stated. “Individuals are even saying her father is a drug seller. The place does that come from? It is the idea that every one Nigerians are criminals – it is annoying.
Adezina has been topic to vicious assaults and abuse for weeks, with the web vitriol exacerbating present tensions between South Africa and Nigeria which were fueled by financial frustration and stereotypes about foreigners.
South Africa has widespread unemployment and sluggish financial development. Whereas the federal government has finished little to enhance the scenario, many discover it simpler to assault African immigrant communities, blaming them for taking away jobs and rising crime. These tensions inevitably spill over into social media debates, the place xenophobic rhetoric proliferates.
Adezshina’s scenario got here to a head when a video went viral of her celebrating her Miss SA qualification along with her father, who was sporting conventional Nigerian apparel. The backlash was swift and relentless.
South Africa’s Sports activities, Arts and Tradition Minister Gayton McKenzie – identified for his xenophobic rhetoric – has solely added gas to the hearth.
“We actually cannot have Nigerians in our Miss SA competitors. I need to know all of the information earlier than commenting but it surely already offers off an fascinating vibe,” McKenzie posted on X.
The announcement sparked a flurry of on-line abuse that escalated into specific threats – regardless that Adetzner was born in South Africa and subsequently certified to compete.
South Africa’s Division of Residence Affairs has launched a proper investigation. Inside Minister Leon Schreiber claimed that Adetzshina’s mom dedicated id theft when registering her as a South African citizen.
Though the federal government acknowledged that Adezshina had dedicated no crime, her mom, who claimed to be of South African and Mozambican descent, grew to become the topic of a legal investigation. Each girls denied any wrongdoing, however strain finally pressured Adesna to withdraw from the Miss SA pageant.
“For the protection and well-being of myself and my household, I’ve made the troublesome determination to withdraw from the competitors,” she introduced on Instagram days earlier than the Miss SA finals in August.
The abuse was an excessive amount of for her to tolerate, main her to stop social media platform X and restrict her engagement on Instagram. Adezina later represented her father’s residence nation within the Miss Universe Nigeria competitors and received because of her twin citizenship.
Within the interview, Adetsshina recounted how the ordeal made her query whether or not she would return to South Africa. The emotional trauma was so deep that she admitted she would search remedy to manage.
‘Upset in South Africa’
For Solarin, Adetzshina’s exit was irritating.
“I’m very upset in South Africa,” she stated, her voice stuffed with remorse. Solarin desires of someday turning into a public determine within the political area and hopes to teach individuals concerning the penalties of social tensions between South Africans and Nigerians.
Nevertheless, “I don’t see a future for myself in South Africa,” she admits.
Solarin’s mom, Doris Ikeri-Solarin, who heads the civic group Nigeria Alliance in South Africa, stated Adezshina had been unfairly focused by anti-Nigerian sentiment.
“This younger girl was born, raised and educated in South Africa. No matter occurred earlier than she was born, she had no management over. She grew up with ambitions of turning into a magnificence queen and abruptly, due to this pressure, she grew to become Sufferer. Even when it seems that her mom was concerned in id fraud, Chidima shouldn’t should face the results,” she stated.
She believed Adezina’s bullying habits was a symptom of a deeper rivalry.
“This goes past Chidima. You possibly can see it in sports activities, college competitions – every time there are Nigerians concerned, there may be this underlying jealousy. South Africans don’t desire Nigerians to get forward of them,” she stated.
Ikeri-Solarin in contrast the experiences of her two daughters: Anita, 21, learning in South Africa, and Esther, 23, learning in america.
“There’s a clear distinction. In South Africa, they see foreigners as a risk. “Individuals immigrate to all components of the world. There are South Africans residing overseas who’re handled otherwise than Nigerians.
South Africa skilled critical outbreaks of xenophobic violence in 2008 and 2015, leading to dozens of deaths. The NGO Xenowatch additionally reported 170 xenophobic incidents in 2022 and 2023, in addition to 18 incidents within the first quarter of 2024.
Sanusha Naidu, a South African overseas relations analyst, defined that anti-immigration sentiment in South Africa is directed at Africans. She, nevertheless, warned in opposition to deciphering the Adetsshina debacle as South Africans focusing on Nigerians extra.
“Let me put it this fashion, Nigerians get what they pay for,” she stated of the web social competitors between the 2 nations.
Naidu stated that tensions between main African nations are mirrored in political, financial and social features.
“I believe the problem shouldn’t be South Africa and Nigeria, or whether or not we [are] The concern of them…there are a variety of competing elements and drives and push and pull points that decide how we reply,” she stated.
“Wants not being met”
Harvest-Time Obadire, a Nigerian who moved to Johannesburg in 2001 to attend highschool and later studied for a grasp’s diploma in sustainable vitality, has a unique expertise than Solarin.
“Personally, I’ve not encountered xenophobia. My interactions have all the time been regular. Nevertheless, on-line, that is the place the confrontation occurs,” he stated.
Obadale believes that the supply of social pressure is frustration on either side.
“South Africans really feel on daily basis that their wants are usually not being met, after which they see people who find themselves completely different from them appear to be making progress. Nigerians, alternatively, are open to their very own success, and that creates friction,” he defined .
Not like Solarin, Obadale was well-liked at college in Johannesburg and even discovered a job after commencement. Nevertheless, when requested concerning the Adetzner controversy, he acknowledged that either side may have dealt with the matter higher.
In the meantime, Joseph (not his actual title), a South African safety guard who works on the Chris Hani Baragwanate Hospital in Soweto (the place Adetshina was born), claimed that many foreigners gave delivery on the hospital and tried to illegally transport her The kid is registered as a South African.
“Cash could make a distinction right here,” Joseph stated, alluding to corruption in authorities companies.
In Soweto, 22-year-old Persistence Dlamini has a damaging view of Nigerians, echoing widespread stereotypes.
“Nigerians have dedicated a variety of crimes,” she stated, though she admitted she had no proof. “I do not suppose the federal government would misinform her [Adetshina’s] Mom steals somebody’s id. They should unravel it.
Dlamini’s views are echoed by different younger South Africans, who imagine Nigerian immigrants dominate industries akin to hospitality and retail, whereas additionally inflicting unemployment and crime.
The social media firestorm surrounding Adetshina even led to pranks by South Africans and Nigerians on the e-ride-hailing platform Bolt – which is widespread in each nations. Taxi apps permit customers to ebook “cross-country” requests. Final month, individuals in each nations took benefit of this, with Nigerians hailing a experience in South Africa and South Africans hailing a experience in Nigeria, then cancelling. The so-called “Bolt wars” brought on costs to soar, leaving some passengers stranded and inflicting Bolt to limit cross-border requests.
“It is a crime to be a profitable immigrant”
Alex Asakitikpi, a Nigerian sociologist primarily based in Johannesburg, warned that on-line tensions may have real-life penalties. He attributed the battle to financial competitors between South Africa and Nigeria.
“The feedback made by some South African ministers about Chidima have definitely escalated the difficulty,” he stated.
Asakitikpi, who moved to Johannesburg in 2012, admits that whereas he has skilled xenophobia, most of his South African colleagues have been supportive.
“I ignore delicate hostility. However I’ve taken precautions, akin to stopping communication with sure individuals. I now not go to them and I now not invite them to go to me,” he admitted.
He believes political and media narratives typically gas xenophobia in opposition to Nigerians.
“That is unlucky. Only in the near past, the South African authorities denied visas to Nigerian sports activities groups. This habits institutionalizes confrontation,” he stated.
Migrant rights activist Olorunfemi Adeleke agreed.
“Being a profitable migrant in South Africa is sort of like a criminal offense. As soon as you might be profitable, you face a sequence of investigations,” he stated.
Analysts say Adetsshina’s expertise, whereas tragic, highlights the complexity of South Africa’s relationship with Nigeria.
These tensions, whereas most seen on-line, replicate deeper points that each nations should face in the event that they hope to advertise peace and mutual understanding.
South African and Nigerian social analysts agree that such competitors shouldn’t be good for both nation or individuals.
