Julius Malema Urges Africans to Reject Xenophobia at NBA AGC 2025
South African opposition leader Julius Malema delivered a powerful keynote address at the 2025 Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference (NBA AGC), urging Africans to reject xenophobia and embrace unity as the path to continental progress.
Malema highlighted the deep cultural and academic ties between Nigeria and South Africa, noting how Nigerian music, film, and literature have shaped South African society, while South African universities and industries have provided platforms for Nigerian talent. Despite this cooperation, he said, the relationship has often been marred by suspicion and the painful scars of xenophobia.
“Xenophobia is a betrayal of African unity,” Malema declared. “It is a sickness born of poverty, inequality, and government failure, but its victims are our African brothers and sisters.”
He stressed that Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Congolese, and Somalis should not be scapegoated for South Africa’s unemployment crisis. Instead, he pointed to the structural inequalities of South Africa’s economy, which he said remains dominated by a white minority and multinational corporations that exploit labor without driving industrialization.
“Attacking fellow Africans diverts anger from the real enemy,” Malema warned. “We must educate our people that unity, not division, is the solution to Africa’s crisis.”
The keynote drew strong reactions from attendees, many of whom commended Malema’s candid call for solidarity and his insistence that the continent’s challenges demand collective solutions rather than internal conflicts.
