NLC demands immediate action against xenophobic violence in South Africa

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for urgent action to combat xenophobic violence against African migrants in South Africa, demanding that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) lead a mass educational and sensitisation campaign across communities and workplaces to protect migrant workers.

In a powerful letter dated May 7, 2026, addressed to the President of COSATU in Johannesburg, NLC President Joe Ajaero condemned the recent killings and destruction of businesses owned by African migrants, describing the attacks as the result of economic hardship and failed government policies. Ajaero warned that South Africa could not claim to defend the working class while allowing African migrants to be hunted and killed.

“We cannot claim to fight for the working class while allowing a section of that class to be hunted like wild animals,” Ajaero stated. He urged COSATU to spearhead a mass campaign within every union, community, and workplace, educating South Africans that migrant workers are not the cause of poverty, but victims of the same oppressive system.

“We must break, once and for all, the racist myth that a fellow black African from across a colonial border is our enemy,” Ajaero added.

The NLC also condemned the passive response of the South African security forces, accusing them of complicity in the violence. Ajaero called for a full deployment of state resources to protect migrant workers and their properties, stressing that perpetrators must be swiftly prosecuted and compensation provided to families who have lost loved ones or livelihoods.

The NLC further warned that xenophobia was a threat to working-class unity across Africa, undermining collective bargaining power and weakening the fight against exploitation. “Xenophobia is not good for anybody, especially the world of work, because it fractures working-class unity and weakens our collective bargaining power against capital,” Ajaero explained.

To address the crisis, the NLC proposed an emergency meeting of African trade union centres under the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation and the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity. This meeting would aim to develop joint mechanisms for protecting migrant workers across the continent.

Ajaero cautioned that if the xenophobic violence in South Africa is left unchecked, it could spread across the continent. “Xenophobia is a cancer that, if not excised in South Africa, will metastasise across the continent,” he said.