Johannesburg, South Africa – Anita Odunyao Solarin, a 21-year-old Nigerian who has spent her complete life in South Africa, finds it safer to not disclose her West African roots.
She does her greatest to assimilate together with her friends and barely volunteers her origins. This, she says, shields her from persistent bullying – a phenomenon she’s confronted since childhood after shifting to South Africa as a child.
“I attempt to not present the place I’m from or look Nigerian. I conceal my identification socially,” Solarin informed Al Jazeera. “As a result of I’ve needed to do it for therefore lengthy, it has turn out to be regular.”
Her earliest recollections of the tensions between South Africans and Nigerians date again to kindergarten, the place she was mistreated by a peer.
“It was disheartening. A baby, simply 4 years previous, hated me despite the fact that we have been in the identical college, regarded the identical, and did the identical issues,” Solarin shared.
“My college life was robust as a result of I used to be bullied for my background. I used to be referred to as names, particularly the derogatory time period, makwerekwere [a local slur for foreigner]. South Africans have this concept that for those who’re not one in all them, you don’t need to be right here,” she added, her frustration nonetheless palpable.
Solarin was introduced up in Pretoria, however she doesn’t really feel like she belongs in South Africa. Even many years on, she says it’s nonetheless simpler for her – and different younger Nigerians – to not disclose their heritage.
“Not many Nigerian kids right here will say ‘I’m Nigerian’ as a result of they’re terrified of the backlash and the hate. It’s simply not secure for them,” she stated.
South Africa has a protracted historical past of simmering anti-foreigner sentiment, and social tensions directed at different Black Africans within the nation have turned violent through the years.
Nevertheless, it’s current occasions which have deepened Solarin’s disappointment with South Africa when, final month, 23-year-old magnificence queen Chidimma Adetshina confronted such extreme xenophobic harassment as a finalist within the Miss South Africa (Miss SA) pageant that she finally exited the competitors.
Chidimma Adetshina debacle
Adetshina, who was born in Soweto, Johannesburg to 2 immigrant mother and father, proudly spoke of her Nigerian heritage throughout Miss SA, sparking outrage from South Africans on social media.
Many insisted she had no proper to signify South Africa within the competitors.
When the controversy round Adetshina started, Solarin stated she raised the matter for dialogue with a few of her worldwide relations professors on the College of Pretoria, however was largely ignored. Her friends, then again, tried to justify their perception that Adetshina must be disqualified primarily based on unfounded rumours that her father could have been linked to criminality.
“[Adetshina] was bullied on-line as a result of her father was Nigerian. If it had been every other nationality, there wouldn’t have been an issue,” Solarin stated. “Folks even stated her father was a drug seller. The place does that come from? It’s the belief that every one Nigerians are criminals – it’s annoying.”
For weeks, Adetshina endured trolling and abuse, with the web vitriol amplifying present South African-Nigerian tensions which are fuelled by financial frustrations and stereotypes about foreigners.
South Africa suffers from widespread unemployment and sluggish financial progress. Whereas the federal government does little to enhance the state of affairs, many discover it simpler to activate migrant African communities, accusing them of taking jobs and growing criminality. These tensions inevitably spill into social media debates, the place xenophobic rhetoric soars.
Adetshina’s state of affairs got here to a head when a video went viral of her celebrating her Miss SA qualification together with her father, who was wearing conventional Nigerian apparel. The backlash was swift and relentless.
South Africa’s Minister of Sports activities, Arts, and Tradition, Gayton McKenzie – recognized for his xenophobic rhetoric – solely added gasoline to the hearth.
“We really can not have Nigerians compete in our Miss SA competitors. I wanna get all of the information earlier than I remark, however it offers humorous vibes already,” McKenzie posted on X.
This assertion set off a barrage of on-line abuse, escalating into manifest threats – even if Adetshina was born in South Africa and due to this fact certified to compete.
The South African Division of House Affairs launched a proper investigation. Minister of House Affairs Leon Schreiber alleged that Adetshina’s mom had dedicated identification theft when registering her as a South African citizen.
Whereas the federal government admitted Adetshina had dedicated no crime, her mom – who claims South African and Mozambican descent – turned the topic of a legal investigation. Each ladies denied any wrongdoing, however the stress finally compelled Adetshina to withdraw from the Miss SA pageant.
“I’ve made the tough resolution to withdraw from the competitors for the protection and well-being of my household and me,” she introduced on Instagram in August, days earlier than the Miss SA remaining.
The abuse had turn out to be an excessive amount of to bear, main her to give up social media platform X and restrict her Instagram engagement. Adetshina later went on to compete in and win the Miss Universe Nigeria contest, representing her father’s homeland on the idea that she carries twin citizenship.
In interviews, Adetshina shared how the ordeal left her questioning whether or not she would ever return to South Africa. The emotional scars have been so deep that she admitted she would search remedy to manage.
‘Disillusioned in South Africa’
For Solarin, Adetshina’s withdrawal was disheartening.
“I used to be very disenchanted in South Africa,” she stated, her voice full of remorse. Solarin, who goals of in the future turning into a public determine within the political area, hopes to teach individuals concerning the penalties of the social tensions between South Africans and Nigerians.
Nevertheless, “I don’t see a future for myself in South Africa”, she confessed.
Solarin’s mom, Doris Ikeri-Solarin, who’s the top of the civic group Nigerian Union South Africa, says Adetshina was unfairly focused by anti-Nigerian sentiment.
“This younger woman was born, raised, and educated in South Africa. No matter occurred earlier than she was born, she had no management over it. She grew up with the ambition of turning into a magnificence queen, and out of the blue, due to this stress, she has fallen sufferer. Even when it seems her mom was concerned in identification fraud, Chidimma shouldn’t need to bear the implications,” she stated.
She views the bullying of Adetshina as a symptom of a deeper rivalry.
“This goes past Chidimma. You see it in sport, at school competitions – any time there’s a Nigerian concerned, there’s this underlying envy. South Africans don’t need Nigerians to outshine them,” she stated.
Ikeri-Solarin compares the experiences of her two daughters: 21-year-old Anita, who research in South Africa, and 23-year-old Esther, who research in america.
“There’s a stark distinction. In South Africa, they see foreigners as threats,” she stated, including that the federal government ought to do extra to teach residents. “Folks migrate everywhere in the world. There are South Africans dwelling overseas, and so they’re not handled the way in which Nigerians are right here.”
South Africa witnessed outbreaks of extreme xenophobic violence in 2008 and 2015 through which dozens of individuals have been killed. NGO Xenowatch additionally reported 170 incidents of xenophobia in 2022 and 2023 and 18 incidents within the first quarter of 2024.
South African international relations analyst Sanusha Naidu defined that anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa is Afrophobic. Nevertheless, she cautioned towards decoding the Adetshina debacle as South Africans concentrating on Nigerians extra.
“Let me put it this manner, Nigerians give as they get,” she stated of the web social rivalry between each states.
Naidu stated tensions between giant African nations have been political, financial and social.
“I feel the problem will not be about South Africa and Nigeria and whether or not we [are] Afrophobic in the direction of them … There are a lot of competing elements and drives and push and pull points that knowledgeable the way in which we react,” she stated.
‘Wants aren’t being met’
Harvest-Time Obadire, a Nigerian who moved to Johannesburg to attend highschool in 2001 and later pursued a grasp’s diploma in sustainable power, has had a distinct expertise than Solarin.
“In particular person, I haven’t confronted xenophobia. My interactions have been fairly regular. On-line, although, that’s the place the confrontations occur,” he stated.
Obadire believes the basis of the social stress is frustration on either side.
“On a regular basis South Africans really feel like their wants aren’t being met, after which they see somebody who’s completely different from them seemingly getting forward. On the opposite facet, Nigerians are open about their success, which creates friction,” he defined.
In contrast to Solarin, Obadire discovered college life in Johannesburg welcoming and even secured employment after commencement. Nevertheless, when requested concerning the Adetshina controversy, he admits either side may have dealt with it higher.
In the meantime, Joseph (not his actual identify), a South African safety guard working at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto – the place Adetshina was born – claims that many international nationals give beginning on the hospital and try and register their kids as South Africans by means of illicit means.
“Cash talks right here,” Joseph stated, alluding to corruption in authorities providers.
In Soweto, 22-year-old Endurance Dlamini harbours detrimental views about Nigerians, echoing widespread stereotypes.
“Nigerians commit quite a lot of crimes,” she stated, although she admits she has no proof. “I don’t assume the federal government would lie about her [Adetshina’s] mom stealing somebody’s identification. They should resolve it.”
Dlamini’s sentiment is shared by different younger South Africans who consider that Nigerian immigrants dominate sectors like hospitality and retail whereas contributing to unemployment and crime.
The social media storm round Adetshina even spurred pranks between South Africans and Nigerians on the e-hailing platform Bolt – which is large in each nations. The taxi app permits customers to ebook “intercountry” requests. Folks in each nations took benefit of this final month, with Nigerians requesting rides in South Africa and South Africans requesting rides in Nigeria earlier than cancelling them. The so-called ‘Bolt conflict’ precipitated costs to surge, left some riders stranded, and led to Bolt limiting intercountry requests.
‘Being a profitable migrant is a criminal offense’
Alex Asakitikpi, a Nigerian sociologist primarily based in Johannesburg, warns that on-line tensions can have real-life penalties. He attributes the battle to financial rivalry between South Africa and Nigeria.
“The feedback made by some South African ministers about Chidimma actually escalated the problem,” he stated.
Asakitikpi, who moved to Johannesburg in 2012, acknowledges that whereas he has skilled xenophobia, most of his South African colleagues have been supportive.
“I overlook the refined hostility. However I’ve taken precautions, like stopping communication with sure people. I don’t go to them anymore, nor do I invite them to go to me,” he admitted.
He argues that politics and media narratives usually gasoline xenophobia in the direction of Nigerians.
“It’s unlucky. Only recently, the South African authorities denied a Nigerian sports activities workforce visas. Such actions institutionalise antagonism,” he stated.
Olorunfemi Adeleke, a migrant rights activist, agrees.
“In South Africa, it’s nearly like being a profitable migrant is a criminal offense. The second you succeed, you face a barrage of investigations,” he stated.
Adetshina’s expertise, whereas tragic, underscores the complexities of South African-Nigerian relations, analysts say.
These tensions, although most seen on-line, replicate deeper points that each nations should confront in the event that they hope to foster peace and mutual understanding.
Each South Africans and Nigerian social analysts agree that the rivalry doesn’t profit both nation or its individuals.
