Tinubu Formally Reports South Africa to African Union Over Xenophobic Attacks
President Bola Tinubu has formally reported recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Africans and other foreign nationals in South Africa to the African Union, demanding that the continental body take urgent collective action on the matter and place it on the agenda of its next major summit.
Tinubu’s position was delivered by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented him at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Luanda, Angola, on Sunday, August 30. According to a statement issued by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, titled “President Tinubu Takes Fight Against Xenophobic, Afrophobic Attacks in S’Africa To AU,” Tinubu warned that the recurring attacks in South Africa undermine the continent’s solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence, and require urgent collective attention.
While acknowledging South Africa’s sovereign right to enforce its own immigration laws and recognising the country’s broader contributions to the continent, Tinubu stressed that the attacks nonetheless demanded a coordinated continental response. “It is on this note that Nigeria calls on this august Assembly to place the matter on the agenda of the upcoming 40th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly, scheduled for January 2027, for consideration and appropriate action,” he said in the message delivered on his behalf. Tinubu further urged African leaders to reaffirm their commitment to the safety, protection and dignity of all African nationals, and called for stronger continental mechanisms to combat xenophobia and Afrophobia more broadly, stressing that dialogue, preventive diplomacy and collective action remained essential to preserving unity across the continent.
Beyond the xenophobia issue, Tinubu used the AU summit to push for a broader continental response to Africa’s worsening security challenges. He cautioned African leaders against allowing foreign military forces, mercenaries and private defence contractors to increasingly shape the continent’s response to its security crises, arguing that such dependence risks undermining Africa’s ownership of its own peace and security agenda. He called instead for a renewed commitment to home-grown solutions, stronger cooperation among African states, and collective responsibility in addressing conflicts across the continent.
On the security front, Nigeria also backed the adoption of the Luanda Action Plan at the summit, describing it as a practical roadmap for strengthening conflict prevention efforts across Africa. According to Tinubu, preventing conflicts before they escalate remains central to safeguarding the continent’s long-term stability and development.
Tinubu’s intervention comes amid ongoing tension over the treatment of foreign nationals, including Nigerians, in South Africa, an issue that has periodically strained relations between the two countries in recent years. His remarks at the summit reflect a continued effort by Nigeria to position itself as a leading voice on continental unity and security issues within the African Union, even as the president himself remains outside the country, having departed on a separate three-week vacation to Europe on the same weekend that Shettima represented him at the Luanda summit.
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