South African labour fronts have said violence against immigrants in the country is not the way to go. The fronts presented their joint position at a June 17th, 2026 media outing, the content of which Intervention publishes unedited below:
Organised Labour at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), comprising COSATU, FEDUSA, SAFTU and NACTU, has convened this media briefing to respond to the growing tensions around migration and illegal immigration in South Africa.
We recognise the deep frustration of millions of South Africans facing unemployment, poverty, inequality, crime and deteriorating public services. These are real and legitimate grievances. However, South Africa’s economic crisis was not created by migrants. It is rooted in economic stagnation, de-industrialisation, mass unemployment, corruption, austerity, weak governance and the failure to build an economy that serves the majority.
Migrants must not be made scapegoats for failures they did not create. Removing foreign nationals from workplaces, communities or public spaces will not reopen factories, repair municipalities, strengthen public healthcare or create sustainable jobs. The frustrations of local communities must be addressed by fixing the economy, creating decent work and rebuilding the state.
We are deeply concerned that the current surge in anti-migrant sentiment and mobilisation appears increasingly coordinated and politically orchestrated. Its purpose seems not only to divide the working class and redirect legitimate anger away from the real causes of poverty, unemployment, inequality and collapsing public services, but also to portray South Africa as a nation consumed by xenophobia and prone to barbaric acts of black-on-black violence in order to portray us in the most negative light in eyes of the international community.
Even more dangerously, they sow the seeds of tribalism, chauvinism and conflict among African people, threatening the unity that workers need in order to confront exploitation and fight collectively for jobs, decent living conditions and social justice. The working class must reject all attempts to divide it along national, ethnic or tribal lines and reaffirm the principle that an injury to one is an injury to all.
