Activists protest to challenge mounting xenophobic violence.
- Students and academics at Wits University protest against the escalating violence faced by migrants.
- Demonstrators urge law enforcement to treat targeted vigilante attacks as hate crimes.
- The picket highlights the need to counter xenophobic hate through conversation and empathy.
A group of activists gathered on Friday outside Wits University’s Jan Smuts entrance, staging a picket against the escalating wave of anti-migrant violence and xenophobic intimidation sweeping through local communities.
Protesters transformed the university entrance into a focal point for advocacy, displaying prominent banners and hand-painted signs condemning anti-migrant violence. One sign targeted the xenophobic rhetoric of Gayton McKenzie, accusing him of fueling an ‘Apart-hate,’ while others declared, ‘Targeting undocumented migrants is a hate crime’ and ‘No one is illegal.’
This demonstration was organised as a joint effort between Community Arts Mobilisation Project (CAMP), BDS Coalition, Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia, Wits University Palestine Committee (WAPC) and Siyafana Sonke.
As attacks on migrants grow increasingly hostile, demonstrators call on law enforcement agencies to actively prosecute those inciting violence.
One protestor, Professor Marie Huchzermeyer, said the attacks constitute hate crimes. “This includes not only targeting people on the basis of their culture or country of origin, but also their migration status,” she states.
Dean Hutton, artistic director of CAMP, underscored the role of creative movements in driving social change, noting that artistic expression can “appeal to the soft parts of humans that rhetoric does not touch or move to action.”
Huchzermeyer echoes this view, stating “There is a view in Siyafana Sonke that I am drawn to which tries to win over the adversaries, making it a campaign of love rather than confrontation.”
The picket is one of several planned demonstrations aimed at countering xenophobic narratives across South Africa. However, with tensions continuing to simmer across multiple provinces, activists acknowledge they face sustained pressure as they push back against organised anti-migrant sentiment.
FEATURED IMAGE: Picture of demonstrator holding a sign reading “Targeting undocumented migrants is a hate crime”. Photo: Jamie Ho.
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