Embracing Ubuntu: A call for compassion and justice in South Africa

Archbishop Desmond Tutu often reminded us that our humanity is bound together. Ubuntu means, “My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.” “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, his background or his religion.” These timeless words of Nelson Mandela speak just as powerfully today as they did during South Africa’s transition to democracy. South Africa finds itself at a defining moment.

Across parts of our country, migrants and refugees are experiencing fear, intimidation and uncertainty. Families are being displaced. Small businesses that have sustained township economies for years have closed their doors.

Children have had their education disrupted. Many innocent people now live behind locked gates, afraid to venture into the streets where they once lived and worked in peace. This quiet suffering should trouble every South African.

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As a founding member of the Ubuntu Human Values Advocacy Group I support calls for a principled response that is rooted in Ubuntu, constitutional democracy and universal human values. We must confront this challenge with wisdom rather than anger, with justice rather than vengeance, and with courage rather than silence. Let us be clear.

South Africans have genuine concerns. High unemployment, escalating crime, poverty, corruption, failing public services and weak immigration management have created understandable frustration. These issues deserve serious attention from government.

They cannot be ignored or minimised. Yet neither can we ignore another truth. Blaming migrants collectively for our national challenges neither creates jobs nor reduces crime.

It does not strengthen municipalities or improve service delivery. It merely redirects public anger towards vulnerable people who are themselves often victims of conflict, economic collapse or political instability. When any community is persecuted because of its nationality or place of birth, the moral fabric of our nation is weakened.

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