I was scrolling through the aftermath of Elon Musk vs. Julius Malema on Twitter (now X), watching how people from all sides were reacting. And then I saw something that made me pause(again).
A group of Africans… Nigerians, Zimbabweans, and others were openly siding with Musk.
Not because they love Musk. Not because they care about his billionaire opinions.
But because, to them, South Africans “deserve” this moment.
To them, this wasn’t about Malema vs. Musk. It was payback.
I sat with that realization. And it felt… unsettling.
The Divide Between South Africa and the Rest of Africa
There’s been a long, painful history between South Africans and other Africans.
Ask any Nigerian, Zimbabwean, Malawian, or Congolese who has lived in South Africa, and they’ll tell you about:
- Xenophobic attacks that have erupted over the years, where foreigners have been blamed for economic struggles and violently targeted.
- Some South Africans openly claim that African immigrants are “stealing jobs” and “taking over their country.”
Public humiliation, like what happened to Chidimma Adetshina. She entered the Miss South Africa pageant, hoping to make her mark. But instead of being celebrated, she became the target of relentless online hate. Born in South Africa to a Nigerian father and a mother with Mozambican roots, her identity alone sparked vicious xenophobic attacks. The backlash was overwhelming… so much so that she withdrew from the competition in South Africa.
(To be fair, not all South Africans hold these views. Some stood with Chidimma, just like many have spoken out against xenophobia).
Even Malema himself has consistently pushed for a united Africa.
And yet, here we are.
Faced with one of their own being targeted online, some Africans are choosing not to stand with South Africans, but to watch from the sidelines.
Some are even cheering Musk on.
For them, South Africans are just getting a taste of their own medicine.
This is what happens when division is left unchecked for too long.
When we allow narratives of “us vs. them” to grow, it creates deep scars that don’t heal easily.
But this isn’t just a South African problem. Across the continent, division takes many forms:
- Nigerians and Ghanaians have long-standing rivalries (mostly about who makes the better jollof, but we won’t go there).
- East Africans and West Africans often clash over cultural and economic differences.
- North Africans sometimes distance themselves from Sub-Saharan Africans.
- Even within countries, different tribes are constantly competing and resenting one another.
And the worst part? We inherited this division.
The colonial borders that were drawn without any regard for our history, our languages, or our shared identities left us fractured. And we never truly healed from it.
For all his flaws, Malema has always championed the idea of One Africa… where we fight for each other, not against one another.
But when I saw Africans laughing at South Africans being “put in their place”, it made me wonder…
Have we gone too far?
The Moment That Hit Me Hardest
Then I saw another tweet. A South African was shaming Chidimma for returning to South Africa after a video of her in a restaurant surfaced.
The comments were brutal!
People spewing hate at her, lashing out as if her presence was an insult.
And suddenly, it clicked.
I understood why some Africans feel so strongly about this bigotry.
Again, to be fair, not everyone in the comments was attacking her. Some pointed out that they had bigger issues… political instability and economic struggles, than fixating on a beauty queen.
But still…
The Question We Need to Ask Ourselves
History has shown us time and time again that when we don’t stand together, we fall apart one by one.
So maybe this is the moment to ask ourselves:
- Do we want to keep replaying this cycle of division?
- Do we want to keep picking and choosing when we support each other?
- Or do we finally want to break free from this inherited mindset and choose unity over resentment?
Because the truth is, no matter where we’re from, our struggles are connected.
And the longer we act like they’re not, the harder it will be to build the future we all claim to want.
Are We Really That Different?
At the end of the day, this shouldn’t be about sides.
Not about Musk vs. Malema.
Not about South Africans vs. Nigerians.
Not about Zimbabweans vs. Malawians.
Not about Congolese vs. Rwandans.
It should be about the Africa we want to build.
We say we want a strong, independent, and prosperous Africa.
But how can we achieve that if we keep tearing each other down?
One Africa means all of us, or none of us.
Until we truly start acting like we believe that, we’ll keep falling into the same traps… over and over again.
