By Zubeida Jaffer
Close to 80 community groups across South Africa and beyond are launching an effort to unite Africa and mobilise against xenophobia on the eve of Women’s Day, 8 August 2026. The coalition says rising anti‑migrant violence threatens African solidarity and must be answered with collective action for a united Africa and a recommitment to the philosophy of Ubuntu. In Cape Town, a march will wind its way from District Six to the Home Affairs offices and to Parliament at 10am on Saturday.
According to a member of the organising committee, Tauriq Jenkins, the march challenges the politics of exclusion. “We will not allow scapegoating to hide the real theft of our land and resources. Migrant women and families are part of our communities – their safety is our fight.”
Operation Ubuntu is both a protest and declaration of pan‑African solidarity, demanding land, housing, dignity and justice. The coalition’s five non‑negotiable demands are: immediate action to end xenophobic attacks and protect migrant communities; rejection of the PIE Amendment Bill, which organisers say would enable mass evictions and corporate land grabs; an end to multinational extraction that strips Africa of its mineral wealth; a halt to the criminalisation of poverty; and urgent measures to end gender‑based violence so streets, homes and bodies become zones of protection, not terror.
The timing is deliberate. Mobilising on 8 August – the eve of Women’s Day – the coalition underscores that women’s safety is non‑negotiable and that migrant and local women, and their children, must be able to live free from fear. “On the eve of Women’s Day we stand united – migrant women, local women, children – demanding safety, shelter and justice,” Jenkins said. “Silence is not an option.”
Participants are asked to wear red, symbolising blood, sacrifice and unity. Actions will run simultaneously in Johannesburg (Beyers Naudé Square, 9:30am),
Cape Town (CPUT Hanover Street, 10:00am) and Durban (Ethekwini Mayor’s Offices, 10:00am). The coalition has also called for an Africa‑wide vigil at 8:00pm CAT, urging streets across the continent to hold local solidarity events under the banner “Africa unite.”
Organisers argue that xenophobic violence diverts attention from systemic problems — inequality, corporate capture of resources and laws that ease evictions for private interests — and that only a united African response can confront those forces.
The organisations known to have endorsed the campaign so far are:
#KZNPalArt, #PayTheGrants, #UniteBehind, Abahlali base Freedom Park, Abahlali baseMjondolo, Active Citizens Movement, Africa Communities Assembly, Africa Unite, African Inclusion Campaign, African Refugee Women Led Network, Al-Quds Foundation SA, Alsirat, Anti Eviction Campaign Western Cape, BongoBuntu, Community Art Mobilisation Project, Congolese Civil Society of South Africa, Cry of the Communities Legal Advice Centre, Durban4Palestine, Equal Education, Free Basotho Movement, Friends of Cuba Society Western Cape, Gauteng Housing Crisis Committee, General Industries Workers Union of South Africa, Greater Eldorado Park Housing Task Team, Hanover Park Civic Organisation, Healthcare Workers Against Xenophobia, Housing Assembly, Indigenous Democratic Revolution, Inner City Federation, Inner City Resource Centre, Inspire Network, Institute for African Alternatives, Karoo Environmental Justice Movement, Keep Left – Socialism From Below, Knoflokskraal Cultural Community Task Team, Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia, KZN Palestine Solidarity Forum, Lerato Family Foundation, Makause Community Development Forum, Marxist Workers Party, Mothers for Gaza National Association of Democratic Lawyers, Ndifuna Ukwazi, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Palestine Solidarity Group Pietermaritzburg, People Against Oppression, Peoples Health Movement, Rastafari National Council, RCG, Refocus And Upliftment Foundation, Rent Control Group, Samprasite Entertainment, Save Our Sacred Lands, Siyafana Sonke Action Campaign, Socialist Youth Movement Socio-Economic Rights Institute, Solec Business Enterprise, Solidarity Action Committee Collective, South Africa Palestine Movement, South African Federation of Trade Unions, South African Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine, South African Refugee Led Network, Spirit of Endeavour Fisherfolk Women, Surplus Book Store, Taaibosch Kei Korana Royal House, Tears of the Oppressed, The Empire Bus, Ubuntu Rural Women Youth Movement, Ubuzwe Community Development, Umoja for Africa, Visual Intifada, Voices Against Eviction, Vus’Ikasi Lam, Water Rights Action Group, Western Cape Aboriginal Backyard Dwellers, Witzenberg Justice Coalition, Workers and Socialist Party, Workers International Vanguard Party, Zabalaza for Socialism
