Decolonising borders and reimagining African solidarity: A theological response to xenophobia in South Africa through Ubuntu, Black Theology of Liberation and the Azanian imagination

Abstract

Xenophobia in post-apartheid South Africa remains a persistent socio-political and ethical challenge that exposes deep contradictions within African solidarity and the unfinished project of liberation. This article argues that xenophobia is not an episodic or spontaneous social malfunction but a historically produced manifestation of coloniality, which continues to structure identity, citizenship and belonging in contemporary South Africa. Although apartheid formally ended, violence directed at African migrants reveals the persistence of colonial border regimes, nationalist imaginaries and socio-economic inequalities that continue to produce exclusionary forms of belonging. Drawing on Ubuntu philosophy, Black Theology of Liberation, liberation theology and decolonial thought, the article develops a theological framework for interpreting xenophobia as a structurally embedded condition of modern colonial formation. It further proposes Azania as a decolonial theological imagination through which African identity and solidarity may be rethought beyond inherited colonial cartographies of territory and nationhood. Within this framework, belonging is reimagined as relational, ethical and grounded in shared humanity rather than legal or territorial classification. The article ultimately advances a theology of African solidarity rooted in hospitality, justice and relational personhood. It concludes that addressing xenophobia requires not only institutional reform but also a transformation of social imagination, ethical consciousness and theological orientation. Contribution: This article integrates Ubuntu philosophy, Black Theology of Liberation, liberation theology and decolonial theory to interpret xenophobia as a manifestation of coloniality. It introduces Azania as a decolonial theological imagination for rethinking African solidarity beyond exclusionary nationalism. It reconceptualises belonging as relational, ethical and grounded in shared humanity.