Populism and the Betrayal of Ubuntu: A South African Warning
When thousands took to the streets of Durban on June 30 demanding that illegal immigrants leave the country, it was not just a protest. It was a symptom of a deeper sickness. Populism is on the march across the globe, and South Africa is not immune. But as a nation built on the blood and sacrifice of the liberation struggle, we have a duty to remember what we are fighting for.
Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu taught us through Ubuntu that 'my humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.' Populism asks us to believe the opposite. It divides society into binaries: people and elites, insiders and outsiders, patriots and enemies. It suggests that political legitimacy belongs exclusively to one side of that divide, leaving no room for pluralism, compromise, or even competing truths.
This is not a new problem for black South Africans. We have seen it before. Under apartheid, the white minority used populist rhetoric to justify the brutal exclusion of the majority. Today, the same tactics are being used to scapegoat immigrants, to pit the poor against the even poorer, and to distract from the unfinished business of economic liberation.
Populism resonates when people feel insecure, anxious, and pessimistic about the 'other.' It offers oversimplified explanations for complex problems. But democracy asks a far more demanding question: How do people who profoundly disagree continue to share territory, a constitutional home, and political coexistence?
South Africa offers an especially powerful case study. In 1994, our democracy was founded on an idea fundamentally at odds with populism: that a nation could be built not around a single racial, religious, or cultural identity, but around constitutional inclusion and fully participatory democracy across many identities. For over 32 years, this has defined our national project.
Yet we too have experienced populism according to the same reductionist formula: oversimplifying complex problems, identifying convenient enemies, and presenting itself as the only authentic voice of 'some people.'
As Leader of the Opposition in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, I have seen this firsthand. Our response has not always been straightforward, but it has been progressive. We have shown the value of bringing political competitors into the hard work of finding solutions, rather than leaving disagreement to harden into permanent division.
Around one table sit opposition parties that disagree profoundly on politics, ideology, and policy. Yet we cooperate, collaborate, and compete to solve the challenges confronting the Western Cape. This is a province that is economically one of the best performing in South Africa, yet it remains historically plagued by legacy patterns of social, spatial, and socioeconomic exclusion. These are the scars of colonialism and apartheid that populism refuses to acknowledge.
This was tested recently when we united to oppose a proposed amendment to the Western Cape Constitution by the governing party holding a provincial majority. Our disagreement was not simply political. It was about protecting constitutional governance and ensuring that fundamental constitutional change commands broad democratic consensus, not narrow political advantage.
The lesson is clear: Democracy is not about erasing our differences. It is about embracing and managing them through constitutional institutions, democratic rules, and mutual respect. The answer to populism is not merely to resist the anger and division it amplifies. It is to confront the difficult issues on which populism preys: immigration, unemployment, diversity, and inequality.
Our task is to offer a better alternative, where disagreement is grounded in constitutional values and democratic institutions over fear of the 'other.' Democracy is tested not by agreement, but by whether those who disagree still recognize one another as legitimate participants in the same constitutional project.
That is the enduring promise of South Africa's constitutional democracy. And it is our contribution to this global conversation on defeating populism and the politics of division. For black South Africans, this is not an abstract debate. It is a matter of survival.
Khalid Sayed is the Leader of the Opposition in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature. These remarks were delivered at the Panel Discussion on Populism at the Politics of Division at the Bradford Literature Festival, Bradford, United Kingdom, July 5, 2026.