WeeklySA_AdminIMPERIALISM: As far-right politics gain traction across the globe, some South Africans are embracing Trumpism, not out of policy conviction but out of a deeper, more troubling identification…
By Zaheer Ally
My recent writings on South Africa have focused on one persistent theme: sovereignty. National sovereignty. Economic sovereignty. Cultural sovereignty. The right to define ourselves beyond the grasp of imperial powers and their lingering influence.
But lately, I’ve been wondering if we need to talk about mental sovereignty too, because some of my countrymen are clearly struggling with that part.
We live in a country where crime and corruption are daily realities. We endure the consequences of unethical leadership, trapped between parties that see us either as voting fodder or pawns in personal power games.
It’s understandable, maybe even inevitable, that frustration with leadership can sometimes turn people toward more conservative or populist politics. That happens everywhere. What’s harder to stomach is watching people cross the line, not into healthy skepticism, but into something much darker.
Over the last two years, but more so across the last seven months, I’ve noticed an uncomfortable trend: a fascination with far-right politics, especially the version popularised by Donald Trump.
And, it’s not just some white South Africans clinging to fantasies of the old order; it’s cutting across race and class lines. Black, Brown, and Indian South Africans. Everyone seems to want a piece of the “Make America Great Again” fantasy, even though it has nothing to do with us here and everything to do with protecting white supremacy over there.
Why? Because colonisation isn’t just about stealing land or extracting minerals. It is psychological. Long after the empire packed up its flags and monuments, it left behind something more dangerous: a mental operating system. A Eurocentric, colonial worldview; one that persists in today’s media, education, and foreign policy, conditioning us to distrust our own and admire the conqueror.
And now, that system is working exactly as intended; many have become unpaid interns in global reactionary politics.
Worse than colonisation is how well they taught the colonised to love their chains. The tragedy isn’t just that some admire their oppressors, it’s that they fight for them. This isn’t just colonial residue; it’s mental conquest, loyalty manufactured by those still exploiting us.
Let’s be clear: Trump promised a lot; better health care (he is destroying it), infrastructure renewal (it became a punch line), and “draining the swamp” (he filled it with cronies). What did he actually deliver? Imperialism. Racism. White nationalism and direct support for ethnic cleansing. Encouragement for armed militias. Dog whistles so loud they shattered eardrums.
And, yet some South Africans still cheered him on. Not because of trade policies. Not because of “conservative values.”
But because, deep down, some people were more comfortable with his race politics than with any version of African self-determination. Trump gave them permission to say the quiet part out loud, to recycle colonial talking points with a fresh coat of American paint.
And once you show that side of yourself, once you publicly admire a man who told white supremacists to “stand back and stand by,” there’s no easy way to pretend you don’t mean it. The screenshots are there. The tweets don’t delete themselves. And the rest of us are watching.
This isn’t just a South African problem. Look around the Global South: in Brazil, Bolsonaro ran Trump’s playbook like a tribute act. In India, Modi’s Hindu nationalism overlaps with white-supremacist narratives from the US. Kenyan influencers flirt with alt-right memes. Even in West Africa, you’ll find admiration for Trump’s strongman image among certain circles. It’s empire by other means—not military occupation, ideological occupation. Colonialism 2.0.
And the irony? While some South Africans were online singing Trump’s praises, the US under his administration was busy backing exploitative trade deals, enforcing financial restrictions on African economies, propping up ethnic cleansing, and manufacturing consent for wars against countries in the Global South who dared defy US hegemony. And yes, keeping “shithole countries” exactly that—in their eyes, anyway.
So, where does that leave us? Are we fighting for sovereignty or just shopping for new colonial masters with better branding? You can’t claim to be anti-imperialist while cosplaying as a MAGA influencer. You can’t shout about decolonisation one day, then boost global alt-right content the next. Pick a side.
For South Africans of colour, aligning with this global reactionary project is like trusting the same system that once dispossessed us. For white South Africans who’ve embraced this far-right turn, it exposes what many feared: that “economic anxiety” wasn’t the full story; it was about maintaining racial privilege all along.
But here’s the thing about siding with global white supremacy: It doesn’t love you back. You might wear the hat. You might post the memes. But to them, you’re still Black, Brown, Asian. Still foreign. Still expendable. So, to those still flirting with imperial nostalgia wrapped in red caps: Choose sovereignty. Choose discomfort. Choose truth.
The work of real sovereignty is hard, messy, and uncomfortable. It means confronting corruption at home without running into the arms of racists abroad or their acolytes here at home. It means holding your leaders accountable without selling your future to people who see Africa as nothing more than a resource pit or a charity case.
The masks are off now. We see who’s who. The only question is whether those who flirted with this project have the courage to admit it, or whether they’ll keep doubling down, hoping nobody noticed.
Spoiler: We noticed.
Decolonisation doesn’t end when the statues fall. It begins when we stop kneeling to the ones still standing in our minds. – Africa is a Country
* Zaheer Ally is a writer and public intellectual focusing on global political economy, decolonization, and disability inclusion. His work examines the intersections of empire, international law, and emerging geopolitical bloc
Comment
SA’S SECURITY BETRAYED
South Africa was fast becoming a banana Republic with the State security systems, especially the police department, falling apart due to the rampant institutionalized corruption that has now exposed certain senior officials to alleged links with criminal syndicates. The recent shocking claims by KwaZulu -Natal provincial police commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, about the rot in the South African Police Services’ hierarchy, has severely damaged the image of the police – a serious threat to the country’s democracy.
Claims that certain police officers had a relationship with criminal bosses was a betrayal of the country’s security. This, at a time when South Africa’s population was reeling under the ever increasing crime that has brought a lot of death and misery to their homes.
Mkhwanazi’s explosive claims have since triggered several political parties into laying criminal charges, including perjury, against those implicated in the damning report.
It is extremely worrying that some police officers, who have been entrusted by the laws of this country to protect and serve its citizenry, were the same people who were now to be investigated for corruption. The police must be reminded that they are State officials entrusted with the duty to protect and serve the people of South Africa at all times. Police officers cannot be allowed to have any kind of relationship with criminals. Such dealings were more likely to be susceptible to corruption especially if these illicit dealings went undetected for some time.
These startling claims were also exposed at a time when corruption reared its ugly head at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional facility in Tshwane where a recent operation led by national correctional service Commissioner, Samuel Thobakgale, uncovered contraband which included more than one hundred cellphones, dagga, crystal meth and cartons of cigarettes. Thobakgale has vowed to take drastic action against corrupt prison wardens who brought these goods to the facility. The explosive allegations by Mkhwanazi have since been referred to various Parliamentary Portfolio Committees for discussion and ultimate decision. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has raised serious concern over the claims which had eroded the integrity and trust within the police service, is expected to address the nation on Sunday evening about the matter.
What the nation is expecting from the President is immediate and drastic action to restore the importance of trust, respect and collaboration between law enforcement and the community. The shocking claims have revealed that the police force has been infiltrated by criminal syndicates and the country’s safety and security was at stake. A decisive action was therefore imperative. Many men, women and children were being killed, women and girls raped and assaulted daily with very little being done to combat these criminal acts because of certain senior police officers who were colluding with criminals to hinder any form of progress by dedicated men and women in blue who were committed to fight crime.
This abuse of power must be brought to an end as quickly as possible.
