Understanding higher education internationalization is challenging as it includes different dimensions with varied implications for universities. This paper focuses on the recruitment and teaching of international students. It explores the experiences of African international students at two South African universities between 2020-2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Informed by the capabilities approach, the paper draws on Ubuntu and affiliation as key capabilities for an expansive conceptualization of internationalization. The study's findings reveal the intersecting and underlying constraining contexts for international students, exacerbated by the pandemic. Such a micro-level study contributes towards a nuanced understanding of the practice of higher education internationalization in the global South. It highlights the need to reframe internationalization as a reciprocal relationship based on mutual interconnectedness and mutual values that do not just respond to broader neo-liberal narratives but foster student and institutional flourishing.