There are three main reasons for the spate of violence against
foreigners in South Africa – proximity (they are easy targets), economic
opportunities and the national discourse promoted by South Africa’s
leaders, says a local professor.
The recent xenophobic attacks in the greater Durban area were linked
to King Goodwill Zwelithini’s speech in Pongola a few weeks ago. The
king has since blamed the media for distorting his message.
But according to Professor Loren Landau from the African Centre for
Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand, xenophobic
comments from leaders such as the Zulu king are only part of the
problem.
The attacks, which have been mostly on foreigners coming out of other
parts of Africa and sub-continental Asia, have increased dramatically
in the past few weeks. They started in KwaZulu-Natal and have since
spread to other parts of South Africa, including Johannesburg.
“In terms of the targets of the attacks I think there are a number of
explanations. The most obvious is proximity: these are the groups of
people who live and work in townships. As the violence is based on a mix
of rage, frustration and opportunism, these are the obvious and ‘easy’
targets. That the police have done little to protect them does little to
discourage such attacks,” said Landau.
In past attacks, foreigners claimed that police were not of any help to them when they asked for assistance. In
a previous wave of
violence against foreigners in Soweto, there were widespread reports of
criminal and xenophobic behaviour by some police officers tasked with
stopping the looting.
Second, these are people working in sectors such as small business and manual labour that
offer the few available economic opportunities to poor South Africans. While their presence may ultimately create jobs, it is not perceived that way,” added Landau.
“And this suggests a third reason: the consistent demonisation of
poor migrants from officials and leaders. The discourse about economic
competition, illegal immigration and even the threats of disease and
terrorism have largely pointed to migrants from Africa and Asia,” Landau
said.
South African leaders
have come under fire for not taking a firm enough position on the violence.
Last week President Jacob Zuma spoke out against the acts, saying
that many South Africans had sought refuge in other countries during
apartheid and had been treated with respect and dignity. He called for
the same treatment to be extended to foreigners seeking refuge in the
country at the moment.
source: http://www.citypress.co.za
