A wave of anti-migrant violence in the first two weeks of September has shaken South Africa, resulting in the deaths of at least a dozen people and the arrests of almost 700. Armed groups of South Africans—mostly laborers who moved to Johannesburg from rural areas—looted shops owned by migrants from Malawi, Ethiopia, Somalia, and other sub-Saharan African countries. The violence echoed past episodes of xenophobia, most recently in 2015 and 2017. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the violence, but many observers suggested anti-migrant rhetoric from politicians was a catalyst. Local community leaders have also played a part in ramping up xenophobic sentiment.

Difficult economic conditions are also to blame. With unemployment at 29 percent—and a staggering 55 percent for those 35 and younger—many South Africans from the country’s rural interior flock to Johannesburg and other cities to find work, but upon arrival discover that opportunities are scarce and their competition is migrants from other sub-Saharan African countries. Many South Africans say they feel that migrants have stolen their jobs, a sentiment that politicians have capitalized on.

Earlier this year, Ramaphosa criticized the actions of migrants while on the campaign trail. “Everybody just arrives in our townships and rural areas and set up businesses without licenses and permits. We are going to bring this to an end.” Members of Ramaphosa’s government have also singled out migrants. The health minister said “the weight that foreign nationals are bringing to the country” was crushing South Africa’s health service. The Democratic Alliance, the country’s opposition party, made securing the borders and reforming the country’s “broken” immigration system a key part of its electoral platform this year.

Yet, other observers note that beyond economic woes and inflamed political rhetoric, South Africa’s not so distant past is also to blame for episodes of xenophobic violence. Many of the perpetrators of this month’s lootings live in urban hostels, accommodations for single men working (or looking for work). Hostels have a long history with apartheid: many were constructed in dilapidated, segregated districts for Black South Africans working as miners. Notorious for poverty and squalid living conditions, hostels were also sites of violence in the struggle to end apartheid. Supporters of the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Zulu (South Africa’s main ethnic group) nationalist party, lived in the hostels and were responsible for political violence that killed some 20,000 people in attempts to derail the peace process.

Against a long historical backdrop of inequality, tough economic times and anti-migrant rhetoric have proved a potent combination, leading to violent clashes in the past several years. Without careful consideration of the deepening inequality and tough living conditions for both native-born South Africans and migrants, further eruptions may be on the horizon.

Best regards,

Alexandra Vranas-Carita

Editor, Migration Information Source