Citizenship, violence and xenophobia in South Africa: perceptions from South African communities

More than 50 people died and tens of thousands of people were displaced as a result of ‘xenophobic’ violence in South Africa during 2008. A number of urgent questions resulted from these attacks: Why are foreign African migrants the targets of violence in informal settlements? What is the explanation for the timing, location and scale of the outbreaks? Was this sudden and unexpected or was it predictable? And, what are the main drivers behind this violence?

This rapid response study was conducted to inform policymakers, identify areas where more research is needed and to think through how to prevent further outbreaks.

Five themes were identified as being critical to the emergence of tensions:

• the role of government
• the scale of the influx of ‘migrants’
• the impact of migrants on gender dynamic
• the pace of housing policy and the administration of housing
• the politics of economic livelihoods and the competition for resources
  

An examination of themes uncovered a range of perceptions that were important in understanding the reasoning behind the violence. These included the idea that key resources including access to housing, business opportunities, and formal employment were under threat. Other perceptions around crime frequently having migrancy dimensions, the government’s lack of engagement with local citizenry, and perceived corruption and impropriety of government officials were also integral.


The report offers the following recommendations

• set up a Commission of Enquiry in order to create effective communication between community, local government and national government for hearing and resolution of grievances

• conduct an urgent upgrade of informal settlements including provision of better housing and services

• introduce of minimum wage for casual labour

• launch programmes to partner skills of foreigners with locals to generate productive economic ventures

• ensure migration policy includes effective dealing with corruption and resolution to crisis in Zimbabwe.