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Violence in South Africa against immigrants is caused by very poor South Africans facing great competition from very poor immigrants, not xenophobia
Glenn Ashton
Rumors are circulating that when the World Cup is over,
foreigners will be expelled. But surely it must be clear
by now that South Africa has long been a melting pot and
that our immigrant population is here to stay?
We must ask ourselves whether xenophobia is perhaps just
a label we have slapped on a phenomenon that has been
inadequately analyzed or understood. Are our beliefs
around xenophobia perhaps just lazy thinking?
Do we really collectively hate outsiders to the extent
that we are willing to murder them, loot their
businesses and homes and go so far as to set them on
fire? Have immigrants not historically contributed
significantly to building our nation? This is a
situation that obviously needs to be more thoroughly
examined.
Were we a truly xenophobic nation then the phenomenon
would manifest across all sectors of the population â
across different races, different classes and different
neighborhoods. Given our history, surely there would be
a trend or association between racism and xenophobia?
Surely the old National Party supporters would be
xenophobic, given that they were racists? After all,
apartheid was built on fear and distrust of âthe other.â
But these supposed outbreaks of xenophobia occur
exclusively within one stratum of society â in poor,
black communities. This fact alone provides a huge clue
that we are not looking at xenophobia per se, but a
rather more nuanced phenomenon.
South Africa has attracted huge numbers of immigrants,
estimated at between three and eight million people. We
also know that many of our own people have moved around
the country to a degree that was practically impossible
during apartheid times.
Most immigrants are political or economic refugees with
little option but to seek accommodation wherever it is
cheapest. This is usually in the squatter camps and
informal settlements around the margins of our
established towns and cities.
Here, new arrivals find themselves cheek by jowl with
the poorest locals who are often internal migrants,
seeking better prospects for themselves and their
families on the margins of the new South Africa.
Frustration and desperation are prevalent amongst this
poorly educated, often rural and disempowered
population, whose lives remain largely isolated from
state intervention, in the midst of a uniquely unequal
society. Frustrations sometimes surface in the form of
protests against a lack of âservice delivery.â The
longer our poor and marginalized remain ignored, the
more frequent and violent these protests are bound to
become.
Within these communities, immigrants are perceived as
being relatively successful. Many, like the Somalis,
have created a niche by providing relatively upmarket âspaza
superettesâ in informal settlements. This has resulted
in alleged police shakedowns and staggering incidences
of murders and robberies. Consequently, local spaza shop
owners have been implicated in stirring antipathy
against Somalis.
Similar dynamics exist amongst Zimbabweans, who comprise
our largest sector of immigrants and refugees, fleeing
the meltdown in their homeland. Zimbabweans, like other
immigrants, have often had the benefit of better
education, giving them a competitive edge. They vie
against locals for scarce jobs, often settling for lower
wages. So, too, with other immigrant populations who
will settle for less as car guards, labourers and
employment in other low paid, menial work.
Many of these outsiders are familiar with dispossession,
marginalization and poverty, as bad, or worse than
locals have experienced. Now they are pitted against
already desperate people, in a situation that
fundamentally revolves around the realities of economic
survival. Desperate locals and outsiders compete in
crowded proximity. Locals are (perhaps justifiably)
aggrieved that their perceived entitlement to a better
life in post democracy South Africa is being threatened
by outsiders. The inevitable result is social volatility
and violent reprisal, presented as xenophobia.
But what we are dealing with is not xenophobia but is
the consequence of poverty and the lack of progressive
economic transformation since 1994. Just as service
delivery protests are about the continued inability of
authorities to meet the requirements and demands of the
most marginalized sections of society, we can make an
equally strong case that these sporadic outbreaks of
âxenophobiaâ are simply another aspect of the same
problem.
A close examination of purported xenophobic outbreaks of
violence shines the spotlight on some of our most
intractable problems, that of economic marginalization.
We must realize that the problem lies not with âthemâ
but with us. Equally, this is where the solution lies.
It is just as well that government statements have
indicated that our leadership has now realized that
these tensions are more due to economic realities than
to xenophobia. Now leadership must take action and lead
in addressing these insights.
For the poor, very little has really changed since 1994.
The education system has languished. The job market has
stagnated or contracted, even for matriculants. Economic
activity has recently diminished; wages paid for
unskilled laborers remain low. Much of this is because
of our slavish pursuit of same neoliberal economic
policies that we inherited, waiting for the trickle down
effect to take place. We may as well wait for Godot.
The consequence of all of this is that the most
marginalised sectors of our society, will seek the
closest available scapegoat to blame for their
situation. Immigrants fit the bill, rendered prominent
through their perceived successes and vulnerable through
failure of civil servants like the police to protect
their constitutional right for equal treatment before
the law.
Reassurances from the SA Police Services head, Nathi
Mthethwa, that his officers will not tolerate any
xenophobic violence are to be welcomed. Formation of a
Cabinet task team to deal with this threat is also
constructive. But are these approaches sufficiently
nuanced? Does calling the problem xenophobia deal with
the nub of the matter? Does sending in the army solve a
systemic economic problem?
We can use our intelligence services to stay on top of
potential hotspots. But if we do not change how we
provide services to the poorest of the poor, then
eruptions around âservice deliveryâ and âxenophobic
violenceâ will become indistinguishable in their results
â social dislocation and spiraling violence.
We must also deal with the major problem of alleged
police indifference to, and even collusion with,
xenophobic outbreaks. In 2008 the police were accused of
standing back and not properly protecting immigrants. If
high level leadership within SAPS has not firmly
informed officers of their constitutional obligation to
serve all residents, whether local or immigrant, then
any reassurances from the heads of police ring hollow.
We need to balance the rights of foreigners against
perceptions of locals who also struggle to access state
services, like adequate policing, health and social
services. There is a real danger of exacerbating
tensions if immigrants are perceived as having superior
service access to locals and if the police are seen to
take their side.
We have neglected the poorest sectors of our society for
far too long. We must face the uncomfortable reality
that âservice delivery protests,â supposed âxenophobiaâ
and even crime are just different aspects of the same
problem â that of poverty, exclusion from power, access
to services and lack of economic reform. These remain
the most pressing issues faced by the most marginalized
sectors of society â the poor and immigrants alike.
Unless we deal with these issues we are simply putting
an imaginary lid on a pressure cooker that will blow,
with unpredictable results for everyone. Permitting one
sector to be portrayed and victimized as the âotherâ is
setting ourselves up for social instability and unrest,
to the detriment of all.
Unequal societies are unhealthy societies. A failure to
bridge this apparently yawning canyon of unmet
expectations will inevitably trap us in cycles of
violence against a faceless âotherâ who dwell amongst
us, be they rich, or foreign, or middle class, or from a
different tribe or of a different color.
We have faced this chasm before. Never again can we
allow the concept of âthe otherâ to tear our social
fabric apart. The World Cup let us rediscover and share
our common humanity and our Africanness in unimaginable
ways. It has equally demonstrated our ability to meet
goals at planning and completing complex infrastructure
projects on time.
We must build on the success of the World Cup by setting
more equitable service delivery goals. We need to
urgently and meaningfully address the dismal situation
of the poorest, most marginalized sectors of society. We
donât need only handouts but must provide hands up. We
have achieved much but have much more yet to achieve.
Glenn Ashton is a writer and researcher working in civil society. Some of his work can be viewed at www.ekogaia.org.This article first appeared on The South African Civil Society Information Service and then in Pambazuka News where it may be viewed at http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/65789 .