HSRC study on xenophobia probes underlying causes

The study uncovers the enduring sentiment in communities affected by the violence that the local and national governments did not sufficiently acknowledge their perspectives around the problems that led to the xenophobic attacks.

‘If government does not engage with the sentiment being expressed by ordinary residents that foreign nationals should leave the country, the risk is that these feelings of alienation between government and South African citizens will deepen and the possibility of successful reintegration ... will be diminished,' the report says.

The report, entitled Citizenship, Violence and Xenophobia in South Africa: Perceptions from South African communities, was produced by a group of HSRC experts in collaboration with a research team from the University of Pretoria. The study was the result of an intensive and rapid research project aimed at getting to grips with what really caused the recent outbreak of xenophobic violence. The research will still proceed to interrogate further some of the identified causes and elaborate on suggested interventions.

From the analysis of field work data from focus group interviews and the public opinion survey conducted by the HSRC, the report identified longstanding and proximate causes to the conflict. The more proximate causes point to the fact that in the communities where violence broke out, a general sentiment of ‘siege' exists.

Impoverished people feel literally ‘besieged' by a range of pressing socio-economic challenges. Rising food and fuel prices, the onset of winter, endemic unemployment and the lack of formal housing have all contributed to the increasing "othering" of large numbers of working men and women coming from other parts of the continent. In some instances this has included internal migrants from other parts of South Africa.

The longstanding grounds of dissatisfaction, which should form the basis for reflection by the leadership of this country, revolve around the levels of participation in democratic deliberations and processes by people at the grassroots. A tradition of participatory democracy through organs of people's power, ranging from street committees to area committees, was on the ascendant in South Africa before 1990 but was watered down during the negotiated transition period from 1990 to 1994.

Grassroots self-organisation and initiatives were impaired and a state of mass inertia set in during this period. The demobilising effects of negotiated transition to democracy at the grassroots level, is coming back to haunt us as South Africans, two decades later. The demand which clearly emerges from focus groups is that people want to have a voice in the deliberations of policy on migration. This then indicates the need to provide support in the regeneration and strengthening of their organs of community dialogue and engagement as a precursor to the re-integration of immigrants into their communities.

On a much broader scale, the xenophobic violence which has occurred in the country invokes the imperative to go beyond institutional safeguards that can best manage diversity but to take into consideration the issues of subjectivity, history and lived meaning in our communities. The latter infers the need to look into a long term strategy in order to create a new and appropriate national identity framework and consciousness. There is now an imperative to invest in ideological resources that will foster the inculcation of a tolerant and inclusive ‘we feeeling' in our communities. Otherwise we may not rule out the possibility that at another point in future, South Africa may find itself faced with a similar situation.

The project consisted of four elements: a review of the media's reportage on the violence, a study of current scholarly writing on the subject from local and global experts, interviews with stakeholders in the affected areas and finally a series of focus groups in which locals were asked about causes and perceptions.

The study centred on four areas, Alexandra, Mamelodi and Tembisa in Gauteng and Imizamu Yethu in the Western Cape. The first three areas were particularly hard hit by the violence that was centred in Gauteng, while Imizamu Yethu was used as a control, to contrast the findings from elsewhere and to add greater texture to an understanding of what happened.

The opinions of more than 100 people were canvassed during the study, which took only two weeks to design, carry out and write up. While the rapidity of the study was not usual HSRC practice, it was felt that a preliminary grasp of the xenophobic violence was essential to assist policy makers respond as effectively as possible. In addition, the re-integration of displaced foreigners would also need to take place, and this would be impossible - or short-lived and risky - if an understanding of what had sparked the violence could not be uncovered and addressed.

In summary, the outstanding causes seem to be at this stage dissatisfaction over migration policy and the perception that this process is corrupt, unregulated and out of control. Competition for housing and jobs were also key drivers of the violence. The credible commitment of government to address housing issues, joblessness and influx of immigrants, is also questioned by communities who were interviewed during the research.

The report has been released at a media briefing on Monday, 16 June in Johannesburg.

Download the report

For more information, or to set up interviews, contact:

Ina van der Linde
Media Liaison, HSRC
Tel: 012 3022024
Cell phone: 0823310614
E-mail: ivdlinde@hsrc.ac.za