The Current Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa - Research Paper Example

The Current Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa History of the 30 April The Current Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa Xenophobia pertains to hatred for and prejudice against people of foreign origins. Scarcity of jobs and resources is one major cause of perpetrating violence on foreigners in the current times. In the recent times one did witness intolerance for and violence against foreigners in Greece, Spain and France, ensuing from the dwindling economic conditions and shrinking job markets. However, the intolerance for foreigners in South Africa has historical origins, unlike in the case of European nations. If one considers the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the violence against foreign nationals in this African nation has indeed become worse. The recent xenophobic violence in South Africa is believed to have erupted after some anti foreigner and hateful comments made by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who is believed to have a considerable influence amongst the dominant Zulu ethnic group (Aljazeera, 2015). The current violence in South Africa has targeted poor migrants from the rest of the African nations like the people from Nigeria and Zimbabwe (Essa, 2015). Many of the African nations were indeed shocked at the rise of the xenophobic violence in South Africa in the recent times. In the current violence in the nation, the South African citizens targeted the foreigners scattered across varied townships around the country (Essa, 2015). This gave way to massive killing, plundering, raping and looting of the foreigners living in South Africa. It indeed showed an ugly aspect of the South African society. In these xenophobic attacks it became clear that the South African society has a xenophobic side to it. Since the fall of apartheid in 1994, South Africa aspired to become a ‘rainbow nation’, a place where nobody is discriminated against owing to one’s race or nationality. However, the current violence has shown that South Africa eventually happens to be a society where people are discriminated against owing to their race and nationality (Essa, 2015). The racial discrimination earlier targeted all the black South Africans. However, in an independent and democratic South Africa, the discrimination has found a new target, and they are the foreigners. This has once again reminded people of the days of apartheid. It has made people realize that the institutionalized racism that constituted a big force in the racist South Africa, will take much time before it dies. The xenophobic discrimination is not new to South Africa, but is a force that has been impacting the nation since the days of apartheid. The current xenophobic violence in South Africa having its origins in apartheid is primarily based on the misplaced perception that the foreigners are appropriating the scare resources and jobs in the nation, which is shattering the multiethnic and multiracial fabric of the nation. To a large extent, the intolerance in South Africa could be traced to the days of Apartheid in this highly racially divided nation. During the days of Apartheid, the common South Africans were isolated from and secluded from the rest of Africa and the international community (Graf, 2015). The ruling white minority looked to it that the general population developed no solidarity with the rest of Africa. This prevented the common South Africans from developing solidarity with the people beyond South Africa. How, with the fall of apartheid when the political transition took place in South Africa, the borders of South Africa opened up the rest of Africa. This led to the exchange of people and ideas. The world expected much from South Africa as it was a nation that had born the consequences of racism. The fall of border barriers brought the South Africans in direct contact with other African nationals. However, this coming in contact of the South Africans with the foreign nationals has created a scope for rise in violence. The sad thing is that as per the experts, since the South Africans since the days of Apartheid had no history of coming in contact with foreigners, thereby they are hostile towards them(Graf, 2015) . The international isolation that dominated South Africans during the apartheid in the 50s has made them suspicious of foreign nationals. The irony was that even within South Africa, the South Africans remained isolated from each other owing to apartheid. The crux of the apartheid regime was to isolate people from each other by reinforcing boundaries and territories. Thereby the South Africans lacked a tradition of coming in contact with foreigners. Hence, to a large extent the current violence could be explained by the inability of many South Africans to tolerate diversity and differences (Essa & Patel, 2015). The violence against foreigners could be accounted for by a lack of historical ability on the part of South Africans to tolerate foreigners. With the rapid fall of the old ways of living life since the days of apartheid has given way too much suspicion, intolerance, conservatism and seclusion (Essa & Patel, 2015). People are simply not prepared to share their resources with others because in a historical sense, they never got used to sharing things with foreigners. The apartheid regime left South Africa a closed society that is at present witnessing the arrival of foreign nationals in an environment marred by suspicion and intolerance. This has given way to much problem. It is a fact that South Africa is a nation that is at present witnessing much change and social transition. There is a marked scarcity of resources in the nation marked by shortage of job opportunities, facilities like health and education and opportunities for better housing. Thereby, this violence against foreigners also needs to be seen in the light of this scarcity of resources and shortage of opportunities for employment (Graf, 2015). The other thing is that with the fall of apartheid the local people had great expectations from the transition governments, which were not met. When the local South Africans realized that their high expectations from the transition government were not to be met by a quick delivery of resources and opportunities, this gave way to much resentment and anger. This made people more conscious of the shortage and deprivation being faced by them in a new South Africa. The thing is that such a situation did prove a fertile ground for the phenomenon like xenophobia to gain ground and flourish (Graf, 2015). The transition from an apartheid regime to a democratic society made the common South Africans conscious of the huge wealth disparities existing in the nation. People who stood helpless against the political class ruling them needed something on which they could place the blame for the widespread poverty and scarcity (SAHO, 2015). Thereby, they chose foreigners to be blamed for all the poverty and lack of job opportunities that troubled them. Many of the South Africans ended up considering foreigners to be a nuisance with whom they were required to share the scarce job opportunities and facilities for health, education and housing (SAHO, 2015). They saw the foreigners as a threat to jobs, resources and civic amenities that already happened to be scarce and unequally distributed. It is but commonsensical to think that if a majority community in a nation has to bear with economic hardship and scarcity, it is bound to marginalize the minority communities, which in the case of South Africans happen to be people from other African nations or foreigners. The frustration and deprivation of the common South Africans related to transition governments is responsible for much violence against foreigners. Violence against foreigners in South Africa is not something new. The bad thing is that with the passage of time the tendency towards xenophobia and the propensity to engage in violence had worsened. Since 1994, South Africa has witnessed violence in many of its provinces. Since 20s Zulus commanded a significant share in the wage earner market in South Africa, when they began to renounce their traditional settlements and started seeking employment as wage earners in the South African mines and factories (SAHO, 2015). The recent Zulu resentment against the foreigners from Nigeria and Zimbabwe, based on the perception that they were depriving them of the working class jobs combined with their violent history has contributed much to the intolerance and violence. The experts have cited varied reasons like the apartheid isolation and the scarcity of resources and job opportunities as the causes behind this violence. Since the fall of apartheid, many reports had been compiled to trace the sources of xenophobic violence in South Africa. Primarily speaking a poor delivery of basic services and amenities and rising competition for scarce resources have come out to be the primary drivers of violence (Magaziner, 2015). However, this violence also has a lot to do with the local leadership leading the communities across varied townships. If this violence against foreigners is allowed to go unrestrained, things will not end up there. South Africa happens to be a multiethnic society. If the xenophobic trends in the nation are allowed to gain grounds, nobody knows as to where will this cycle of violence will end up (Onishi, 2015). It may also give way to inter-racial and inter-ethnic violence in South Africa. Thereby the question is not merely about the protection of foreigners in South Africa in the current times. Rather the larger question is about the protection of life, safety and liberty of all the South Africans. It is a fact that as compared to many other African nations, South Africa is a relatively industrialized nation. This attracts thousands of Africans from other nations to South Africa, who come here looking for jobs and the opportunities to lead a good life. Resorting to violence will certainly not place South Africa on the way towards becoming a modern and developed nation (Harrison, 2015). Rather it will enhance the isolation of this fast developing nation and reduce its stature in the international community. Thereby, the current leadership of South Africa has a great responsibility to look to it that this nation on its way to industrialization remains unaffected by violence and intolerance related to a competition for resources and employment. The xenophobic tendencies in South Africa have historical, economic and political origins. During Apartheid, many of the South Africans were kept isolated from their countrymen and other African nations. This took a toll of their ability to tolerate differences and diversity. Besides, the inability of the transition governments to make way for an influx of opportunities for growth and livelihood reduced the tolerance levels and patience of the local people. Thereby the frustrated masses took on foreigners for being a threat to their livelihood and opportunities for health, education and housing. However, the nation simply does not afford this lawlessness and hatred if it is to emerge to be a developed and thriving African country. If the developing nations like South Africa evince intolerance for foreigners, how will that reflect on the violence committed against Asians and Africans in the recessionary developed economies like Greece, Spain and France? Thereby the nation does need to come heavily on elements evincing intolerance against fellow Africans. Reference List Aljazeera. (2015, April 15). Deaths in South Africa as Mobs Target Foreigners. Aljazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/deaths-south-africa-mobs-target-foreigners-150415063058933.html Essa, A., & Patel, k. (2015, April 29). Hundreds of Malawians Leave South Africa After Attacks. Aljazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/hundreds-malawians-leave-south-africa-attacks-150429072732475.html Essa, A. (2015, April 29). Fear and Distrust as Victims Regroup in South Africa. Aljazeera . Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/04/fear-distrust-victims-regroup-south-africa-150429112904392.html Essa, A. (2015, April 30). Is South Africa Taking Xenophobia Seriously? Aljazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/africa/2015/04/south-africa-xenophobia-150430224826901.html Graf, J. (2015). South Africa is a Highly Xenophobic Society. Bachelor Thesis for the University of East London. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/3619984/_South_Africa_is_a_highly_xenophobic_society_-_An_assessment_of_the_causes_of_xenophobic_attitudes Harrison, D. (2015, April 20). SA Business in Africa could Feel ‘Heat’ of Xenophobic Attacks. Mail & Guardian. Retrieved from http://mg.co.za/article/2015-04-20-sa-businesses-could-feel-the-heat-of-xenophobic-attacks Magaziner, D. (2015, April 24). South Africa Turns on Its Immigrants. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/opinion/south-africa-turns-on-its-immigrants.html?_r=0 Onishi, N. (2015, April 17). South Africa Moves to Quell Anti Immigrant Violence. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/18/world/africa/south-africa-moves-to-quell-anti-immigrant-violence.html SAHO. (2015). Xenophobic Violence in Democratic South Africa. South African History Online. Retrieved from http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/xenophobic-violence-democratic-south-africa SAHO. (2015). Zulu. South African History Online. Retrieved from http://www.sahistory.org.za/people-south-africa/zulu Read More