Citizen Diplomacy in Nigeria-South Africa Relation: Confronting the Paradox of Xenophobia

Ogunnubi, Olusola; Aja, Uchenna A.

doi:10.29333/ejecs/1018

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The city hosts migrants from within its borders, across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, and further afield (Jinnah, 2010;Makandwa and Vearey, 2017;Misago, 2019). Stats SA estimates that at the mid-point of 2021 there were about 3.95 million international migrants in South Africa out of a total population of 60 million in the country (Ogunnubi and Aja, 2022). While a rich and diverse mix of people and communities, the city of Johannesburg is also mapped by inequality.…”

Section: Acts Of Alienationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“When a bad thing happens…you are better only when you are home:” alienation and mental health challenges experienced by Congolese and Somali migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa

Walker,

Lakika,

Makandwa

et al. 2023

Front. Hum. Dyn.

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This article explores the link between migration and alienation and its impact on the mental health and wellbeing of Congolese and Somali asylum seekers and refugees—two of the largest populations of displaced migrants in South Africa. Drawing on ethnographic research in Johannesburg, we highlight the various ways alienation is both imposed upon and experienced by migrants and argue that systemic disintegration, or acts of alienation, can be seen as deliberate and active policies and practices that are instrumental in excluding asylum seekers and refugees from everyday life. The experiences of marginalization and othering narrated by Congolese and Somali migrants highlight ways in which alienation and disintegration from critical social connections including family, community, and familiar contexts fundamentally impact wellbeing and mental health as well as strategies of care-seeking, and other forms of relational resilience. While conceptualizations and metrics of integration may in some ways capture the fallout of disintegration, such as access to livelihoods, housing, education, and healthcare, we suggest that this does not adequately assess the profound damage by acts of alienation on crucial relationships. The alienated psyche of innumerable migrants in South Africa results in the feeling that “when a bad thing happens…you are better only when you are home.” This pain, or feelings of alienation, we argue, are a crucial aspect to our understanding of alienation and in turn, highlight the importance of alienation as an apt analytical tool through which experiences of asylum-seeking in South Africa can be understood.

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Section: Acts Of Alienationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“When a bad thing happens…you are better only when you are home:” alienation and mental health challenges experienced by Congolese and Somali migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa

Walker,

Lakika,

Makandwa

et al. 2023

Front. Hum. Dyn.

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“…Xenophobia has been denounced throughout Africa, especially given how common it is in South Africa due to Africanisation (Ogunnubi and Amusan, 2018). Charles Onunaigu, director of China Studies, claims that the attacks were a response to the unmet expectations of common citizens from the ANC-led post-apartheid South African government (Ogunnubi, and Aja, 2022). However, only a small number of elites in Africa have benefitted from the anti-colonial struggle.…”

Section: Putting South Africans Firstmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Insidious and violent xenophobic attacks against foreign people living in the country, which have resulted in fatalities and the wanton destruction of property primarily owned by African citizens, are evidence that South Africans are not fully comfortable with the presence of foreigners (Ogunnubi and Aja, 2022). Approximately 121 Nigerians were slain in South Africa between 2016 and 2018 because of xenophobic prejudice and discrimination (Ogunnowo and Joshua, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Xenophobia in South Africa

Mthombeni¹

2022

The Thinker

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Despite the human rights principles established in South Africa’s Constitution, there have been recurrent waves of xenophobia throughout the country’s history. Foreigners who live in South Africa have been perceived as the victims of xenophobia and South Africans as the perpetrators. This paper aims to problematise the usage of the ‘ubuntu’ ideology as a utopian African ethic to promote ‘universal’ African humanism. It seems that apartheid’s heritage, which produced the present-day South Africa in which these xenophobic events occur, is often overlooked when South Africans are characterised as xenophobic and in need of ubuntu salvation. The study makes the case that colonial and political issues, which continue to have an impact on high levels of poverty and unemployment, should be considered as ongoing contributors to xenophobia. Several anti-immigration organisations have emerged as discussion points in the country. This study will only concentrate on one of these: Operation Dudula. This paper critically examines the reasons why Operation Dudula is continuing to expand despite protests from civil society organisations. This paper demonstrates, via media stories, how the media primarily portrays the organisation as vigilante that vex ubuntu and African unification. The paper makes the claim that marginalised South Africans are ‘Native Foreigners’, as opposed to simply perpetrators, drawing on Neocosmos’ idea of native foreigners. Instead of being considered as a problem that needs ubuntu’s salvation, the paper argues that anti-immigrant organisations should be understood as a sign of unsolved colonial and political problems that need to be addressed.

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“…Nevertheless, Ogunnubi and Aja (2022) note that the democratic shift from apartheid to a democratic rule created a paradigm shift in South Africa's foreign policy and opportunities for other African individuals to settle in South Africa, whether through work or other activities. With South Africa gradually re-integrating into continental and international politics, Pretoria witnessed an influx of foreign nationals to its shores, creating a hostile relationship between locals and foreign nationals.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Three Facets of Xenophobia in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The Migrant, the State, and the Local Citizen. A Reflection

Mlambo

2023

J Ethn Cult Stud

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This article provides a nexus and scrutiny of xenophobia in South Africa by examining it through the lens of the migrant, the State, and the local citizen. After re-emerging from its pariah status in the 1990s, South Africa has made great strides in its hegemonic-driven ambitions in Southern Africa and Africa over the last two decades. In turn, this has made it a migrant-receiving state both from a documented and undocumented point of view. In recent years, this has brought severe repercussions in the relationship between local citizens and their foreign counterparts. Over the years, the government's failure to successfully produce solutions to xenophobia and its disastrous performance concerning curbing border corruption and creating strong migration policies have been on the lips of most policymakers. This article finds that better migrant-receiving and border policies are needed to eradicate xenophobia effectively. Notably, the onus is on the government to draw up, implement and monitor effective short and long-term plans to integrate foreign nationals into society, especially with local citizens.

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Citizen Diplomacy in Nigeria-South Africa Relation: Confronting the Paradox of Xenophobia

Cited by 4 publications

References 12 publications

“When a bad thing happens…you are better only when you are home:” alienation and mental health challenges experienced by Congolese and Somali migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa

“When a bad thing happens…you are better only when you are home:” alienation and mental health challenges experienced by Congolese and Somali migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa

Xenophobia in South Africa

The Three Facets of Xenophobia in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The Migrant, the State, and the Local Citizen. A Reflection

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