Migrant Entrepreneurship Collective Violence and Xenophobia in South Africa

Understanding Xenophobia in South Africa: The Individual, the State and the International System

“…In a similar vein, Steenkamp (2009) argues that the foreigners’ language, dress and darker skin colour enable them to be identified. The author adds and is also amplified by Crush and Ramachandra (2014) that nationals from other African countries are not treated equally in South Africa. People from Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland are treated somewhat better than those from countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique.…”

“…Given this reality, South Africans seek an avenue to channel their frustration and black foreigners are an easy target (Tella & Ogunnubi, 2014). Scholars who have analysed South Africa’s xenophobia within this context include Neocosmos (2008), Morris (1998), Tella and Ogunnubi (2014), Dodson (2010), Crush (2000), Dodson and Oelofse (2000), Crush and Ramachandra (2014), Adjai and Lazaridis (2013), Hickel (2014) and Akinola (2014).…”

“…Rather than blaming and directing their anger to their government, South Africans blame foreigners for their misfortunes. Dodson (2010) and Crush and Ramachandra (2014) observe that statements by politicians blaming foreigners for the levels of crime in the country and competition with locals for resources have been accompanied by police brutality and harassment; the Lindela Repatriation Centre is notorious for abuse of immigrants’ rights. Ordinary citizens also adopt xenophobic attitudes and perpetrate violence.…”

Living With Xenophobia

“…There are three main policy and scholarly responses to violence against migrants in general, and migrant entrepreneurs in particular: xenophobia denialism (the official position of the South African government since 2008 and supported by some researchers who argue that South Africans are equally as vulnerable to violence as migrants); xenophobia minimalism (whose proponents suggest that xenophobia may exist but it is an epiphenomenon and that the real causes lie elsewhere); and xenophobia realism (which argues that xenophobia is not only widespread and real but can take a violent form in specific places and under certain circumstances). 29 This report revisits these arguments from the perspective of a group of migrants themselves; that is, Zimbabweans running businesses in the informal sector. The migrants have no difficulty in naming what happens to them as xenophobic.…”

Challenges to Refugees’ Socioeconomic Inclusion: A Lens Through the Experiences of Congolese Refugees in South Africa

“…In South Africa, legal rational authority (Refugee Act 130 of 1998) is undermined by traditional authority’s xenophobic predilections. This has inadvertently impeded the socioeconomic integration of Congolese refugees (Amisi & Ballard, 2005; Crush et al, 2013, p. 8; Palmary, 2003).…”