A study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of the recent spate of xenophobic attacks in South Africa warns that the reintegration of foreign refugees back into their homes may not be possible for some time under current conditions. ... 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 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 ‘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' feeling 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.
Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) | HSRC study on xenophobia probes underlying causes
"We were against these people from the onset that’s when terms like makwerekwere (derogatory term for foreigners) came about, we were against them in a light manner but now people are getting angry that is why they beat them up, their numbers are growing and some have babies this side it’s as if this is their hometown; this violence happened because people are getting angry, this thing has always been there but it wasn’t as strong as it is now. We never said we are happy to live with them but it was a light thing so people resorted to violence because of the realisation that the situation is getting serious." [Focus group respondent, HSRC Xenophobia study, June 2008]
Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) | Citizenship, Violence and Xenophobia in South Africa: Perceptions from South African communities
Alternatively — as the HSRC site is unbelievably slow, download it here [185KB].
Critique: It's a crap paper. Having fixed a couple of errors in the press release above (bar a typo or two, the final paragraph remains meaningless) and having read the report, I'm left feeling, "We pay people for this?"
Simplistic doesn't do it justice. It's high-school stuff. Really.
