Xenophobic attacks: more to come, says expert

The recent spate of xenophobic attacks in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were not spontaneous, unsurprising, or the last South Africa would see, said Dr Roni Amit of the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand.

The recent spate of xenophobic attacks in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were not spontaneous, unsurprising, or the last South Africa would see, said Dr Roni Amit of the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Published Apr 23, 2015

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Johannesburg - The recent spate of xenophobic attacks in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were not spontaneous, unsurprising, or the last South Africa would see, said Dr Roni Amit of the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand on Thursday.

“We will see more xenophobic violence, particularly with local elections coming up,” said Amit, “This violence did not start or end in 2008, it didn’t just start this year, nor is it a surprise”.

Amit spoke at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Safety and Violence Initiative’s (SaVI) panel discussion, ‘Understanding, responding to, and preventing xenophobic violence in South Africa’.

Through research from the 2008 xenophobic attacks, ACMS found that although social factors such as poverty and unemployment played a part in xenophobic violence, it was not the main contributor.

“Areas that were and are most affected by xenophobic violence are not the most populated with foreign nationals or the poorest in terms of service delivery,” said Amit.

“The three most important factors contributing to xenophobic violence are political leadership, lack of conflict resolution processes, and very few prosecutions”.

Amit said local leaders, particularly on a micro level, caught in power struggles would capitalise on economic and social factors

“We found that in certain areas, leaders wanting to gain favour from the community would use frustrations with foreign nationals and incite the violence in order to consolidate power.”

Amit added that government was guilty of conveying a “fair amount of misinformation” and providing “some legitimacy for the violence”.

“By saying you condemn the violence and then referring to improved border control and investigating the legality of papers as a solution, government is saying that that this is okay.”

“Besides selling well with the public, border control will not solve the issue of xenophobic violence,” said Amit.

She said that the “culture of impunity” encouraged criminal entrepreneurs to attack foreigners because they knew they would not be caught.

Joining Amit on the panel was Major-General Jeremy Vearey, the South African Police Services’ Head of the Anti-Gang Strategy in the Western Cape and Chris Giles from Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU).

VPUU, a City of Cape Town project aimed at reducing violent crime and improving social conditions, had an anti-xenophobia strategy based on social integration and inclusion.

“As a preventative measure, we encourage foreign nationals to join street committees and neighbourhood watches,” said Giles.

Giles said foreign nationals and locals were also encouraged to share cultural experiences as well as business skills and added it was critical the justice system shared routine feedback with communities to ease tensions and distrust.

Vearey referred to the 2008 xenophobic attacks saying the then-provincial police commissioner – General Mzwandile Petros – claimed everything was under control and they were prepared.

“But on May 22, we were caught off guard even though the attacks in this province followed two weeks after the last one in Gauteng,” said Vearey.

He said the police were hesitant to call the 2008 attacks xenophobic as they did not, operationally, have a response with which they could associate it.

“The police work in a normative environment. We see a murder case or a case of rape and we know the process to follow. With the attacks of 2008, we did not develop a strategy because we didn’t have a label to tag it against,” he said.

Vearey said police intervention should be a last resort and that as a preventative measure, they were bringing in civil society to settle tensions.

“We need to identify the non-profits who have the ability to mediate in communities, which is what we did in 2008 with the TAC,” he said.

Vearey added that a military response to xenophobic violence was not the solution.

“In 2008, we immediately moved into a militarised response and said that we should first establish public order before we would have a discussion,” he said.

“So, the decision to resort to the military in other parts of the country is a worry for me”.

ANA

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