Abstract
Over the last decade, three significant ‘waves of violence’ have been observed across South Africa in 2008, 2015, and 2019. These have been significant as the targets of each wave of attacks were African migrants. Scholarly, media, and popular discourses on the violence highlight their xenophobic nature in the so-called Rainbow Nation—a term used popularly by former President Nelson Mandela to refer to the national dreams of inclusion for all, towards the future of South Africa. In the face of calls for unity and inclusion by powers both foreign and domestic, the reality in contemporary South Africa thus sees a rise in exhibitions to the contrary. The rise in hostilities towards those perceived to be foreign is therefore of vital significance to contemporary studies of social exclusion, as the climate of xenophobic victimisation and scapegoating seems only to escalate in proportion to the multi-dimensional deprivation of the modern South African state. With specific focus on the anti-foreigner violence, this chapter utilises the concept of social exclusion to explore the scale by which foreigners to South Africa have become a scapegoat for the failings of the modern nation-state.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Throughout this chapter, I will be using ‘rainbowism’, ‘rainbowist’, ‘rainbow’ interchangeably to refer towards the same concept of ‘rainbow nation’ ideology.
- 2.
The South African National Civics Organization and the Alexandra Community Policing Forum held meetings in March 2008. Additionally, the Inkatha Freedom Party held their Annual General Meeting on May 10th, 2008, with resolutions to drive out foreigners tabled and passed by the committee.
- 3.
‘Operation Fiela-Reclaim’ was launched as a crime-fighting operation to eliminate criminality and general lawlessness by sweeping clean affected communities and create a safe and secure environment (Republic of South Africa, 2015). The operation saw the arrest and deportation of hundreds of migrants.
- 4.
The National Action Plan seeks to combat ‘intolerance’ through a five-year plan of raising awareness, education programmes, and data collection of racist and discriminatory activities.
- 5.
Released March 15, 1994, the RDP outlined its promises to the nation along with all its future development goals and was in November of the same year tabled in parliament.
- 6.
Data from 2019 further reveals that South Africa stands as the most unequal nation in the world as measured by the Gini index; with poverty rates at 26.6% and unemployment rates of 27.3% (Partington, 2019).
- 7.
References
Amusan, L., & Mchunu, S. (2018). An assessment of xenophobic/Aphrophobic attacks in South Africa (2008-2015): Whither Bath Pele and Ubuntu principles? South African Review of Sociology, 48(4), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/21528586.2017.1411744
Alfaro-Velcamp, T., & Shaw, M. (2016). ‘Please GO HOME and BUILD Africa’: Criminalising immigrants in South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies, 42(5), 9983–9998. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2016.1211805
Al Jazeera. (2019). Five killed in attacks on foreigners in South Africa. Al Jazeera, New Agencies. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/south-africa-scores-held-looting-anti-foreigner-protests-190903064029232.html
Berman, Y., & Phillips, D. (2000). Indicators of social quality and social exclusion at national and community level. Social Indicators Research, 50(3), 329–350.
Bradshaw, J., Kemp, P., Baldwin, S., & Rowe, A. (2004). The drivers of social exclusion. A review of the literature for the social exclusion unit in the breaking the cycle series. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Brown, J. (2020, February 17). Xenophobia isn't keeping immigrants out of SA–Here are the latest, if contentious, numbers. Business insider South Africa https://www.businessinsider.co.za/immigrant-numbers-for-south-africa-are-still-rising-despite-xenophobia-and-violence-2020-2
Buqa, W. (2015). Storying Ubuntu as a rainbow nation. Verbum Et Ecclesia, 36(2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v36i2.1434
Coplan, D. B. (2009). Innocent violence: Social exclusion, identity, and the Press in an African Democracy. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 16(3), 367–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/10702890902861420
Crush, J. (1999). The discourse and dimensions of irregularity in post-apartheid South Africa. International Migration, 37(1), 125–151.
Crush, J., & Dodson, B. (2007). Another lost decade: The failures of South Africa’s post-apartheid migration policy. Tijdshrift voor Economishe en Sociale Geografie, 98(4), 436–454.
Crush, J. (2008). The perfect storm: The realities of xenophobia in contemporary South Arica. South African Migration Programme (SAMP), 50, i–61.
Dahir, A. L. (2019, September 13). These Charts show migrants aren’t South Africa’s biggest problem. Quartz Africa, QZ, https://qz.com/africa/1708814/what-is-behind-south-africas-xenophobic-attacks-on-foreigners/
Dalamba, Y. (2000). Towards an African renaissance: Some thoughts on the renaissance conference September 28th & 29th 1998 and its future implications. Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, 14(1), 44–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560040085310041
Dubbeld, B. (2013). Envisioning governance: Expectations and estrangements of transformed rule in Glendale, South Africa. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 83(3), 492–512. https://jstor.org/stable/24525585
Elias, N., & Scotson, J. L. (1994). Introduction: A theoretical essay on established and outsider relations. In N. Elias & J. L. Scotson (Eds.), The established and the outsiders: A sociological enquiry into community problems (pp. xv–lii). Sage Publications.
Gibson, N. C. (2011). Fanonian practices in South Africa: From Steve Biko to Abahlahi base Mjondolo. The University of Kwa-Zulu-Natal-Press.
Gordon, S. L. (2016). Welcoming refugees in the rainbow nation: Contemporary attitudes towards refugees in South Africa. African Geographical Review, 35(1), 01–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2014.933705
Gordon, S. L. (2019). The popularity of state discourses on anti-immigrant violence in South Africa. The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 108(5), 567–578. https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2019.1658345
Gordon, S. L. (2020). Understanding xenophobic hate crime in South Africa. Journal of Public Affairs, 20, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2076
Glaser, C. (2008). Violent crime in South Africa: Historical perspectives. South African Historical Journal, 60(3), 334–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/02582470802417433
Greffrath, W. (2016). The demise of post-apartheid and the emergence of post-colonial South Africa. Journal for Contemporary History, 41(2), 161–183. https://doi.org/10.18820/24150509/JCH41.v2.9
Harris, B. (2001). Xenophobia: A new pathology for a new South Africa? In D. Hook & G. Eagle (Eds.), Psychopathology and social prejudice (pp. 169–184).
Hickel, J. (2014). “Xenophobia” in South Africa: Order, chaos, and the moral economy of witchcraft. Cultural Anthropology, 29(1), 103–127. https://doi.org/10.14506/ca29.1.07
Hicks, T. F. (1999). The constitution, aliens control act, and xenophobia: The struggle to protect South Africa’s pariah-the undocumented immigrant. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 07(1), 394–417. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20644732
Hiropoulos, A. (2019). South Africa, migration and xenophobia. Deconstructing the perceived migration crisis and its influence on the xenophobic reception of migrants. Contemporary Justice Review, 23, 01–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10282580.2019.1700368
Human Rights Watch. (2016). World report 2016: Rights trends in South Africa. www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/south-Africa.
Human Rights Watch. (2019). South Africa: Punish Xenophobic Violence. https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/13/south-africa-punish-xenophobic-violence
Immigration Amendment Act. (2011). Republic of South Africa, 13. Retrieved from https://www.gov.za/documents/immigration-amendment-act-1
Langa, M., & Kiguwa, P. (2016). Race-ing xenophobic violence: Engaging social representations of the black African body in post-apartheid South Africa. Agenda, 30(2), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2016.1222086
Landau, L. B., Ramjathan-Keogh, K., & Singh, G. (2005). Xenophobia in South Africa and problems related to it. Open hearings on ‘Xenophobia and Problems related to it: Forced Migration Working Paper Series #13 (pp: 02–41).
Landau, L. B., & Freemantle, I. (2010). Tactical cosmopolitanism and idioms of belonging: Insertion and self-exclusion in Johannesburg. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36, No. 3, 375–390. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830903494901
Landau, L. B. (2011). Exorcising the demons within xenophobia, violence and statecraft in contemporary South Africa (pp. 01–25). United Nations University Press. https://i.unu.edu/media/unu.edu/publication/19999/exorcising-the-demons-within-sample-chapter.pdf
Leary, M. R., & Cottrell Catherine, A. (2013). Evolutionary perspectives on interpersonal acceptance and rejection. In C. N. DeWall (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of social exclusion (pp. 1–13). Oxford Library of Psychology.
Levitas, R., Pantazis, C., Fahmy, E., Gordon, D., Lloyd, E., & Patsios, D. (Eds.). (2007). The multi-dimensional analysis of social exclusion. Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) (pp. 1–14).
Matema, T. (2021). If we want to fight xenophobia, we need to change the narrative about migrants in South Africa, Daily Maverick. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-04-07-if-we-want-to-fight-xenophobia-we-need-to-change-the-narrative-about-migrants-in-south-africa/
Matsinhe, D. M. (2011). Africa’s fear of itself: The ideology of Makwerekwere in South Africa. Third World Quarterly, 31(2), 295–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2011.560470
Mavhinga, D. (2019, March 25). South Africa launches plan to combat xenophobia and racism. Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/03/25/south-africa-launches-plan-combat-xenophobia-and-racism
Mamabolo, M. A. (2015). Drivers of community xenophobic attacks in South Africa: Poverty and unemployment. The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 11(4), 143–150. https://doi.org/10.4102/td.v11i4.49
Mandela, N. (1994, May 10). Statement of the president of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, at his inauguration as president of the democratic Republic of South Africa. Inaugural Speech, Union Buildings, https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Inaugural_Speech_17984.html.
Marumo, P. O., Mompati, C., & Mothelesi, A. (2019). Xenophobia attack and development: A discourse in South Africa. African Renaissance, Special Issue March 2019, 185–198.
Mathieson, J., Popay, J., Enoch, E., Escorel, S., Hernandez, M., Johnston, H., & Rispel, L. (Eds.). (2008). Social exclusion. Meaning, measurement and experience and links to health inequalities. A review of literature. WHO Social Exclusion Knowledge Network.
Matunhu, J. (2011). Re-visiting the may 2008 xenophobic attacks in South Africa. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies, 5(1), 95–108.
Mbembe, A. (2015). Achille Mbembe writes about violence in South Africa. Alice News. https://alice.ces.uc.pt/en/index.php/uncategorized/achille-mbembe-writes-about-violence-in-south-africa/
Misago, J. P., Monson, T., Polzer, T., & Landau, L. (2010). May 2008 violence against foreign nationals in South Africa. Understanding causes and evaluating responses. Forced Migration Studies Programme (FMSP) and Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA), (pp: 2–234).
Mosselson, A. (2010). ‘There is no difference between citizens and non-citizens anymore’: Violent xenophobia, citizenship and politics of belonging in post-apartheid South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies, 36(3), 641–655. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2010.507570
Morris, A. (1998). ‘Our fellow Africans make our lives hell’: The lives of Congolese and Nigerians living in Johannesburg. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(6), 1116–1136. https://doi.org/10.1080/0141987980808565655
Naik, K. (2020). Inclusive dreams and excluded realities: An analysis of ‘xenophobic’ rhetoric, and practices of exclusion in the south African ‘rainbow nation’ [Master's thesis, Åbo Akademi]. Doria. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2020050525134.
Neocosmos, M. (2006). From ‘Foreign Natives’ to ‘Native Foreigners’ Explaining Xenophobia in Post-apartheid South Africa. Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, (pp: 1–152).
Neocosmos, M. (2008). The politics of fear and the fear of politics: Reflections on xenophobic violence in South Africa. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 43(6), 586–594. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909608096655
O’Halloran, P. (2015a, October 21). Grahamstown: Police action conceals their failure of the community, Daily Maverick, https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2015-10-21-grahamstown-police-action-conceals-their-failure-of-the-community/
O’Halloran, P. (2015b, November 9). Xenophobia in Grahamstown: A historical view, Daily Maverick. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-11-09-xenophobia-in-grahamstown-a-historical-view/
Padayachee, A., & Desai, A. (2013). Post-Apartheid South Africa and the Crisis of Expectation–DPRN Four, Rozenberg Quarterly, http://rozenbergquarterly.com/post-apartheid-south-africa-and-the-crisis-of-expectation-dprn-four/#comments
Partington, R. (2019, September 9). Inequality: is it rising, and can we reverse it?. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/sep/09/inequality-is-it-rising-and-can-we-reverse-it
Pillay, S., Barolsky, V., Naidoo, V., Mohlakoana, N., & Hadland, A. (2008). Citizenship, violence, and xenophobia in South Africa: Perceptions from south African communities. Human Sciences Research Council, 04–59. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/5374
Pillay, S. (2013). Anxious urbanity: Xenophobia, the native subject and the refugee camp. Social Dynamics, 39(1), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2013.772737
Pineteh, E. A. (2017). Illegal aliens and demons that must be exorcised from South Africa: Framing migrants and xenophobia in post-apartheid narratives. Cogent Social Sciences, 03(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2017.1391158
Popay, J., Escorel, S., Hernández, M., Johnston, H., Mathieson, J., & Rispel, L. (2008). Understanding and tackling social exclusion. WHO social exclusion knowledge network.
Powell, A., & Cassim, Z. (2018, August 31). Xenophobic group marches in Johannesburg after violent killings of foreigners. Voice of America (VOA) News. https://www.voanews.com/africa/xenophobic-group-marches-johannesburg-after-violent-killings-foreigners
Republic of South Africa. (2008). Report of the task team of members of parliament probing violence and attacks on foreign nationals. Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. https://static.pmg.org.za/150612TastTeamReportXenophobicAttacks.pdf
Republic of South Africa. (2015). Operation Fiela 2015. Government of the Republic of South Africa. www.gov.za/issues/operation-fiela
Republic of South Africa. (2020). The National Action Plan to combat racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Department of Justice and Constitutional Development https://www.justice.gov.za/docs/other-docs/nap.html
Richman, L. S. (2013). The multi-motive model of responses to rejection-related experiences. In C. N. DeWall (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of social exclusion (pp. 1–11). Oxford Library of Psychology.
Room, G. (2006). The dynamics of social exclusion. International Journal of Social Welfare, 15, 280–289.
Scott, K. L., & Thau, S. (2013). Theory and research on social exclusion in work groups. In C. N. DeWall (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of social exclusion (pp. 1–11). Oxford Library of Psychology.
Segatti, A. (2011). Reforming south African immigration policy in the Postapartheid period (1990–2020). In A. Segatti & L. B. Landau (Eds.), Contemporary migration to South Africa: A regional development issue (pp. 31–66). The World Bank.
Shange, N. (2017). Mappings of feminist/womanist resistance within student movements across the African continent. Agenda, 31(3–4), 60–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2017.1392155
Silver, H. (2007). The process of social exclusion: The dynamics of an evolving concept (pp. 1–22). Chronic Poverty Research Centre.
Solomon, H., & Kosaka, H. (2016). Xenophobia in South Africa: Reflections, narratives and recommendations. Southern African Peace and Security Studies, 2(2), 05–30.
Tati, G. (2008). The immigration issues in the post-apartheid South Africa: Discourses, policies and social repercussions. Espace populations sociétés, 03, 423–440.
Trimikliniotis, N., Gordon, S., & Zondo, B. (2008). Globalisation and migrant labour in a ‘rainbow nation’: A fortress South Africa? Third World Quarterly, 29, no. 7, 1323–1339. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436590802386476
Vahed, G., & Desai, A. (2013). The may 2008 xenophobic violence in South Africa: Antecedents and aftermath. Alternation (Vol. 7, Special ed., pp. 145–175).
van Hensbroek, P. B. (2001). African renaissance and Ubuntu philosophy. Quest: An African. Journal of Philosophy, XV(1–2), 01–157. https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/506/01pub0000001771.pdf?sequence=1
Vosloo, C. (2020). Extreme apartheid: the South African system of migrant labour and its hostels. Image & Text, 34, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.17159/2617-3255/2020/n34a1
Wesselmann, E. D., & Williams, K. D. (2013). Ostracism and stages of coping. In C. N. DeWall (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of social exclusion (pp. 1–13). Oxford Library of Psychology.
Wehmhoerner, A. (2015). South Africa’s new scapegoats. Open Democracy. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opensecurity/south-africas-new-scapegoats/
Wilson, F. (2001). How the mining industry has shaped South Africa. The MIT Press, 130(1), 99–121. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20027681
Wolpe, H. (2006). Capitalism and cheap labour-power in South Africa: From segregation to apartheid. Economy and Society, 1(4), 425–456. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147200000023
World Population Review. (2021). Murder rate by Country 2021. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/murder-rate-by-country
Xenowatch. (2019). Xenowatch Factsheet: 1 Incidents of Xenophobic Violence in South Africa: January–September 2019. Mlilo, Silindile N. (Ed.). Witwatersrand.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Naik, K. (2022). Inclusive Dreams and Excluded Realities: Applying Social Exclusion Theory to the Analysis of Xenophobia in the South African ‘Rainbow Nation’. In: Alemanji, A.A., Meijer, C.M., Kwazema, M., Benyah, F.E.K. (eds) Contemporary Discourses in Social Exclusion. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18180-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18180-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-18179-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-18180-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)