Xenophobia in the context of the triple challanges* of South Africa

The absence of xenophobic attacks does not translate to the absence of xenophobia. Therefore is imperative to confront the root causes of this attitude before it manifests into attacks. South Africa is not only viewed as an Africa’s economic superpower and “the land of opportunities” but unlike other African countries this country has better political stability. Even South Africa’s rival in the battle for hegemony in Africa, Nigeria has been battling to stabilise the country against Islamic insurgent group Boko Haram (till today we plead: Bring Back Our Girls). Population studies and demography outline that migration is guided by push and pull factors which influence a person’s decision to migrate. Offering better pull factors than any African country, it was inevitable that South Africa would be the first choice country to migrate to. According to the 2011Census 3.3% of South Africa’s population which is about 1.7 million people are “non-South African”.

However this immigration happens in a country that has the highest Gini-coefficient in the world standing at 0.69, about 47% of South Africans are poor and the unemployment rate stands at 24%. The spirit of Ubuntu asserts that we should share in each other’s struggles and strive to assist fellow Africans. Unfortunately most of the African migrants I have come across are more Capitalists then they are Pan-Africanists. Most African foreign businessmen that I’ve seen predominantly employ fellow foreigners and largely have no Cooperate Social Initiatives in the poor communities where their businesses operate.

Small Black businesses such as Tuck-shops thrived during and post-apartheid but ever since foreign shops have emerged- South African tuck shops have died. In the CBDs across the country foreign shops dominate the market. If our fellow African brothers are more successful business people, why are most of them not assisting South African small business people? Why are most of them not including surviving South African tuck shop owners in their intelligent bulk buying? Why are most Somali, Ethiopian, Pakistani and other foreign shop owners uniting against South African shop owners?

African and Middle East foreign business people who are in a solid alliance in some parts of the country are even expending from tuck-shops to fish & chips restaurants as well as salons. As a consequence slowly South African owned fish & chips and salons are dieing a slow death. Ultimately the last black owned business sector left will be the taxi industry. However, the taxi associations from what we saw last year in Mamelodi do not take an attack on their lively hood lightly. Xenophobia will show its ugly head again because there is an us- against-you situation between foreigners and South Africans. The government also needs to play its part not only through fiela but legislation needs to regulate not only white dominated Multinational National Cooperations but also African foreign owned business. These businesses must be registered; taxed, labour law must protect foreign labourers exploited in these tuck-shops, BEE as well affirmative action must also apply to them.

Immigrants have played a central role in the history and evolution of South Africa. Black South Africans are conscious of how the European immigrants disposed their ancestors. Today the children of European immigrants still own most of the land and the economy of South African although they are a minority. Indians have also come to become business magnets in South Africa. Chinese clothing stores and import of cheap Chinese clothes or steel have also contributed to the killing of the local textile and steel industry. One expects that Africans business people would sit down with their fellow black South African business people and assist each other.

Myopic politicians and commentators have not been able to grasp why locals say foreigners take their jobs. Global capitalism represented by white-monopoly capital as well as multinational companies are relentless in their quest for cheap labour in order to maximize profit. Whenever South African labour (both skilled & unskilled) is dissatisfied with the low wages, they are fired and replaced with a foreign national who would work for that low wage. The advantage for the foreign national is that when he gets to his country the value of the low wage increases because the Rand is stronger to his native currency. On the other hand Rand remains of the same value for the black South African labourer. As a matter of fact real income has decreased in South Africa as the wages have gone higher.

However, the violent attacks and looting of foreign shops cannot be justified or condoned. The xenophobic attacks are equally a setback for African integration. During these attacks not only foreign nationals were killed by but South Africans too. The real opponent for the working class and the poor remains white monopoly capital and its comprador bourgeoisie. Marx explained that “Accumulation of wealth at one pole is at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation at the opposite pole”. Structural apartheid has been allowed to continue to put black people at that ‘opposite pole’. The inequalities raging in South Africa have polarised society. Such polarisation will soon create animosity between the social classes at different poles. As much as broadcast channels where active in making video and audio clips saying no to xenophobia, they need to also make these clips saying no to poverty and inequality prevalent in our country.

*Triple Challenges refer to the severe poverty, unemployment and inequality ravaging South Africa