Tensions have increased between South Africa and Ghana over the death of a Ghanaian migrant, leading to concerns. The anti-migrant protests were held in South Africa’s main cities for several days. The Ghanian authority has blamed the death of Bashiru Issaka, a Ghanian migrant, occurred during the protests, received it with ”profound shock” and suspended the supposed visit of Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, to Ghana. South Africa denies and its police said the killing is related to extortion. But — no matter whether the death is related to the anti-government movement or not — how much anti-migrants unrest by the locals are addressed in South Africa remains uncertain.
South Africa has been increasingly becoming anti-migrants over the years. Massive anti-migrant riots took place in 2008, where 60 people were killed in xenophobic incidents since the end of apartheid in the 1990s, and anti-migrant unrest resurfaced in 2015 and 2017. This is due to several reasons including economic anxiety, unemployment and the perceived loss of opportunities for the locals. South Africa has been facing deep inequality and high joblessness over the years. It grapples with an exceptionally high unemployment rate hovering around 33 percent at present. Many citizens feel direct competition for scarce jobs and business opportunities and blame the undocumented migrants, who come from several countries, including Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, for depressing their wages.
But rising populist politics, anti-migration election campaigns, rising global attitude toward anti-migration and the systemic nature of the hatred are not negligible reasons at all. Populist political leaders and their anti-migrant stance including their threats of deportation, along with the scapegoating of undocumented migrants for high unemployment, failing public services and crime, especially by vigilante groups like Operation Dudula, encourage public hatred. Moreover, apartheid legacy — or the historical memory of the apartheid era — especially when the state weaponized migrant labor strategically to keep mining wages low and weaken local trade unions continues to negatively color public perceptions of foreign labor in South Africa.
The government and other organizations have taken several efforts to address anti-government unrest and hatred. South Africa criminalizes anti-migration violence. Criminal prosecution and police actions have been ensured against anti-migrant rioters and protesters, including in the latest violence, where hundreds of anti-migrant protesters were arrested across the country. Moreover, there are other measures such as the African Union Migration and Regional Integration Framework to harmonize migration policies, facilitate safe and orderly human movement, and prevent mass expulsions, along with social cohesion and public awareness campaigns, that are optimistic. But there are flaws in the government’s efforts in tackling the rising anti-migrant actions, leading to limited outcomes.
Legal measures are not implemented as desired and the perpetrators of the anti-migrant riots are not brought to justice. South Africa failed to bring the vast majority of earlier perpetrators including 2008 and 2017 riots into justice. This, along with slow response to anti-migrant riots, fosters a ground of impunity that emboldens vigilante groups to take the law into their own hands against illegal migrants. Moreover, there are limited efforts to address systemic denialism and political rhetoric that encourage anti-migrant actions, along with hatred, which is rising over the years.
Anti-migrant unrest needs to be ended in South Africa. The forceful actions of vigilante groups, including Operation Dudula against migrants, both documented and undocumented, need to be ended. For this, strict law enforcement is vital. But anti-migrant riots and deaths, including the latest one, need to be investigated and actions need to be taken. This will help reduce further anti-migrant riots. Strengthened cross-border cooperation will help prevent undocumented migrations from neighboring countries. But economic opportunities need to be created and promoted for all — including the locals and migrants.
But measures are needed to address the systemic nature of hatred in South Africa. For this, emphasis needs to be given to social cohesion and public awareness campaigns by the government as well as other organizations. But populist political rhetoric against anti-migrants needs to be addressed too. The post-unrest comments and discouragement of the president and foreign minister of South Africa are positive moves, but much needs to be done to address political rhetoric-driven hatred.
