What's happening in SA
12/9/19 15:52![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mahnmut posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpoliticsYou'd think xenophobia is mostly reserved for white Europeans towards black and brown people from Africa and the Middle East. Well, think again.
Anger in Nigeria as South Africa xenophobic attacks spark looting
Hundreds of Nigerians are taking up the government’s offer to be evacuated from South Africa
Over the last few days, the world has turned its eyes on South Africa, and in particular to Johannesburg, where numerous attacks have been carried out on foreigners or people born in South Africa whose parents were immigrants, burning their shops and destroying their property. So far, at least ten people have been killed, hundreds injured, and the total damage to businesses that have been destroyed is yet to be calculated.
This escalation of tensions may seem like a surprise to many media outlets, but in fact similar problems have been lingering for years beneath the surface of South African society. All we need do is recall the killing of 21 Somalis in 2006, the xenophobic riots in 2008, when 60 people were killed, the killings of 14 foreigners in 2017. There is virtually no year without major xenophobic turmoil in South Africa. These are attacks specifically targeting the lives and property of aliens, mainly people from Nigeria, Zambia, Somalia and Malawi, but also attacks on small business owners from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ghana, as well as citizens of South Africa itself, who have a different ethnic background.
It is this constant tension that has prompted Nigeria's Foreign Minister Jeffrey Oniama to come out with an official position, ending with a definite “Enough is enough”.
If there is anything positive that can be highlighted in the context of these tensions in one of Africa's richest countries, it's the more serious media attention. Africa will be having an increasing political and economic influence in the future, and knowledge of the individual regions, history, problems, conflicts, good and bad examples would benefit everyone, including the Western world, which often, in its arrogant complacency because of its military and financial supremacy over the rest of the world, has seldom taken into account the past of the African peoples and their relations, leading to a number of reckless interventions, stupid political adventures and further destabilization of the entire continent. A continent that needs all the stability it can get if it were to realize its full potential.
The main question that arises is whether the assault on the migrant communities in the coutnry are purely xenophobic or economically motivated. The truth is that both factors play a role to a similar extent, and furthermore they reinforce each other. Many African countries are experiencing a period of tangible economic development based on which they've started to assert a more stable role in the global economy. 15 out of the world's 30 fastest growing economies in 2018 were African countries. The continent's average GDP growth last year was 3.6%, while South Africa's growth was only about 0.7%, making it one of the continent's worst performers. That's a negative tendency for weak growth, from which the country has failed to recover for the last 7 years.
Poor growth, combined with extremely high unemployment of 29% (the highest in the country in recorded history), places South Africa in Africa's Top 3 by this negative indicator. This, combined with the ever-increasing xenophobic attitudes towards foreigners, result in the brutal incidents we're now witnessing. Despite all police efforts and the fierce protesting from many African leaders backed by street protests in many countries on the continent against this assault on their countrymen, such attacks on black foreigners in South Africa are bound to continue erupting in the months and years to come. Because, like in almost every other country in the world, in the face of a bad or worsening economic situation, individual social groups who feel threatened with exclusion from the labor market turn their anger towards newcomers. Immigrants are being accused of stealing local jobs and adding extra pressure on a labor market that's already rather squeezed due to the limited job and professional development opportunities.
The waves of attacks on foreigners from other African countries in the major South African urban centers will be largely influenced by the government's economic successes or failures, as well as the government's ability to guarantee the safety of foreign workers and investors. There's enormous pressure from other countries' political leaders to take urgent and comprehensive measures on the matter. Many of those countries have already boycotted various events and initiatives related to South Africa to protest what is happening in one of the most influential countries on the continent.
The latest developments in South Africa will put additional pressure on the ruling African National Congress and the new SA president Cyril Ramaphosa, whose public approval has kept waning, as he is failing to completely shake off the heavy legacy of his predecessor Jacob Zuma, who ruled for years until February 2019, and whose administration was marred by dozens of allegations of corruption, scandals and other economic woes.
Anger in Nigeria as South Africa xenophobic attacks spark looting
Hundreds of Nigerians are taking up the government’s offer to be evacuated from South Africa
Over the last few days, the world has turned its eyes on South Africa, and in particular to Johannesburg, where numerous attacks have been carried out on foreigners or people born in South Africa whose parents were immigrants, burning their shops and destroying their property. So far, at least ten people have been killed, hundreds injured, and the total damage to businesses that have been destroyed is yet to be calculated.
This escalation of tensions may seem like a surprise to many media outlets, but in fact similar problems have been lingering for years beneath the surface of South African society. All we need do is recall the killing of 21 Somalis in 2006, the xenophobic riots in 2008, when 60 people were killed, the killings of 14 foreigners in 2017. There is virtually no year without major xenophobic turmoil in South Africa. These are attacks specifically targeting the lives and property of aliens, mainly people from Nigeria, Zambia, Somalia and Malawi, but also attacks on small business owners from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ghana, as well as citizens of South Africa itself, who have a different ethnic background.
It is this constant tension that has prompted Nigeria's Foreign Minister Jeffrey Oniama to come out with an official position, ending with a definite “Enough is enough”.
If there is anything positive that can be highlighted in the context of these tensions in one of Africa's richest countries, it's the more serious media attention. Africa will be having an increasing political and economic influence in the future, and knowledge of the individual regions, history, problems, conflicts, good and bad examples would benefit everyone, including the Western world, which often, in its arrogant complacency because of its military and financial supremacy over the rest of the world, has seldom taken into account the past of the African peoples and their relations, leading to a number of reckless interventions, stupid political adventures and further destabilization of the entire continent. A continent that needs all the stability it can get if it were to realize its full potential.
The main question that arises is whether the assault on the migrant communities in the coutnry are purely xenophobic or economically motivated. The truth is that both factors play a role to a similar extent, and furthermore they reinforce each other. Many African countries are experiencing a period of tangible economic development based on which they've started to assert a more stable role in the global economy. 15 out of the world's 30 fastest growing economies in 2018 were African countries. The continent's average GDP growth last year was 3.6%, while South Africa's growth was only about 0.7%, making it one of the continent's worst performers. That's a negative tendency for weak growth, from which the country has failed to recover for the last 7 years.
Poor growth, combined with extremely high unemployment of 29% (the highest in the country in recorded history), places South Africa in Africa's Top 3 by this negative indicator. This, combined with the ever-increasing xenophobic attitudes towards foreigners, result in the brutal incidents we're now witnessing. Despite all police efforts and the fierce protesting from many African leaders backed by street protests in many countries on the continent against this assault on their countrymen, such attacks on black foreigners in South Africa are bound to continue erupting in the months and years to come. Because, like in almost every other country in the world, in the face of a bad or worsening economic situation, individual social groups who feel threatened with exclusion from the labor market turn their anger towards newcomers. Immigrants are being accused of stealing local jobs and adding extra pressure on a labor market that's already rather squeezed due to the limited job and professional development opportunities.
The waves of attacks on foreigners from other African countries in the major South African urban centers will be largely influenced by the government's economic successes or failures, as well as the government's ability to guarantee the safety of foreign workers and investors. There's enormous pressure from other countries' political leaders to take urgent and comprehensive measures on the matter. Many of those countries have already boycotted various events and initiatives related to South Africa to protest what is happening in one of the most influential countries on the continent.
The latest developments in South Africa will put additional pressure on the ruling African National Congress and the new SA president Cyril Ramaphosa, whose public approval has kept waning, as he is failing to completely shake off the heavy legacy of his predecessor Jacob Zuma, who ruled for years until February 2019, and whose administration was marred by dozens of allegations of corruption, scandals and other economic woes.
