DEPARTEMENT SOSIOLOGIE /
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

TITEL VAN WERKOPDRAG
TITLE OF ASSIGNMENT :__Migration, Xenophobia and New_ ___Racism in Post-Apartheid in___ _________South Africa________

VAN EN VOORLETTERS
SURNAME & INITIALS :__________Murray R_________

STUD NR/ STUD NO :__________

MODULE KODE/
MODULE CODE :__________SOC 120_________

DOSENT/LECTURER :______Ms Vangile Bingma______
INHANDIGINGSDATUM

DATE OF SUBMISSION :______16 September 2013_____

Table of Contents Introduction 2 Question 1 2 Question 2 4 Question 3 5 Conclusion 6 Bibliography 7 Plagiarism Declaration 8

Introduction

Post-apartheid South Africa was intended to bring together people of all races and ethnicities; however, black South African citizens are discriminating against and showing prejudice towards African migrants. Research has shown that the main causes of xenophobic attitudes are a result of politics of access and the struggle for political and socio-economic resources (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:192).
Question 1

Old racism is discrimination based on race which is a group that is different biologically to one’s own group. New racism is discrimination based on someone else’s national origin or ethnicity (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:192). Old racism is exclusion based on biological features whereas new racism is exclusion based on cultural and national features. New racism claims to be moving away from prejudice views and judgements but as simple pointing out the differences between different groups. Although by pointing out these differences it encourages concerns that they are a threat to the values and beliefs cherished by the community. New racism diverts from racism being about domination but rather the exclusion and possible destruction of race, culture or ethnic groups that are believed to pose a threat (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:192-193).
Xenophobia is the hatred and intolerance towards people based on the belief that they are foreigners. Xenophobic attitudes are often based on unfounded myths and stereotypes where foreigners are used as scapegoats for domestic, social and economic problems (Handmaker & Parsley 2001:44).
Xenophobia is similar to new racism in that they view people who are different as a threat; these people are discriminated against and excluded due to their cultural origin and the introduction of policies to control immigration. The main difference between xenophobia and new racism is that racism is an ideology where structural components such as laws, rules, regulations and institutions are used to create it and xenophobia uses institutions, which were not initially intended for xenophobic sentiment, to exclude people who are seen as foreigners (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:193).
The relationship between racism and xenophobia can be explained by looking into South Africa’s political past. Immigrants come to South Africa expecting equality of all and protection by human rights but instead are faced with a society grappling with the legacy of apartheid. Legislation of apartheid was used to create barriers to separate and deny the black South Africans from enjoying the same social, political and economic rights as white South Africans. Democracy removed these barriers but it could not eradicate inequalities. Majority of black South Africans are still living in shacks surrounding urban areas, illiteracy rates are still high among black people and low education levels resulting from poorly trained teachers and low matric pass rates in township schools (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:193).
African immigrants seek refuge, asylum or an opportunity to improve their economic status and life within South Africa but they then become targets for violence and exclusion. Their experience is “further compounded by the fact that citizenship is permeated with notions of new racism” (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:194). Citizenship is a unifying force that provides a sense of belonging that provides access to state resources. Citizenship forms a boundary between insiders and outsiders leading to African immigrants being excluded from this sense of belonging and state resources (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:194).
National identity is built on citizenship. Now that black South Africans have their citizenship rights back in post-apartheid South Africa they expect the material benefits. Economic policies such as the Redistribution and Development Program and the Growth, Employment and Redistribution strategy have not been able to build houses quick enough or alleviate unemployment. Xenophobia develops from the frustration of black South Africans with the government’s inability to deliver and African immigrants become the targets or these frustrations (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:194).
559 words

Question 2

More and more South Africans believe that migrants steal jobs as unemployment rates increase. This is believed to be due to the post-apartheid epoch where people’s expectations were heightened and when these expectations were not met immediately it led South Africans to believe that they have to share the little that they do have with people from other African countries. Due to the socio-economic challenges South Africans face they believe that migrants are placing an even bigger burden on these scarce resources and this belief is what leads to xenophobic sentiment (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:198).
The perception that South Africa is struggling to allocate resources to meet the needs of its own people and therefore will struggle to meet the needs of foreigners’ leads to migrants being used as scapegoats. Migrants are believed to be a threat to jobs, housing, education and health care (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:198). The problem with this perception is the lack of reliable information. No one actually knows for certain the monetary impact and service delivery implications as a result of immigrants. Research has shown that migrants do want access to basic services but also that these migrants are willing to pay for these services received. Migrants have also showed sensitivity towards the fact that housing and other basic needs are in short supply in South Africa (Danso & McDonald 2001:125).
Socio-economic circumstances for both black South Africans and immigrants and immigrants experiencing delays in gaining refugee status leads to both these groups establishing homes in urban informal settlements. This close proximity of the foreigners poses a threat to the black South Africans in terms of resources in the informal sector. This is most prominent in the market place as immigrants are buying their products in bulk at wholesale prices allowing them to sell at lower prices causing hostility among black South Africans (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:198).
Local community leaders and aspirant leaders have been known to encourage residents to attack and evict foreign nationals to strengthen their political and economic power within the community showing that xenophobia is deliberate and organised (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:199). This institutional racism is also shown at the Lindela detention centre. Reports by migrants have reflected that migrants being held here have not been found guilty of any crime and are kept in conditions worse than prison and they are not sent back to their country unless they bribe the officials. They are denied their rights and exposed to physical violence purely for being migrants (Neocosmos 2008:589).
Refugees have to carry legal documentation to prove that they are not illegal much the same as black South Africans did in Apartheid. Often the police arrest you purely for being an immigrant and then destroy your documents and say that you are an illegal immigrant (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:200). Even though the police are clearly violating human rights, the community supports the police as citizens believe these migrants to be criminals and job stealers therefore the police feel justified in their actions.
Immigrants have been discriminated against by health care workers being made to wait longer than South Africans even when they have paid additional fees (Landau, Ramjathan-Keogh & Singh 2005:28). Institutional racism is used to deny migrants their rights and to justify the actions of people unfairly treating migrants.
540 words
Question 3

The use of ethnic prejudice and ethnic stereotypes by the South African Police Service leads to many South African citizens being arrested and detained. The police use different traits such as language, appearance, height and presence of inoculation marks to decide whether a suspect is illegal or not (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:199).
The police are using people’s accents and their pronunciation if certain words, as well as people’s hairstyle, clothing and physical appearance to determine whether someone is an illegal immigrant or not. These biological-cultural markers have become essential in generating xenophobia as they point out whom to target (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:199-200).
With media reports sensationalising that immigrants are flooding and swarming the country fuel both police and citizen action causing attacks on both illegal and legal immigrants (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:200). The press use language that is controversial to aggravate xenophobic sentiment and make no effort to make the readers aware of this. Many reports use terms such as aliens to accentuate the “otherness” between citizens and immigrants (Danso & McDonald 2001:129). The number of illegal immigrants is unknown but the media will use farfetched statistics to fuel anti-migrant sentiment (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:201).
On 18 April 1997, South African Narcotics Bureau policemen “celebrated a colleague’s birthday by endeavouring to arrest as many Nigerians as possible in the Hillbrow area” (Matsinhe 2011:296). Citizens have become so obsessed with targeting and eliminating immigrants that they have failed to realise the cultural and linguistic similarities between them. These similarities allow the outsiders to become invisible and cause anxiety among South Africans. “It signifies the enemy within, the enemy who looks like us, the enemy who is us” (Matsinhe 2011:309). Ultimately, this process of destructive logic will lead to self-annihilation.
Ahmed Dawlo suggests that we view xenophobia as the child of racism, as a product of apartheid. The treatment of black immigrants by black South Africans is due to internalised racism where the abused becomes the abuser. Legislation caused black South Africans to be greatly disadvantaged by making them inferior and unworthy of rights. Their suffering is now passed onto immigrants as they were not allowed to heal there hurt through emotional release. Immigrants are targeted due to their skin colour within a society where skin colour is used to legitimise discrimination (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:200).
385 words
Conclusion

South Africa has become a victim of its own success. It attracted immigrants to enjoy the benefits of a dynamic economy which has led to South Africa not only attempting to help immigrants but combating the legacy of apartheid and poor service delivery. This leads to previously disadvantaged citizens not being able to enjoy material benefits and lash out at immigrants in a society where race is still prevalent (Adjai & Lazaridis 2013:202).
Bibliography

Adjai, C. & Lazaridis, G. 2013. “Migration, xenophobia and new racism in post-apartheid South Africa”. International Journal of Social Science Studies, 1 (1): 192-205.
Danso, R. & McDonald, D.A. 2001. “Writing Xenophobia: Immigration and the Print Media in Post-apartheid South Africa”. Africa Today, 48 (3): 115-137.
Handmaker, J. & Parsley, J. 2001. “Migration, Refugees, and Racism in South Africa”. Refuge, 20 (1): 40-51.
Landau, L.B., Ramjathan-Keogh, K. & Singh, G. 2005. “Xenophobia in South Africa and Problems Related to it”. Forced Migration Studies Programme, 13 (1): 2-42.
Matsinhe, M.D. 2011. “Africa’s Fear of Itself: the ideology of Makwerekwere in South Africa”. Third World Quarterly, 32(2): 295-313.
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.

Plagiarism Declaration

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA
FACULTY ___________Humanities_____________
DEPARTMENT __________Sociology____________

The Department ____of Sociology___ places specific emphasis on integrity and ethical behaviour with regard to the preparation of all written work to be submitted for academic evaluation.

Although academic personnel will provide you with information regarding reference techniques as well as ways to avoid plagiarism, you also have a responsibility to fulfil in this regard. Should you at any time feel unsure about the requirements, you must consult the lecturer concerned before you submit any written work.

You are guilty of plagiarism when you extract information from a book, article or web page without acknowledging the source and pretend that it is your own work. In truth, you are stealing someone else’s property. This doesn’t only apply to cases where you quote verbatim, but also when you present someone else’s work in a somewhat amended format (paraphrase), or even when you use someone else’s deliberation without the necessary acknowledgement. You are not allowed to use another student’s previous work. You are furthermore not allowed to let anyone copy or use your work with the intention of presenting it as his/her own.

Students who are guilty of plagiarism will forfeit all credit for the work concerned. In addition, the matter can also be referred to the Committee for Discipline (Students) for a ruling to be made. Plagiarism is considered a serious violation of the University’s regulations and may lead to suspension from the University.

For the period that you are a student at the Department ___of Sociology___, the under-mentioned declaration must accompany all written work to be submitted. No written work will be accepted unless the declaration has been completed and attached.
I (full names) ___________Robyn Murray________
Student number _____________________
Subject of the work ___Migration, xenophobia and New Racism__
Declaration

1. I understand what plagiarism entails and am aware of the University’s policy in this regard.
2. I declare that this ____assignment____ (e.g. essay, report, project, assignment, dissertation, thesis etc) is my own, original work. Where someone else’s work was used (whether from a printed source, the internet or any other source) due acknowledgement was given and reference was made according to departmental requirements.
3. I did not make use of another student’s previous work and submitted it as my own.
4. I did not allow and will not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of presenting it as his or her own work.

Signature __________________________________