South Africa Xenophobic Campaign Drives 10,000s to Repatriate After 4 Deaths
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 9
South Africa Xenophobic Campaign Drives 10,000s to Repatriate After 4 Deaths
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 9
Summary
At least four people have been killed and thousands of African migrants are sleeping on pavements in South Africa, fearing attacks in their homes and seeking evacuation.
Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe are among governments arranging returns, with tens of thousands of citizens already heading home as the “Abahambe” — “They must go” — campaign gathers force.
Fezokuhle Mthonti said this wave differs from past unrest because it is better funded, amplified by mainstream media and tacitly legitimized after President Cyril Ramaphosa met protest leaders last week.
She traced the violence to state failure, weak growth of just over 1%, and scapegoating politics layered onto apartheid, colonial and slavery-era divisions that still leave South African identity fragile.
The unrest revives a long pattern — 703 people have been killed in xenophobic incidents since apartheid ended — while exposing how economic distress and anti-migrant politics are again turning neighbors against neighbors.