9◼ REMARKS Bloomberg Businessweek November 25, 2019SUMAYA
HISHAM/REUTERS
● Fromthehighestlevelsto
thegrassroots,thecountryis
scapegoatingmigrantsfrom
therestofthecontinent● ByAntonySguazzin
InearlySeptember,FaayifYosif,a 41-year-oldSomaliwho
movedtoSouthAfricaasa refugeein2004,losteverything
heownedinminutes.A mobofSouthAfricansbegandoing
thetoyi-toyi—adancewitha joggingrhythmassociatedwith
protests—outsidehisgeneralstoreontheoutskirtsofthe
capital,Pretoria.“Theybrokeintomyshopandtookevery-
thing,includinga lotofmoney,”hesays.Sincethen,he’slost
hisappetiteandbecomedepressed,andhespendshisdays
sleeping.“Theytoldustogetoutif wedidn’twanttodie.My
heartwasbroken,becauseI watchedsomethingI worked
hardforbeingdestroyed.”
Everyfewyears,boutsofxenophobicviolenceinSouth
Africa—whichmainlytargetblackAfricansfromelsewhere
inAfricaand,occasionally,poormigrantsfromPakistanand
Bangladesh—makeheadlines.In 2008 about 60 peopledied
andmorethan50,000weredisplacedina waveofviolence
acrossthecountry.ErnestoNhamuave,a Mozambicanman,
wassetalightandburnedtodeatheastofJohannesburg;the
photographofhiskillingspreadaroundtheworld.
Thereweresimilarepisodesin2015.Fromtheendofapart-
heidin 1994 toDec. 31 lastyear,atleast 309 peoplehavebeen
killedinxenophobicattacks,2,193shopshavebeenlooted,
andmorethan100,000peoplehavebeendisplaced,accord-
ingtoXenowatch,a programrunbytheAfricanCentrefor
Migration& SocietyattheUniversityoftheWitwatersrand
inJohannesburg.“Thefrequencyofthebrutalityweseein
SouthAfricais makingit unique,”saysJeanPierreMisago,
a researcheratthecenterwho’sbeenworkingwithrefu-
geessincetheearly1990s.“Burningpeoplealive,destroy-
ingproperty.”
InSeptembershopsrunbyforeignerswerelootedand
burnedincentralJohannesburgandinpoorareasaroundthe
city,aswellasinPretoria.Butthistimetherewasa response
fromtherestofthecontinent.RetaliatoryattacksonSouth
African-ownedbusinessestookplaceintheDemocratic
RepublicofCongo,Nigeria,andZambia.Leadersfromall
overAfricacondemnedtheviolence.YemiOsinbajo,vice
presidentofNigeria,withdrewfromtheWorldEconomic
ForumonAfricaconferenceinCapeTownandthecoun-
tryrecalleditsambassador.AirPeace,a privatelyowned
Nigerianairline,senta planetoJohannesburgtorepatriate
anyNigerianswhowantedtocomehome.Zambiacanceled
aninternational soccer match between the nations. “You can-
not be an open democracy and allow this kind of misconduct
on a frequent pattern without there being consequences,”
said Oby Ezekwesili, a former Nigerian cabinet minister andWorld Bank vice president for Africa, in an interview at the
forum. “The president needs to lead,” she said, referring to
South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa.
An embarrassed Ramaphosa gave a televised address to
the nation saying there could be no excuse for attacks on the
homes and businesses of foreign nationals, and dispatched
envoys to a number of African countries to minimize the
damage. But two months later, little seems to have changed.
Indeed, from the highest levels of South Africa’s government
down to the grassroots, foreigners continue to be made scape-
goats for the country’s problems as its economy—the conti-
nent’s largest—sputters.
“South Africa has always welcomed people from many
parts of the world,” Ramaphosa told an African Development
Bank investment forum in Johannesburg on Nov. 11, trying
to explain the incidents. “Sometimes reaction is sparked off
by what you call nonsensical incidents, whether somebody
greeted another one in a different language or whether they
couldn’t answer in a different language, and it just sparks off.
South Africans are not inherently xenophobic.”
Politicians portray the attacks as spontaneous outbreaks of
violence among poor people fighting over scarce resources.
Academics and nongovernmental organizations working with
migrants say that’s incorrect. They say the violence is highly
coordinated and planned by local groups or individuals for
economic or political gain. Local businesses use xenophobia
to chase away competition set up by outsiders; and politicians
and community leaders blame foreigners for taking advantage
of benefits and services they say are meant for South Africans.
Social media helps spread the message of hate. “Migrants
become a tool for criminal gain, political gain,” says Miranda
Madikane, director of the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town,
which helps migrants integrate into South African society.
The scapegoating isn’t beneath Ramaphosa himself. In the
runup to national elections in May, he said his government
planned to end the opening of shops in poor areas by people
without the correct papers and permits. Many of these shops
are owned by foreigners. Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s
minister of home affairs and former minister of health, has
blamed foreigners for overburdening South Africa’s health-
care system. Former President Thabo Mbeki and Naledi
Pandor, the country’s minister of international relations and
cooperation, have both said Nigerians were involved in drug
dealing, prostitution, and human trafficking.
South Africa’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic
Alliance, which prides itself on its liberal roots, put up a
“Secure Our Borders” campaign poster in the runup to
national elections in May. Jacques Julius, then its spokes-
man on immigration, proposed “humane deportation”
of undocumented migrants who, he said, were commit-
ting crimes and taking welfare checks and anti-AIDS drugs
meantforSouthAfricans.OnOct. 26 theoutgoingmayorof
Johannesburg,theDA’sHermanMashaba,tweetedstatistics
relatingtothearrestsofforeigners over the last four years
and he’s blamed foreigners for the run-down condition of