On the 14th of May 2008 the South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC) aired detailed news about the violence that broke out in Alexandria Township in Johannesburg which later spread to other parts of South Africa. Foreign nationals were being targeted by mobs and the “Dark Days of May” began. These outbreaks of xenophobic violence were discussed, photographed, analysed and debated in great detail on both national and international television and radio stations as well as newspapers and other media. I had already spent a month participating in and observing the daily lives of Senegalese traders, asking numerous questions about their experiences of xenophobia in South Africa. The next morning I literally ran to my field site to find Hamadou, Sedar and Malik. Malik was waiting for me, having set up his trading stall early. “I got here early Sister. I knew you would come to find me
121 early. Ah now, now all this violence, it is disgusting. Why must they kill people? It is good that you are here so you can tell these people what is really going on with us.
We don‟t take anything from them, you are the only way people will hear what we have to say.” Malik was angry. “Have any of your brothers been hurt?” I asked but he assured me that he would have heard if any Senegalese had been affected.
My reasons for being in GBA was, at this stage, a well known fact among the traders and many, locals and foreigner alike, wanted to speak with me about the attacks. Most of the foreign traders I spoke to that day expressed anger at South Africans perpetrating the violence and numerous traders mentioned that it is the “youngsters who are lazy” who are xenophobic. “They see us expanding our businesses and they are jealous so they say we are taking their jobs but I sit here on the pavement and work hard. I make my own work”. Speaking with Sedar later, he said “Xhosa people have more understanding, the Zulu‟s they don‟t like you if you are not Zulu even if you are black”. Alassane, who was usually relaxed and easy going, saw me on the other side of the street and beckoned me over. He was irate and even had trouble standing still as we spoke. “They are killing your people but Zimbabweans are so friendly and hard working. Life is too difficult for you already and now these animals make it worse. They are animals.” Shaking his head and expressing his sorrow for Zimbabweans he shouted “But we are all Africans, race doesn‟t matter you were born in Africa so you are an African, I am an African there is no difference between us so I am not foreign. This is nonsense, it is shit. I came here with my own money and have my own business. No one gave me these things. I am Muslim, life here is hard but working hard is better than doing nonsense.” I asked Alassane whether he was worried about his safety or that of his brothers in other parts of the country, he shrugged saying “if things get worse I will go home to Senegal.” In the weeks following the first xenophobia related attacks that continued throughout much of May, Senegalese discourse about xenophobia in South Africa changed. The phrase “but we are all Africans” came up in almost all interviews.
I went to see Abou55 in his shop and asked him about his reactions to the news. “ I know I am safe in my home but we are worried about the shops you know sister. We
55 Abou is one of 5 Senegalese who rent shops in GBA.
122 are worried they might attack the shops because we are successful. You know they attack the Somali shops sometimes so we are all worried.” I visited the other men who own shops and they expressed similar worries to Abou. On the 27th of May, a Chinese owned shop was petrol bombed in GBA. There was not much damage to the shop and the local newspaper, The Herald56 quoted a police spokesperson as saying they did not think the attack was related to the xenophobia affecting other parts of the country.
After this incidence, Abou spoke with me and he expressed a fear for the safety of the Senegalese owned shops in GBA. On behalf of the five men who rent shops, he requested that I do not reveal the location of their shops while writing up and that I do not reveal their real names. I assured Abou that I would not reveal this information.
These men were the only Senegalese who asked me to use pseudonyms for them. I assured all research participants that I would not use their real names but many Senegalese simply shrugged at this and said they were not worried if people learnt their true names. Pseudonyms however have been used for all research participants.
I was also interested in local reactions to the news regarding xenophobic violence in Alexandria and I spent time with local traders such as Lungisa and Zanele. Lungisa was angry “what is this nonsense? It is these young boys who are good for nothing doing this and now the whole world will see this and think we are all hating other people.” I also spoke with South Africans who are not traders such as the domestic worker who I knew from the backpackers I was staying in for the duration of my fieldwork. Pamela complained about migrants taking “our job opportunities” but felt that the government was to blame “because they are the ones letting these people into our country so they must fix the problems of jobs.” However, she did express disgust at the levels of violence occurring throughout the country.
I asked Senegalese research participants to tell me what they thought was the cause of the seemingly sudden outbreak of xenophobia related violence. Malik answered without missing a beat saying, “alcohol makes these young guys do crazy things.” For many Senegalese in Port Elizabeth, young men were at the heart of the violent attacks, which exploded due to alcohol consumption. Many felt that the perpetrators of the violence were young, unemployed men who “want money but they are too lazy to
56 The Herald, 28th May 2008
123 work.” The stereotype of local men as lazy is a pervasive one among non South Africans living in Port Elizabeth and Sichone‟s (2003: 133) research confirms this, showing that foreign migrants living and working in Cape Town perceive local men as lazy, taking leave from work after drinking binges over weekends as well as living from hand to mouth without saving.57
While the current theories for the presence of often violent xenophobia in South Africa have been discussed in greater detail earlier, it is important to mention here that xenophobia is arguably “an emotional not a rational response” (Cohen 1997: xv).
Diekmann (1997: 15) argues that youth who are under-educated and unemployed have largely committed violent acts of xenophobia in South Africa and according to Neocosmos (2006: 118) violent manifestations of xenophobia can be linked to perceptions of powerlessness. The explosion and spread of xenophobia related violence in May 2008 could also be explained in part by the notion of what Nnoli (1998: 220) refers to as a “xenophobic collectivism” which is associated with a need to reaffirm a sense of belonging within the collectivity. The rapid spread of violence from the Gauteng province to other provinces in South Africa is difficult to explain but Tilly‟s (2003:4) description of collective violence is excellent: “collective violence is like the weather: complicated, changing and unpredictable.” Explaining further about the dynamics of collective violence, Tilly (2003: 1, 226, 238) argues that it often occurs where young, single men congregate for long periods especially where there is access to liquor and collective violence “emerges from the ebb and flow of collective claim making and struggles for power” and escalating along networks. The
„mob mentality‟ in collective violence can also be explained by the need to conform and the mechanism of social influence (Foster 2006: 37), which could explain why women were also involved in the perpetration of violence against foreign nationals.
What does appear to be lacking in migration literature regarding the presence of xenophobia and related violent crime is a psychological element. Valji (2003: 14) notes groups are known to direct their intolerance at those poorer and more vulnerable than themselves. The Social Dominance Theory (SDT) is based on the notion that every society is hierarchically structured, assuming that there is always a dominant
57 It is essential that researchers remain mindful that stereotyping is not unidirectional
124 group which is superior to at least one subordinate group (Meyer & Finchilesau 2006:
67). This theory assumes that inequality between dominant and subordinate groups is maintained through discrimination that is justified through group relevant ideologies and beliefs or “legitimising myths” (ibid: 68, 72) such as negative stereotypes of migrants as criminals, diseased, taking employment opportunities and stealing local women. Meyer & Finchilesau (2006: 73) comment that “the greater the consensus about this myth, the greater its potency.” Furthermore, social psychological theorists may also explain the presence of xenophobia in South Africa due to relative deprivation or as a defensive process (Kiguwa 2006: 131) vis-à-vis the scarcity of resources as well as the continuing unequal distribution of resources in post-apartheid South Africa. Given that migration has multiple causes, it is important that anthropology analyses psychological and/or other theories regarding group dynamics and actions, when attempting to explain migration and xenophobia, as the explanation for the presence of violent xenophobia is certainly a multifaceted one.
7.3 Trader Relations in Govan Mbeki Avenue
Sichone‟s (2003: 131-132) research shows that in South Africa, foreign Africans tend to work in the informal sector and as such it is where conflict between groups is most likely to occur. Since the mid 1990‟s there has been an increase in the number of foreign black African street traders working on streets in South African urban centres (Hunter & Skinner 2003: 301). Morris (1998: 1132) notes that anti-foreigner sentiment among traders in the informal sector is high resulting in numerous attacks and protests taking place in 1997 where local traders demanded that foreign traders be prevented from trading on the streets of Johannesburg. According to Klotz (2000:
839), the DoHA regard jobs in the informal sector as requiring protection from foreign traders and as such foreign traders have borne the brunt of institutional xenophobia. The majority of migrants in South Africa tend to set up small businesses such as trading stall rather than seek wage employment (Adepoju 2003: 13) due to visa restrictions and difficulties in gaining work or residency permits (Anderson 2006:
100).