Over the past two weeks, the government has taken drastic actions against immigrants in the name of safety and sovereignty. This includes a massive raid on counterfeit goods sold informally on Johannesburg streets. When the largely immigrant street-traders resisted, the police retreated swearing to return.
A few days later, they regrouped and arrested close to 600 people. Many were undocumented, others had documents in orders. A few were citizens. At least two were South Africans the police presumed were foreign. Yesterday, citizens of Soweto continued to “revenge” the police by looting foreign-run Spaza shops in what appears to have been a locally coordinated attack.
What should the South African public make about these moves? Although international relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor has argued that xenophobia is “not a nice trait to have”, few others protest these moves. Rather, people across the political and socio-economic spectrum are celebrating moves to rid South Africa of foreigners and keep others away. The DA and ANC are fiercely contesting who is tougher on immigration.
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