Migration and Conflict in the Developing World - The Case of South Africa

• In Event: Political Inequality: Causes and Effects

Abstract

What explains xenophobic violence in democratic South Africa? Since the end of the apartheid-era the global community has witnessed South African inner-cities and townships continuously turn into sites of violence against foreign nationals all under the umbrella of social inequality. In 2008 and 2015, tens of thousands of migrants were forcefully displaced amid looting and destruction of foreign-owned homes, property, and business. For many South Africans, these attacks were a flashback of the Apartheid-era where often state officials would use force against black South Africans whilst trying to enforce laws of the apartheid regime. Migration is not a new South Africa, historically the South African state has been a migrant receiving country drawing bringing in labour from across the African continent to support its population and economic development. Migration and conflict continue to be important and timely topics, the conditions and mechanisms that helps explain and link migration to conflict.

This paper argues that the rise in xenophobic violence remains deeply embedded in the country’s structural issues in concert with socio-economic challenges that have caused hostilities amongst black South African’s and migrants from predominantly African countries. This paper looks at two specific variables: Structural inequality in the democratic-era and historical legacies from the apartheid-era. The theoretical framework for this paper builds on existing work in comparative politics. Using a broad range of sources this paper draws on archival data from the O’Malley Archives and the University of Witwatersrand libraries. I created a data set using a plethora of sources (Archival data, legislative transcripts, legislation, policy reports, secondary literature, statistical analysis, secondary literature, and transcripts).

Author

• Yusuf Bulbulia, University of Toronto