Introduction
Fungai Chopo, a Zimbabwean builder, and his family fled from more attacks after a mob of native Durbanites (South Africa’s third biggest cities) busted their house and threatened to kill his wife and children. When Guardian journalists ask Chopo and his wife Memory about their next plans, Memory responded that “[we] came to South Africa for a better life and [we] worked for everything, but we are going home empty-handed, without funds, without passports, without the kids’ birth certificates. Now we have to wait for the transport provided by the government to take us home.” Like Chopo and his families, thousands of families have been affected by the recent surge of hate crimes in South Africa and it is estimated that the country …show more content…
Additionally, I will use the face negotiation theory and some of the dialectics of cross-cultural communication to analyze the reason for xenophobia in South Africa. By the end of this paper, you should be able understand how media stereotype, poor governance, and relative deprivation contributed to igniting xenophobic violence.
Historical Overview of Xenophobia in South Africa In the article, Locals Only: Understanding Xenophobia in South Africa, the term xenophobia is defined as “the deep dislike of non-national by nationals of the recipient state.” Other scholars such as Christina SteenKamp, senior lecturer in Social and Political Change, refer to xenophobia as “the irrational fear of the unknown, or specifically, as the fear or hatred of those with a different nationality.” In the case of South Africa, the irrational fear and hatred mostly targets immigrants and asylum seekers from other African countries who migrate into South Africa in search of a bigger dream and better life. Since the transition to democracy in 1994, South Africa has experienced a high level of xenophobia in the country.
Fungai Chopo, a Zimbabwean builder, and his family fled from more attacks after a mob of native Durbanites (South Africa’s third biggest cities) busted their house and threatened to kill his wife and children. When Guardian journalists ask Chopo and his wife Memory about their next plans, Memory responded that “[we] came to South Africa for a better life and [we] worked for everything, but we are going home empty-handed, without funds, without passports, without the kids’ birth certificates. Now we have to wait for the transport provided by the government to take us home.” Like Chopo and his families, thousands of families have been affected by the recent surge of hate crimes in South Africa and it is estimated that the country …show more content…
Additionally, I will use the face negotiation theory and some of the dialectics of cross-cultural communication to analyze the reason for xenophobia in South Africa. By the end of this paper, you should be able understand how media stereotype, poor governance, and relative deprivation contributed to igniting xenophobic violence.
Historical Overview of Xenophobia in South Africa In the article, Locals Only: Understanding Xenophobia in South Africa, the term xenophobia is defined as “the deep dislike of non-national by nationals of the recipient state.” Other scholars such as Christina SteenKamp, senior lecturer in Social and Political Change, refer to xenophobia as “the irrational fear of the unknown, or specifically, as the fear or hatred of those with a different nationality.” In the case of South Africa, the irrational fear and hatred mostly targets immigrants and asylum seekers from other African countries who migrate into South Africa in search of a bigger dream and better life. Since the transition to democracy in 1994, South Africa has experienced a high level of xenophobia in the country.