The claim for urban space and the problem of exclusion: the perception of outsiders' rights by communities affected by xenophobic violence in contemporary South Africa
Date
2012-08-21
Authors
Ogunyemi, Samson
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Abstract
This research is located in the broader body of literature and activity that have sought to
comprehend the xenophobic violence of 2008 in South Africa and the persistence of this
phenomenon, especially in poor locales of the main urban areas. The primary objective is to
explore the perceptions that South Africans have of the rights of those people designated as
outsiders and/or foreigners who live in areas that have experienced xenophobic violence
targeting foreigners as well as people of South African minority ethnic groups. This study
attempts to unpack the discourse of insider versus outsider rights within South African
communities in relation to South Africa’s recent history - the xenophobic violence of 2008.
Notably, it examines the challenge brought about by the crushing of space and time as an
effect of globalization and how this has contributed to the process of multi-culturalism and
multi-ethnicity that local communities are largely unprepared to cope with. This study
contributes to the understanding of “otherness” as a key issue to design and implement better
policies and practices that are necessary to promote the social and spatial inclusion of
international migrants in Africa and the world. The empirics of this study give credence to
the view that migrants’ rights operate at the rhetorical level, largely due to the lack of
political will to translate them into actual benefits. The study specifically looks at two
communities affected by xenophobic violence - Tembisa and Alexandra. Focusing on South
Africans, the study draws on information gathered through in-depth semi-structured
interviews and group discussions carried out from July through October 2011. The findings
are examined through thematic content analysis.
Description
M.A. University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities (The African Centre for Migration & Society), 2012
Keywords
Urban Space, Exclusion, Perception, Rights, Xenophobia, Violence, Belonging, Entitlement, Insider, Outsider, Inclusion, South Africa