Makhura, Busisiwe2023-01-122023-01-122022https://hdl.handle.net/10539/34010A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for a Degree of Master of Commerce (Economics) to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economics and Finance at the University of the Witwatersrand, 2022Strained relations between locals and immigrants are a long-standing reality in South Africa and often we have seen it become a bloody battle resulting in the loss of life. However, over time we have seen these occurrences make a move into a different arena from (seemingly) purely physical contestations to open and continuous dialogue on public platforms such as social media. In exploring the thought patterns and processes of the participating individuals we believe we may find an explanation of their resultant actions and behaviour feedback into the greater belief systems in society- particularly xenophobic and anti-migrant ideals. Discourse Analysis on Twitter posts related to the #PutSouthAfricaFirst hashtag at two points in time during 2020/2021 is used to get insight into the underlying causes of this ongoing conflict. Sentiment analysis concludes as an attempt to gauge political influence and user sentiment on various themes that appear to be recurrent in these ongoing conversations.enDissertation