A Foreign Experience: Violence, Crime and Xenophobia During South Africa's Transition
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A Foreign Experience: Violence, crime and xenophobia during South Africa's transition by Bronwyn Harris Violence and Transition Series, Vol. 5, August 2001. Bronwyn Harris is a former Project Manager at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. Acknowledgments Thank you to all who participated in this research project for sharing your stories and experiences. Thank you also to the following people: Brandon Hamber and Piers Pigou for their supervision of the project. Craig Higson-Smith, Barbara English of Wordsmiths, and Brandon Hamber for editing the report. To the refugee facilitators for translating and transcribing the interviews, particularly Venancio Simoa, Mohammed Guillied, Aime Ndyisaba, Venancio Simoa and Sileshi Tegegne. CSVR staff, particularly Marivic Garcia, Frances Spencer, Mary Robertson, Graeme Simpson, Carnita Ernest, Lauren Segal, Sasha Gear, Nokuthula Skhosana, Tebogo Mafokoane, Goodwill Ditlhage, Bea Abrahams, Helen Hajiyiannis, and the Research Committee for all of their support, advice and assistance throughout this project. David McDonald and Anne Mitchell of the South African Migration Project for running a keyword search on the SAMP media data-base. Derek Hook, Wardie Leppan of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) for his ongoing support of the Violence and Transition Project. A number of people have generously shared their knowledge about the 'foreigner field'. These include: Uli Albrecht, Florencia Belvedere, Abeda Bhamjee, Deborah Ho, Nicola Johnstone, Jonathan Klaaren, Ann Kirkman, Jody Kollapen, Zonke Majodina, Jennifer Parsley, Sally-Ann Peberdy, Jaya Ramji, Andrew Rens, Pumla Rulashe, Sally Sealy, Bertus Swanevelder, Joyce Tlou, AnaisTuepkar, Jacob van Garderen and Nicola Woodin. This booklet was funded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The Violence and Transition Series is a product of an extensive research project conducted by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) into the nature and extent of violence during South Africa’s transition from apartheid rule to democracy. This series comprises a set of self-contained, but interrelated reports, which explore violence across the period 1980 to 2000 within key social loci and areas, including: • Revenge Violence and Vigilantism; • Foreigners (immigrants and refugees); • Hostels and Hostel Residents; • Ex-combatants; • State Security Forces (police and military), and • Taxi violence. While each report grapples with the dynamics of violence and transition in relation to its particular constituency all are underpinned by the broad objectives of the series, namely: • To analyse the causes, extent and forms of violence in South Africa across a timeframe that starts before the political transition and moves through the period characterised by political transformation and reconciliation to the present; • To assess the legacy of a violent past and the impact of formal democratisation and transition on the contemporary nature of violence by researching continuities and changes in its form and targets; • To investigate the role of perpetrators and victims of violence across this timeframe; • To evaluate reconciliation strategies and institutions, such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established to ameliorate future violence in South Africa; • To develop a macro-theory for understanding violence in countries moving from authoritarian to democratic rule, i.e. 'countries in transition', and • To contribute to local and international debates about reconciliation and justice for perpetrators and victims of gross violations of human rights. Through these objectives, the Violence and Transition Series aims to inform and benefit policy analysts, government officials and departments, non-governmental and civic organisations, and researchers working in the fields of: • Violence prevention; • Transitional criminal justice; • Victim empowerment; • Truth commissions; • Reconciliation; • Human rights, and • Crime prevention. As a country emerging from a past characterised by violence and repression South Africa faces new challenges with the slow maturation of democracy. Violence today is complex, dynamic and creative in form shaped by both apartheid and the mechanisms of transition itself. In order to understand - and prevent - violence during transition in South Africa and abroad an ongoing action-research agenda is required. Through this series the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation offers an initial and exploratory, yet detailed, contribution to this process. The Violence and Transition Series is funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Work on the project focusing on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was supported by the Embassy of Ireland, the Charles Stewart-Mott Foundation and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF). Series Editors Brandon Hamber Piers Pigou Bronwyn Harris Contents: • Executive Summary • Foreigners in South Africa • Refugees • Migrants • Immigrants • An historical overview of cross-border movement • South African legislation and the alien (1913-1999) • Violence and Abuse: law enforcement • The South African Police Service (SAPS) • The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) • The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) • Lindela repatriation centre • The repatriation process: trains & trucks • Farm labour practices • South Africa's general climate of xenophobia • The Media • Political Statements • Public violence and vigilantism • Resistance to xenophobia • Regional location and occupation • International experiences of xenophobia • Explaining xenophobia • The origins of xenophobia • Representations of African foreigners • South Africa's violent culture • Analysis and findings • Research framework • Results • Background and violence • Push factors: reasons for leaving • Pull factors: reasons for coming • Journey • Experiences in South Africa • Institutional exploitation of foreigners • Economic exploration, crime and violence in SA • Xenophobia as a cause of violence • Internal conflict and violence between foreigners • Political Conflict • Crime and violence • Xenophobia between foreigners • Explanations for reception • Racism • Ongoing apartheid • Role of government • South Africa's culture of violence • Conclusion • Notes • References • Appendix A Executive Summary This report examines the involvement of foreigners in violence during South Africa's period of transition. It grapples with the legal, political and social implications of foreigners in a changing social order. In so doing, the report examines a plethora of complex issues, including: the foreign experience of crime and violence in a context of increasing xenophobia; post-apartheid discourses about immigrants and refugees; and the transmigration of violence across national borders. The major findings of this report stem from interviews and focus groups conducted with more than 100 foreign respondents. These findings are supplemented and informed by an extensive literature review and secondary-data analysis. Literature review and secondary-data analysis The literature review and secondary-data analysis set the foundations for the primary research of this project. They highlight a number of key issues, including the following details: • There are various legislated categories of foreigners living in South Africa, including refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and immigrants. Approximately 52 000 asylum seekers and 16 000 refugees live in South Africa (May 2001 figures). Contrary to popular public perception, refugees are entitled to a range of socio- economic rights, including the rights to work and study. Asylum seekers, however, are not permitted these working/studying rights, at least for the first 180 days of their application, under Section 22 of the Refugee Act (1998). This is problematic because there is currently an enormous asylum-processing backlog, which thus prohibits genuine asylum seekers from earning a living for at least 6 months. This problem is compounded by the lack of state and civil assistance for asylum seekers/refugees who find themselves living, unsupported, in an urban context. • During the early 1990s, a series of amnesties were granted to certain Mozambicans, miners and SADC-members entitling them to attain South African citizenship. However, application levels were unexpectedly low, partly due to ignorance, as well as South Africa's climate of hostility, crime and violence. Of those who did apply for amnesty, a strong motivation for seeking South African citizenship was to reduce the constant harassment that goes with being foreign in South Africa. • Whether documented or undocumented, foreigners are frequently treated as a homogeneous category of 'illegal aliens'. Xenophobic discourse prevails around this category and forms the basis for hostility, conflict and violence between South African citizens and (predominantly black) foreigners. • Racism is a key feature of South Africa's immigration legislation and practice, both historically and, despite the country's transition to democracy and equality, currently. For example, the discriminatory and exploitative 'two gates policy', which differentiated between black migrants and white immigrants during the apartheid era, effectively remains legislated in contemporary immigration policy. Beyond the legislation, racism impacts on xenophobic practices, with black African foreigners bearing the brunt of xenophobic discrimination, both at the hands of the public and at an