After months of mobilization by vigilante groups, South Africa is on the brink of an explosion of violence against foreign migrants and refugees, a United Nations panel has warned. Escalating hate speech and arson attacks are early signs of a dangerous campaign of violence against foreigners, fueled by politicians and high-ranking officials who are using migrants as scapegoats for South Africa’s problems, the UN group of independent human rights experts said. rights. Dozens of foreigners have been killed in South Africa in previous outbreaks of violence in 2008 and 2015, but rights groups worry future violence could be worse as a growing number of politicians openly fuel anti-immigrant sentiment at a time of upsurge. unemployment, high inequality and slow economic growth. “Anti-immigrant rhetoric by senior government officials has fanned the flames of violence, and government actors have failed to prevent further violence or hold perpetrators accountable,” UN experts said in a statement on Friday. “We are deeply concerned that the country is on the precipice of explosive violence.” The UN team reported two attacks that have caused widespread alarm in South Africa: the death of a Zimbabwean migrant who was beaten and set on fire by a mob demanding ID documents from residents in a Johannesburg neighborhood in April; and an arson attack on Congolese food vendors and other Africans in a Johannesburg market last month. In the days before the arson, a vigilante group called Operation Dudula had visited the market twice to demand that foreigners leave the food stalls and be replaced by South Africans, local media reported. When the vendors refused to leave, 23 of the food stalls were destroyed by fire. Operation Dudula emerged last year in Soweto, a Johannesburg township, where it held its first street marches against foreigners it accused of criminal activities or taking jobs from South Africans. Since then, it has expanded nationally and become the most important of the vigilante groups. His name, dudula, means ‘to push back’ or ‘to put out’ in the Zulu language – an indication of his attitude towards foreign immigrants. Its leaders say it is simply opposed to illegal immigration, but critics say Operation Dudula has often used violence or intimidation against foreign shopkeepers and other immigrants. President Cyril Ramaphosa has described Operation Dudula as a vigilante-like organization that uses illegal violence against foreigners. But other officials and prominent politicians have often supported the anti-foreigner movement with inflammatory comments and misinformation. South Africa’s home affairs minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, is responsible for some of the most violent attacks on undocumented foreigners. “We can no longer allow our country to be the breeding ground for all the ungodly and lowly people of the world who run here and use our democracy,” he told a regional meeting of the ruling African National Congress. “I’m coming for them. When they’re all in jail, locked up and the keys thrown away, then I’ll quit – only then.” The undocumented status of foreigners in South Africa is often due to mismanagement and corruption at the country’s immigration and refugee offices, where long queues and huge backlogs can make it almost impossible for migrants to get the legal documents they need, analysts say who study the South African system. “Discrimination against foreign nationals in South Africa is institutionalized both in government policy and in wider South African society,” the UN experts said in their statement. Up to 180,000 Zimbabweans could be deported from South Africa by the end of this year as the government announced it would refuse to renew a special visa category created for Zimbabweans after large numbers fled political persecution before more than a decade. With unemployment at record levels and the economy stagnating, several of South Africa’s fastest-growing opposition parties have adopted anti-foreigner rhetoric as a weapon in their political arsenal. Some have marched in restaurants and other workplaces, demanding proof that their foreign workers have legal documents. The leaders of these parties often exaggerated the number of foreigners in the country or in the labor market, despite research showing that immigrants hold only 10 to 12 percent of jobs in the restaurant and construction sectors where they typically work. Studies also show that immigrants to South Africa, on balance, create jobs and contribute to economic growth. Vigilante groups often accuse foreigners of drug-trafficking and other crimes, although there is no evidence that immigrants commit crimes at a higher rate than South Africans – and immigrants are often victims of crime. From 2018 to April this year, more than 3,000 foreign nationals were murdered in South Africa and about 3,600 were victims of attempted murder, according to a report by the SABC, the public broadcaster, citing parliamentary information. The Institute for Security Studies, an Africa-based think tank, says anti-foreign vigilante groups are becoming more organized this year, adopting official names, branding, merchandising and leadership structures. Several recent attacks on foreigners around Johannesburg “could be a harbinger of more widespread violence across the country if community vigilante groups are not reined in by law enforcement,” the institute said in a report last month. The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
