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Roots of xenophobia and genocide

“They must go home!”

“We don’t want them here!”

“They take our jobs!”

“They work for R50. We can’t afford to work for R50!”

“They bring disease!”

“They are criminals and must go home!”

These cries have been in the news; there are horrible, disturbing photos in the newspapers and on television, frightening anger has spewed out on radio talk shows. 

Supporting the anger there is the despair of trampled dreams. The decades of promises are just promises. Reality is an empty shelf in a shack with nothing to cook tonight for crying children who will be stilled by exhaustion and not by full bellies. Reality is children providing food for children, having to educate themselves and their brothers and sisters. Service delivery protest is followed by promises and the promises are followed by seething unhappiness when they are not met. This is not an issue of people who think they are entitled to have government look after them; many millions of people are not able to create work or generate an income in South Africa.

Basic needs that are unfulfilled is a risk factor for genocide. It is obviously just one of the risk factors and if it is the only factor, we will probably just have sad, cold, hungry and unhappy people not genocide. There are other factors that lead to people committing extreme atrocities which I will briefly mention.

Ideology gives an intellectual reason to commit atrocities. There are some claims that there are signs of an emerging ideology around the xenophobia in South Africa. Foreigners are being blamed for the lack of jobs, for the suffering South Africans are experiencing. Dramatic changes in a society often underlie some of the problems a society has and can be hard to absorb. People can start projecting these problems onto a group. In South Africa that seems to be onto foreigners; disgruntled rumblings have been heard for a long time. Foreigners are scapegoated; they are blamed for unemployment, lack of health resources, problems in housing and so on. The message is that for the good of the country foreigners need to be removed. This vindicates violence towards foreigners. Further approval is given by blaming the victim: “He got what was coming to him!” When people are dehumanised, their suffering is easy to dismiss.

A culture that encourages obedience to authority is a risk factor for people to harm one another. In authoritarian societies, people don’t learn to think and evaluate their behaviour. They act because they are told to or because they believe it is required of them. Many people in South Africa have cultures which encourage unthinking obedience to authority. We saw the effects of this before during atrocities committed during apartheid. We don’t need to again.

A history of violence is dangerous and a risk factor for extreme harm to people. Once I have been violent, especially if there have been no repercussions it is easier to use violence again, especially if there is community support to engage in violence. If there is support from authorities the danger is compounded. Violence tends to escalate, especially when it can be justified. We are a society that has been exposed to extreme violence over decades and we can too easily resort to violence.

It is scary to realise how many factors are in place for serious problems to develop in South Africa. We are maybe fortunate that people seem to realise that it is dangerous. What do we need to do to prevent the situation from escalating?

Leaders must think carefully before they speak and speak with wisdom. We need to demand this from all leaders; from politicians, from teachers, from ministers of religion, from community leaders. It is not only leaders who have this responsibility; we all have. We need to use social media responsibly and check our facts before spreading messages. We need to clearly express that xenophobia is unacceptable in every way, while supporting South Africans who are struggling.

Ervin Staub, who has researched the development of genocide, focusses on the importance of bystanders. Passive bystanders don’t get involved and may give the impression that they approve of the behaviour of the perpetrators. Active bystanders clearly say the actions of perpetrators are not acceptable, they support people who have been targeted and protect their dignity. They demonstrate moral courage, acting according to their values, even if others don’t agree with them. The important point is that we are all in a position to prevent xenophobia from advancing. We don’t want to live in a country that harms others and we need to all take on the responsibility of preventing further violence.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
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