Community involvement in xenophobic attacks 

Most xenophobic conflicts portray sections of the community as being extremely hostile towards foreign nationals. But there is some ambiguity, especially in urban areas where South African traders have tensions with foreign traders.

What has happened is that communities form relationships with the traders, that are capable of more than one interpretation. On the one hand, they are seen- by many who have testified- as often being beneficial to local communities, offering goods at lower prices than South African traders or providing credit to communities and keeping their shops open for long hours.

This creates a bond between them and the foreign traders, who can lower prices through their sharing resources, with other traders in bulk buying. However, this bond- with communities- is not without ambiguity, as there are also instances where the same people who speak highly of foreign traders act opportunistically during attacks against foreign traders and join other looters in robbing them. This has been admitted by members of many local communities and is documented in media records.

Additionally, when local traders in the Western Cape claimed that foreign traders had an advantage they couldn't compete with, some foreign traders offered to train local traders in what they knew and practised, and business practices the local traders did not practice or know.

This was documented by Professor Heribert Adam of Canada. It is not at all established that foreign traders use unfair methods to succeed in their trade. What is important to note is that the success they have is in an extremely unfair situation, where they have a fragile presence in communities. They think it is safe, but time and again, that safety is shattered by incidents, as we have seen in recent months.

The truth of the matter is that the relationship between foreign traders and communities does not conform to one narrative.

Many of these foreign traders provide services that other trading outlets do not offer. They are willing to give credit in many cases and if they sell cigarettes or similar small items, they do not necessarily expect patrons to buy a full packet. They may sell one cigarette at a time.

They are open for long hours, early in the morning before children go to school, and late at night, and this is the pattern of work which has often integrated the traders into local communities. On the other hand, when there are attacks on such traders and someone has broken the security of their shops, local people, sometimes ones who have formed close relationships with these traders, also engage in the looting that follows. In other words, the same individuals do not want the traders to leave because of the way they operate. They do not think it is legitimate to attack their shops, but at the same time, because of their poverty and vulnerability, such people are often willing to engage in raids on the shops. They feel a bit ashamed of or embarrassed by it, but they nevertheless do it.

Xenophobia violates foundational humanistic values

There are many violations of various kinds that go unpunished in South Africa- notably the Marikana massacre and killings that demonstrate indifference to human lives. While we must demand the return to foundational humanistic values and abiding by the law, there is no doubt that the impact of repeated violations casts doubt on the current standing of the law.

There is not a strong force or understanding advancing rights and duties for all and especially for foreign migrants in South Africa today. We cannot restrict ourselves to who should be in cabinet. How we relate to xenophobia cannot simply be individualised as in calling for removal of specific actors or perpetrators from public positions they may hold. While it is desirable to remove such people from public posts, we also need to advance a set of values that explain what is at stake.

Spirituality

There is sometimes recourse to spiritual underpinnings to advance a non-xenophobic stance. In almost all spiritualities there are notions like “Jesus was a refugee”, “welcome the stranger” or ubuntu,  evoking notions of universalism. The church and other faith based bodies can have an important impact on this limiting of xenophobia. Both the present Pope, LeoXIV and his immediate predecessor, the late Pope Francis, provided messages calling for respect and compassion.

Limited legal basis

That they act against these foreign nationals is illegal and reinforces insecurity. Foreign nationals who are legally present should be secure and with their legal rights secured. Those allegedly without papers are also entitled to due process and not automatically thrown in prison or deported.

When xenophobes want to justify their actions or sentiments, they tend to refer to legal reasons for curbing the presence of foreign nationals, the porous borders we have. In fact, when foreign traders or workers are attacked, attackers do not follow legal prescripts or try to examine the legal basis for removal of these people, compared with others whose presence is acknowledged to have a legal basis. In fact, most of the time there is not a substantial distinction between those with a legal basis for their presence in South Africa and “illegals”. Attackers generally do not ask (or have the authority to ask) who amongst the migrants have a legal basis for being in South Africa and ignore what qualities create a legal basis.

It may be (“may” because there are no statistics) that xenophobia is no longer a phenomenon emanating from individuals-It may be that attacking foreign nationals may now be a phenomenon that enjoys popular support, even in areas with a significant struggle background as in Atteridgeville and parts of the East Rand. This is a dangerous phenomenon, deriving from a politics that is indifferent to ethical questions.

The problem of xenophobia and the need for moral clarity in South Africa

It is important that we should not restrict our commentary on Gayton McKenzie's outburst to whether or not he should remain a member of the Cabinet. McKenzie might be removed, although it seems unlikely in the light of the low weight that is placed on xenophobia and the number of cabinet ministers who have made such statements.

The xenophobic threat remains. Why it remains a problem is that there is no clarity as to why or whether xenophobia is wrong or whether we are confronted by xenophobic incidents in South Africa and whether we have a discourse in this country that has been more or less condoned, where xenophobic statements are not regarded as wrong and the discourse on too many foreigners in the country, porous borders and similar things are not part of people's consciousness of what is considered wrong and contrary to the freedom provided in 1994 and 1996.

It's important that we have people grow up in a country that does not condone certain things. There are certain values, mainly in regard to apartheid manifestations, but it does not seem that there is a moral question in people's minds regarding the wrongness of xenophobia. That must be remedied because to practise xenophobic statements and behaviour is to spit on the freedom of all who live in South Africa.

We need to understand and spread the notion that freedom belongs to all, and it is not freedom where some people are excluded. We must find the modalities for working this out in a way that does not repeatedly create hurtful attacks on foreign nationals as with the poisons allegedly emanating from some of the spaza shops. When one examines the evidence presented on that and many other cases, it's clear that a lower threshold is applied for people who are foreign nationals. That must be ended.

Raymond Suttner is an emeritus professor at Unisa, who spent over 11 years as a political prisoner. He was in the leadership of the UDF, ANC and SACP, but broke away at the time of the Jacob Zuma rape trial.