Xenophobic Violence in South Africa

South Africa is currently experiencing an uncontrolled out burst of violence against foreigners. Nigerians, Congolese, Zimbabweans, Somali, Mozambican, Pakistani, and Indian people have been subjected to attacks and murder. This latest incident represents a number of problems in South Africa. The myth of the rainbow nation is collapsing in the miasma of racial hatred. The removal of the apartheid regime did not solve the issue of lingering ethnic conflict. The biggest challenge is the level of poverty and economic inequality. The ANC has failed the population by repudiating its socialist principles in favor of neoliberal capitalism. South Africa must control the level of  immigration, because the result will be a population victim to scapegoating and a level of second class citizenship. The ANC must address the increase in crime across the country. A more competent police force is needed to prevent xenophobic riots and violence. If this crisis is not adequately addressed, South Africa could become a failed state.
       Poverty is a global challenge, but in some nations the effects as much worse. South Africa's population is suffering from the damages of economic inequality. During Apartheid, the African majority was excluded from high salary occupations. African workers could not fully organize into labor unions.Even with the collapse of the Apartheid regime, labor disputes are common place. The Marikana uprising was a demonstration of the frustration of miners. The platinum miners staged a strike in 2012, only to be met with violence. Their demands for higher pay and improved working conditions were reasonable, but the police and the state reacted with repression. This massacre proves that workers have little collective bargaining rights. The push for racial equality did not follow economic equality. The Afrikanners still own the majority of the farmland in which African people are employed. British corporations still have an abnormal amount of control of South Africa's industry. These areas should be in the hands of Africans, not white colonizers.Poor Africans are still victims to the legacy of political and social oppression.  

Xenophobia among South Africa proves that the rainbow nation concept is false. 

          South Africa has failed to control the level of immigration. Zimbabwe,which is subject to western attack through sanctions has added intense hardship on the population. Zimbabweans have no choice but to immigrate, because of limited economic opportunities. South Africa is one of Africa's largest economies, but this does not mean it can provide for thousands of people coming into the country.Immigration must be controlled and orderly. Otherwise, it puts extra burden on a country with a multitude of problems. Many new immigrants go into business ventures opening shops. South Africans at a lower socioeconomic level feel as if they are being marginalized even more. They have to compete with low skill labor coming into the country. Just like the West, employers look for a labor force that is easily exploitable. They realize that immigrants without citizenship do not have power. Therefore  their wages can remain low and companies will not have to improve working conditions. Immigrants prove a perfect scapegoat in which will redirect attention elsewhere. There is a massive amount of government corruption in South Africa, but immigrants are the focus of people's rage.  

     Recent xenophobic violence demonstrates the incompetence of the police force. It is clear that at times police were unable to stop criminals and extremists who terrorized the population. Besides incompetence of police, there were some who ignored criminal activity completely. Shops were looted and people murdered. This spark in violence was more lethal than the xenophobic riots in 2008. South Africa has a crime wave, which the ANC seems unable to recognize. The government's failure to protect its citizens as well as maintain law and order ruins the ANC's credibility. The only solution is a compete redevelopment of the police force to counter future mass violence. The ANC has to do this if it wants to regain the trust of the public. A discussion about policing cannot take place without an examination of corruption at the apex of the structure. Jacob Zuma as president of South Africa has proven to be an ineffective leader. Even worse, is his use of government funds for personal  use and military intervention in the African Central Republic. President Zuma was slow to react to the mass violence. This is a symbol of a person who either agrees with these actions or does not consider  violence and crime relevant. 

       South Africa must make pivotal decisions if it is going to survive. It must create an atmosphere in which its citizens are safe. Immigrants should not be subject to scapegoating and violence. The real culprits of South African woes are the same western powers that attempted to maintain and supported apartheid. Now they still maintain control by certain mining corporations and international banks.The IMF and World Bank will never provide a solution to African economic turmoil. This recent xenophobic violence is the result of economic decay, western imperialism, and a corrupt government only concerned about remaining in power.