Immigrant responses to xenophobia in post-apartheid South Africa: from victims to agents (the case of Nigeria)

Abstract

This study, titled "Immigrant Responses to Xenophobia in Post-Apartheid South Africa: From Victims to Agents" and sub-titled "The Case of Nigeria," centres on the responses of Nigerian immigrants in South Africa and those in Nigeria to xenophobia in South Africa after 1994. Xenophobia against black African foreign nationals is an unremitting problem in postapartheid South Africa. A new context with South African companies moving into the rest of Africa has shifted the balance of forces. Studies on xenophobia frequently portray black African foreign nationals as passive victims. This thesis will contest that one-sided characterisation by showing that migrants have actively counter-organised to defend themselves at multiple scales, from local to national to transnational. In doing so, the following questions will serve as the study's compass: How have Nigerian immigrants mobilised in defensive networks as a way of surviving and deflecting xenophobic violence and attitudes towards them in South Africa? What are the multiple geographical scales at which this activity occurs (local, national, and transnational)? What is the response of South African companies in Nigeria to xenophobic counteraction? How do we understand violence of the poor against the poor or “non-revolutionary” violence? From a translocal perspective, what collective power do local and international actors generate, and how does this create a more comprehensive account of xenophobia and migration? What are the limits of transnational power? The pro-active counter-mobilisation of Nigerian nationals in local, national, and transnational networks is a mechanism for surviving and reducing xenophobic violence in South Africa, but this has been inadequately explored. This in-depth qualitative study combined semistructured interviews with 22 key local informants in Gauteng and two interviews with key informants vested in the trade relations between South Africa and Nigeria.