Is xenophobia in South Africa risking investment?
Key takeaways
- Vigilante groups and right-wing populist forces are stoking anti-immigrant sentiment and demanding that they leave the country by June 30.
- Now, protests against irregular migration have turned increasingly violent in multiple cities, driven by right-wing movements and vigilante groups demanding that undocumented migrants leave by June 30.
- Jo Veary, co-director of the African Center for Migration & Society at the University of the Witwatersrand, links radical protest groups to right-wing populist parties such as ActionSA, which she says are backing them.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Vigilante groups and right-wing populist forces are stoking anti-immigrant sentiment and demanding that they leave the country by June 30. Experts fear serious economic implications for the country and the region.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Fxw SSouth Africa has been gripped by anti-migrant protests that have caused mass evacuation of African foreigners Image: Ihsaan Haffejee/REUTERSAdvertisement In South Africa, hostility toward foreigners has flared repeatedly for decades. Now, protests against irregular migration have turned increasingly violent in multiple cities, driven by right-wing movements and vigilante groups demanding that undocumented migrants leave by June 30. Fears of escalation are rising.
Jo Veary, co-director of the African Center for Migration & Society at the University of the Witwatersrand, links radical protest groups to right-wing populist parties such as ActionSA, which she says are backing them.