Why are anti-migrant attacks increasing in South Africa?
An Al Jazeera analysis reports a rapid rise in attacks targeting migrants across South Africa in recent months. Officials and analysts cite economic strain, social-media disinformation and the influence of far-right and populist movements as combined drivers.
South African Human Rights Commission chairperson Christopher Nissen told Al Jazeera that the commission has received a notably higher number of complaints about anti-migrant attacks in the past three months than in previous quarters. Reported incidents concentrate in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban.
Loren Landau, of the African Centre for Migration and Society at Wits University, said there is a direct correlation between economic stagnation, high unemployment and anti-migrant rhetoric. Groups including Operation Dudula run social-media campaigns built around document checks of foreign nationals. The South African Police Service confirmed 87 separate attack incidents over the past month.
Migrant community organisations and human-rights groups are pressing President Cyril Ramaphosa's government for a clearer position. The Ramaphosa cabinet said this week that the attacks were 'unacceptable' and that the Department of Home Affairs would review its document-checking protocols. African Union Commission chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said the AU was watching the situation closely.
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