Xenophobia reports released

  • GCRO
  • Date of publication: 31 July 2010

South African Civil Society and Xenophobia
(Johannesburg, July 2010)

This comprehensive 500-page report, coordinated by Strategy & Tactics, was written by some of South Africa's leading social and political scientists as well as civil society activists. The report analyses the conditions that allowed xenophobic violence to erupt in South Africa in May 2008, leaving 62 people dead.

But its real focus is on civil society organisations, which played a key role in mitigating the worst of the violence and assisting victims, while the state dithered.

The report includes comparative chapters looking at the post-election violence in Kenya and the genocide in the Great Lakes region, and provides the first comprehensive and progressive review of civil society in South Africa for many years.

The study offers a host of recommendations for civil society organisations, both in regard to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers - a chapter specifically written by migrant civil society organisations operating within South Africa is included. The study also comments more generally on what is needed to maintain the strength, visibility and coherence that this critical sector displayed in the transition to democracy, and again in responding to xenophobic violence.

The full report can be downloaded below

OR

ordered on CD ROM (free of charge) by clicking on the following order form (email g.bayne@atlanticphilanthropies.org)

List of Contents:

(Please note that downloads may be slow depending on your network connection. To open a chapter (in pdf) in a new browser window, click on the links below; or right click and select save target as (in Internet Explorer) or save link as (in Firefox) to save to a file).

Synthesis Report

  1. Overview & prospects
    David Everatt, Strategy & Tactics/Gauteng City-Region Observatory
  2. Summary of findings and recommendations
    Jenny Parsley, independent researcher
    David Everatt, Strategy & Tactics/Gauteng City-Region Observatory
  3. Setting the scene: Migration and urbanisation in South Africa
    Sally Peberdy, University of the Western Cape
  4. ‘What happened’ A narrative of the May 2008 xenophobic violence
    Annsilla Nyar, Gauteng City-Region Observatory
  5. ‘Xenophobia and civil society: Why did it happen?
    Patrick Bond, Trevor Ngwane and Baruti Amisi, Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal
  6. Problematising civil society: On what terrain does xenophobia flourish?
    Patrick Bond, Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal
    Mary Galvin, independent researcher
    Mazibuko Jara, independent researcher and co-editor of Amandla
    Trevor Ngwane, Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal
  7. The media’s coverage of xenophobia and the xenophobic violence prior to and including May 2008
    Matthew Smith, Strategy & Tactics
  8. Migrant voices
    Baruti Amisi, Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal
  9. Genocide and the Great Lakes Region
    Matthew Smith, Strategy & Tactics
  10. Stopping a conflagration: The response of Kenyan civil society to the post-2007 election violence
    Karuti Kanyinga, Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

Case Studies

  1. ‘That violence was just the beginning…’: Views on ‘foreigners’ and the May 2008 xenophobic violence as expressed in focus groups staged at the time
    David Everatt, Strategy & Tactics/Gauteng City-Region Observatory
  2. Progressive humanitarian and social mobilisation in a neo-apartheid Cape Town: a report on civil society and the May 2008 xenophobic violence
    Mazibuko Jara, independent researcher and co-editor of Amandla
    Sally Peberdy, University of the Western Cape
  3. Xenophobia and civil society: Durban’s structured social divisions
    Baruti Amisi, Patrick Bond, Nokuthula Cele, Rebecca Hinley, Faith ka Manzi, Welcome Mwelase, Orlean Nairoo, Trevor Ngwane, Samantha Shwarer, Sheperd Zvavanhu, Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal
  4. ‘Many shades of the truth’: the Ramaphosa case study
    Nobayethi Dube, Strategy & Tactics
  5. Khutsong and xenophobic violence: Exploring the case of the dog that didn’t bark
    Joshua Kirschner and Comfort Phokela, Centre for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg
  6. Towards addressing the root causes of social tensions: evaluating civil society and local government responses to xenophobic violence in Alexandra
    Luke Sinwell and Neo Podi, Centre for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg
  7. Social movement responses to xenophobia: a case study of the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee, the Anti-Privatization Forum and The Coalition Against Xenophobia
    Trevor Ngwane and Nonhlanhla Vilakazi, Centre for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg
  8. COSATU’s responses to xenophobia
    Mondli Hlatshwayo, Centre for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg
  9. One centre of power: The African National Congress and the violence of May, 2008
    Steven Friedman, Centre for the Study of Democracy, Rhodes University/University of Johannesburg
  10. ‘Business as usual’: The response of the corporate sector to the May 2008 xenophobic attacks
    Annsilla Nyar, Gauteng City-Region Observatory
  11. The response of churches to the violence of 2008
    Sizwe Phakathi, Gauteng City-Region Observatory
  12. Responding to the May 2008 xenophobic attacks: A case study of The Gift of the Givers
    Ashwin Desai, Centre for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg
  13. ‘Visible and vulnerable’: Asian migrant communities in South Africa
    Yoon Jung Park,, Centre for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg
    Pragna Rugunanan, Department of Sociology, University of Johannesburg
  14. The right to respond: A meta-review of the role of the South African media’s coverage of xenophobia and the xenophobic violence prior to and including May 2008
    Matthew Smith, Strategy & Tactics

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