The link between public violence and xenophobia in South Africa.

Violent protest is used to claim or consolidate power and authority while furthering political and economic interests.

South African media last year published an unsettling interview with Mandla Matikinya, a branch leader of the ANC Youth League. 

In it he advocated looting foreign-owned shops over schools and public buildings. This was in the wake of the violence that followed the governing ANC’s choice of a mayoral candidate for the Tshwane metropole.

Over the past decade South Africa has seen a strong connection between political protests and the looting of foreign-owned business. The question is: why?

The simple answer is that local leaders need protests to maintain their power and legitimacy. And the protesters need to be fed. Looting is the way to fill their stomachs.

The frequent connection between public protest and attacks on foreign-owned shops nationwide should be understood against the backdrop of the fragmented, patrimonial politics characterising many South African townships. In some instances it may stem from opposition party action, but there is no evidence of a “third force”, as government officials have occasionally suggested.

Local political aspirants and office holders often organise violent protests to attract attention and resources from the local, provincial and national government.

If we understand protesters as infantry working for local leaders, looting sustains a mercenary army. Given the reluctance of police or citizens to aid foreign shop keepers, they are easy targets.

This puts investment in the economy, personal safety and the democratic political process at risk.

Informal and indirect township rule.

The violence speaks to broader concerns about how South Africa’s townships are governed. While ward councillors and officials have their place, many spaces are effectively controlled by an alternative, informal politics.

Some structures descend from the violent struggle against apartheid. These include civic associations, hostels or other community “safety groups” that are well established as de facto administrators and governors.

Other structures are led by politicians excluded from party lists or electoral success. To negotiate their way back into the fold or simply to access the benefits of office, informal political actors create parallel regimes, often with the complicity of officials, police and elected politicians.

Our research, the findings of which are set to be released later this year, shows that, recognising the power such people hold, the ANC has in many instances institutionalised a system of indirect rule in which it attempts to co-opt and contain these informal authority systems and rogue appointees.

The Mamelodi case study
In recent months, researchers from the African Centre for Migration and Society have been visiting townships to study this phenomenon.

In Mamelodi, the site of some of the most recent violent protests, we came across the Phomolong Residents’ Association, a group loosely affiliated with the United Democratic Movement, one of the country’s smaller opposition parties.

This association is the de facto community leadership structure in the Phomolong informal settlement, where violent attacks on foreign nationals usually start before spreading to other areas.

As is the case with similar bodies across the country, the association has largely supplanted local leadership and authority. Its activities include providing residents with the documentary proof of residence they need to access services at local institutions. It also provides varied conflict resolution interventions.

Full story at Mail & Guardian Africa.

By Loren B Landau & Jean Pierre Misago.