Hatred is real: the media's role in exacerbating xenophobia

When news stories about refugees are written, only the bad things are shown

- ANTHONY KAMBI MASHA

FOREIGNERS, especially refugees in South Africa, face numerous challenges, including language barriers, discrimination, xenophobia, and financial difficulties. The perception of refugees is often negative, even when the host country benefits from them. Access to public resources is increasingly tied to citizenship and ethnicity, contributing to marginalisation. Refugees lack the power and voice to overcome these boundaries of exclusion and belonging, which hinder their full contribution to economic growth and development.

All South African cities have discourse exclusionary practices like name-calling, discrimination, prejudice, and outright violence and intimidation, but Greater Johannesburg has the most anti-refugee xenophobia.

Today, there is a dizzying array of labels to describe those who cross an international border. Humiliating and derogatory name-calling such as makwerekwere, amagrigamba, and amaGhana constitutes a form of bullying and classifies xenophobia towards refugees. Other names are alien and mkeres mooo, meaning an intruder. In isiZulu, refugees are referred to as abokufika, which means people who came from elsewhere. While such a designation may not necessarily be underpinned by malicious intentions, it classifies refugees as outsiders who do not belong to their adopted communities.

A study of YouTube videos featuring reports of xenophobic incidents in South Africa shows that discourse on xenophobia is based on the us/them dichotomy, emphasising the positive traits of the ingroup and the negative traits of the outgroup (refugees)