Political Economy and the Dialectics of Xenophobia in Post- Apartheid South Africa

Abstract

This article addresses the question surrounding the political economy of the dialectics of xenophobia
in South Africa. Hinging on qualitative methodology, data was drawn from both primary and
secondary sources using key informant interviews, focus group discussion and archival materials
respectively. Field evidence and data that was interrogated and analyzed thematically using content
analysis, revealed that internal discontentment and contradictions in South Africa including social
and economic inequalities, corruption, leadership deficit, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and
political rhetoric that opportunistically pit indigenous, economically less privileged South Africans
against foreign Africans that are in South Africa to eke out a living and carry out their legitimate
economic businesses, underpin the political economy of the xenophobic violence in South Africa.
It is therefore recommended that the prevailing socio-economic conditions in post-apartheid
South Africa, must be conscientiously addressed in order to address the problem of xenophobia.