How did South Africa produce an anti-African movement?

In a country where xenophobia has a legacy, a recent well-funded iteration has emerged that feeds on post-apartheid failures and local insecuritiesDon’t already get The Long Wave in your inbox? Sign up hereIt’s been a terrifying few weeks in South Africa. A campaign against African immigrants has gathered steam, resulting in the deaths of at least four people and the mass fleeing of thousands of others. I spoke to Fezokuhle Mthonti, a cultural historian and writer based in Johannesburg, about what’s driving the campaign, and how it threatens to tear apart the very fabric of South Africa.“Abahambe!”, translating to “They must go!”, is the campaign and protest movement’s battle cry. Mobs and protesters have so terrified African migrants in South Africa that thousands are sleeping on pavements in fear of being attacked in their homes, and hoping for repatriation to their home countries. Malawian, Ghanaian, Nigerian and Zimbabwean governments are among those that have so far arranged for tens of thousands to return. It’s a distressing state of affairs for a country that many African migrants saw as a place of hope and opportunity. Continue reading...