South Africa: Xenophobic Tensions in South Africa Point to Governance Failures, Not an Inevitable Social Crisis

South Africa's xenophobia crisis is not driven by a lack of laws or awareness, but by the failure to consistently prevent violence and hold perpetrators accountable. As new anti-migrant threats emerge, the state's response will test whether it can break a cycle of impunity.

Anti-migrant groups, including Operation Dudula and March and March, have issued an ultimatum demanding that "undocumented" non-citizens leave South Africa by 30 June.

Reports from affected communities describe intimidation through harassment, verbal threats and demands that individuals produce identification documents or proof of their immigration status in the country. None of this is new. We have seen disturbing outbursts of xenophobic violence and attacks repeatedly and recall the specific episodes of xenophobic violence in SA in 2008 and 2015.

What follows is also familiar: civil society mobilisation, public condemnation, inflammatory rhetoric from political leaders, a brief period of attention from state actors followed by institutional drift until the next outbreak. The problem is not the lack of awareness of xenophobia - it is its repetition without accountability.

The absence of proactive action by police and justice actors is particularly concerning. Effective enforcement does not begin with arrests; it begins with timely and effective investigations. Yet allegations of xenophobic violence and incitement are too often met with inadequate investigative responses, undermining the possibility of subsequent arrests and prosecutions. The result is that perpetrators frequently face little meaningful accountability.

Xenophobic violence in SA is often mischaracterised. It is frequently treated as a...