south africa xenophobia

Local people and immigrants have faced discrimination and even violence in South Africa due to competition for scarce economic opportunities. Xenophobia has a long and complex history and many instances of state sanctioned Xenophobia can be found in South Africa's history. For example, in 1820, poor English migrants or settlers sought a better life in the Zuurveld region (now Albany) and emigrated to this area under a government scheme. A series of Xhosa Wars had dispossessed Xhosa tribes of their land and had made this migration possible. This Xhosa dispossession / English expansion continued. In 1835, land west of the Kei River was annexed by Benjamin D'urban (this was reversed) and then again in 1847, when the British Empire extended its influence beyond the Cape of Good hope into an undefined area and appointed Sir Harry Smith as Governor and High Commissioner of the Cape Colony. Who conquered the Ngqika and the Ndlambe, and re-annexed Kaffraria. Smith was also known for his pantomimes of power, including blowing up wagons when negotiating with local chiefs
After majority rule in 1994, contrary to expectations, the incidence of xenophobia increased. In 2008, at least 62 people were killed in the xenophobic uprising and attacks. In 2015, another nationwide spike in xenophobic attacks against immigrants in general prompted a number of foreign governments to begin repatriating their citizens. A Pew Research poll conducted in 2018 showed that 62% of South Africans expressed negative sentiment about foreign nationals living and working in South Africa, believing that immigrants are a burden on society by taking jobs and social benefits and that 61% of South Africans thought that immigrants were more responsible for crime than other groups. There is no factual evidence to substantiate the notion that immigrants are the main culprits of criminal activity in South Africa, even though the claim is incorrectly made sometimes by politicians and public figures. Between 2010 and 2017 the number of foreigners living in South Africa increased from 2 million people to 4 million people. The proportion of South Africa's total population that is foreign born increased from 2.8% in 2005 to 7% in 2019, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration, South Africa is the largest recipient of immigrants on the African continent.

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