Attacking foreigners won’t solve poverty and inequality, but it could unravel democracy – Richard Pithouse

CapeTalk's Clarence Ford chats to Richard Pithouse, research fellow at the Global Centre for Advanced Studies.

Listen below:

"The way in which xenophobia has been mobilised as a scapegoat to misdirect people's energies and anger and fear... that is something that is very characteristic of this particular moment in time."

- Richard Pithouse, Research Fellow - Global Centre for Advanced Studies

Xenophobia is not only morally corrosive but also politically dangerous, argues Pithouse in his recent Mail and Guardian opinion piece. 

He warns that scapegoating migrants distracts from the real causes of poverty and inequality in South Africa. 

Pithouse emphasises that migration is not the root of the country’s economic challenges, and blaming foreigners will not resolve issues like unemployment or hunger.

"It's not surprising that if people are told that the reason why they don't have the things they need is because someone else has them, that is going to incite real social hostility. But that isn't the reality. If every single person who was born in another country, every migrant left South Africa next week... poor people would still be poor – that is not the cause of poverty. It's not the reason why the middle classes are sinking into debt and struggling to make it through the month... the causes of social suffering are structural and much, much more complicated than that kind of simple scapegoating would allow us to understand."

- Richard Pithouse, Research Fellow - Global Centre for Advanced Studies

"Many people inhabit desperate circumstances... under desperate circumstances, the temptation to think that there's a simple explanation for one's suffering is always going to be there. Migration is not the cause of impoverishment in South Africa, and turning on migrants not only will fail to enable us to understand the real causes of our problems and to deal with them... but also distract us politically from dealing with those problems. That's not unique to South Africa. We see that all over the world."

- Richard Pithouse, Research Fellow - Global Centre for Advanced Studies

Pithouse criticises politicians and groups such as Operation Dudula for fuelling xenophobic sentiment under the guise of law enforcement, calling their actions "criminal" and contrary to the principles of human dignity and international solidarity. 

He describes the harassment of migrants at hospitals and in public spaces as a betrayal of South Africa’s post-apartheid values and constitutionally protected rights.

Pithouse says unless political leadership decisively rejects xenophobic rhetoric and acts to uphold the law, society risks further division, violence, and erosion of democratic values.

"I mean, this could be stopped in a day if the right instruction came from the right person."

- Richard Pithouse, Research Fellow - Global Centre for Advanced Studies

RELATED:

• Operation Dudula scapegoats foreigners for poor service delivery - Dr Simon Howell, criminologist 
• Facebook under fire as anti-migrant hate spreads online in South Africa

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