Xenophobia is the fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange.[1][2] Xenophobia can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and perceptions of an ingroup towards an outgroup, including a fear of losing identity, warranted suspicion of its activities based in facts and evidenced by repeated occurrences, such as, but not limited to: aggression by the outgroup toward the ingroup, and the outgroup's inherent desire to eliminate the ingroup's presence or existence to secure a presumed purity.[3] The outgroup may use such age old practices such as ethnic cleansing. In present day practice it can be subtle, such as the outgroup's refusal to assimilate into the host country. The outgroup may also manifest a takeover of ideals and long standing traditions by exherting influence in the court system and insisting the inhabitants of the host country or ingroup adhere to the cultural practices of the outgroup. Xenophobia can also be exhibited in the form of an "uncritical exaltation of another culture" in which a culture is ascribed "an unrealistic and docile quality".[3]
Dictionary definitions of xenophobia include: "deep-rooted fear towards foreigners" (Oxford English Dictionary; OED), and "fear of the unfamiliar" (Webster's).[4] The word comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning "strange", "foreigner", and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear".[5]
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Xenophobia in South Africa has been present in both the apartheid and post–apartheid eras. Hostility between the British and Boers exacerbated by the Second Boer War led to rebellion by poor Afrikaners who looted British-owned shops.[6] South Africa also passed numerous acts intended to keep out Indians, such as the Immigrants Regulation Act of 1913, which provided for the exclusion of "undesirables", a group of people that included Indians. This effectively halted Indian immigration. The Township Franchise Ordinance of 1924, Natal, was intended to "deprive Indians of municipal franchise."[7]
In 1994 and 1995, gangs of armed youth destroyed the homes of foreign nationals living in Johannesburg, demanding that the police work to repatriate them to their home countries.[8] In 2008, a widely documented spate of xenophobic attacks occurred in Johannesburg.[9][10][11] It is estimated that tens of thousands of migrants were displaced; property, businesses and homes were widely looted.[12] The death toll after the attack stood at 56.[13]
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