Xenophobia attacks and africa’s regional integration .Acase of South africa’s xenophobia attacks from 2000-2015

ABSTRACT

TheissueofxenophobiaattacksinSouthAfricahasbecomeaproblematicphenomenoninthe

AfricancontinentwiththecasesofZambiaandSouthAfrica.Thisxenophobictendenceisbased

onprejudiceandhatreddirectedtowardsforeignnationalsspecificallyblackAfricanswhoare

deemedbythenativegroupsaspersistentthreatstotheirentitlementslikeemploymentsecurity,

accommodation,resourcedistributionandothervariousopportunitieswithinthepolitical,

economic,socio-culturalandtechnologicalpremisesjusttomentionthesefew.Assuch,the

purposeofthisresearchworkwastoestablishthebackgroundofthephenomenonofxenophobia

anditsrelatedviolenceintheSouthAfricancontext,whatrippleeffectsitsbringsaboutin

variouslevelsofthesocietyandhowitinturnaffectstheideaofAfrica'sregionalintegrationin

bi-lateralandmulti-lateralstateinteractionplatforms.Itwasalsodweltuponthatregional

integrationisafeasiblealternativetobringaboutthemuchneededdevelopmentinacollective

effortandoutcomebasis.Variousschoolsofthoughtsupportthisnotionastheygenerallyagree

thatAfricanstatesaregenerallyweakandvulnerablethereforetheyshouldachieveunityof

purposetoensureforcollectivedevelopmentaswellasestablishingsovereigntyandsecurity

from externalinterventionexercisesbysuperpowersintheinternationalarena.Various

conclusionshavebeenreachedfrominformationgatheredduringtheresearchastotheopinions,

viewsandcommentsfrom respondentsthatwereconsultedandfurtherrecommendationswere

providedastowhatmorethatcanbedonetomitigatetheproblemofxenophobicattackswhich

wouldconsequentlyensureforthesuccessfulrealisationofthevariouseffortstowardsregional

integrationontheAfricancontinen