Anticipation & Ideological Reproduction: Discussing Migration and Global Isolation in Apartheid South Africa

Over the past two decades, South Africa has faced waves of xenophobic violence, specifically targeted at migrants from other African nations. The topic of xenophobia in South Africa has received extensive scholarly attention, often rooting its origins in the socio-economic struggles of the population and projected onto foreign nationals. Bronwyn Harris (2002) conceptualizes xenophobia in South Africa according to three hypotheses: scapegoating hypothesis, isolation hypothesis, and the biocultural hypothesis. In this chapter, I critically explore and discuss the isolation hypothesis in further detail. I focus specifically on the periods between the introduction of the 1983 constitution and the later 1996 constitution. During this time, black South Africans were confined to “homelands” and deprived of citizenship rights. Simultaneously, migrant labour from neighbouring countries was required to work the mines and maintain international relations in the face of international sanctions. I therefore pay close attention to the foreign policy of the government in relation to the 1986 international sanctions, and the interactions of isolated/segregated black South Africans to African migrant workers. I critically examine the role and impact of the international community on Apartheid South Africa, and discuss what legacies they had on the nation post-1994. Through this exploration, I wish to open a dialogue on the legacies of power relations and their decolonial implications.