Ubuntu And Xenophobia Incongruities and the 2019 South African Elections Impetus

Abstract

Since the increase of post-colonial migrant labour to South Africa, black South Africans have at times violently attacked the black migrants from other African countries on the pretext that they were stealing their jobs. While initially the attacks were seen as sporadic and spontaneous, there has been instances where there was clear incitement from the politicians. This is ironic given that South Africa is seen as one of the birth places of humanism, popularly termed, Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a deep concept that denotes the humane communitarian nature of sub-Saharan African societies. It is also a concept that defines the community’s interaction with fellow human beings outside the immediate community. To visitors, the concept was one of pure hospitality and mutual respect. That the general term, “Ubuntu” has South African roots tells of the strong links of the concept with South Africa. However, the end of colonialism and the coming in of competitive multi-party politics seems to have come with a negation of the concept in South Africa, especially under the 2019 elections where political leaders stalked the fire of xenophobia for political mileage. This paper analyses the relationship between elections and xenophobia in South Africa and questions if at all the South African leadership is sincere to a concept that also influenced other African states to sacrifice a lot for its independence.

Keywords: Ubuntu, Xenophobia, South Africa, Elections, Africa, Migration