The term “xenophobia” is deemed synonymous to SA. One would think that our country is the only one on the African continent battling with the crisis of hatred and discrimination against immigrants. Nothing could be further from the truth. The entire African continent is confronted with xenophobia. The fundamental difference between almost all countries and SA is that our country is extremely violent.
As such, xenophobia here interplays with violence, resulting in the maiming and killing of immigrants. While this rarely happens in other countries, they are not less xenophobia than we are. Their xenophobia is institutionalised and embedded in legislation — presenting itself as rational and just. An example of this is Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans are fighting against the termination of special dispensation permits and other provisions that they were afforded by the SA government. It's a principled fight, because they came here as refugees and asylum seekers, and have lived in our country for many years. They have integrated into our society.
But this is not something that would happen in Zimbabwe, because Zimbabwe doesn't integrate refugees and asylum seekers. Zimbabwe uses the encampment refugee policy that prohibits refugees and asylum seekers from staying outside a refugee camp. When you're a refugee or asylum seeker in Zimbabwe, you can't even look for employment.
It may take over a decade before you get basic documentation. Your life is restricted to the confines of the Tongogara refugee camp located on the Mozambican border — over 500km from the economic nerve centre of the country. Life in these camps is unbearable. Food is scarce. In fact, just a few months ago, Zimbabwean authorities expelled 60 Congolese refugees from the camp for stealing food.
These hungry and desperate people were sent back to a country whose eastern region is battling a devastating civil war — all because they were starved and stole food for sustenance. Zimbabweans kept quiet about this injustice. Not a single protest in defence of the human rights of these refugees. Not a word even from some of the most respected human rights organisations.
Zimbabwean laws are also very exclusionary to non-citizens. Zimbabwe has one of the most stringent job reservation laws in the Sadc region. Under the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, which has not been repealed, almost all jobs in all sectors are reserved for Zimbabweans. Section 3A of that act is clear on this.
The retail sector in particular, which Zimbabweans dominate in SA, is strictly reserved for Zimbabweans. Even with foreign direct investment, a foreigner can never have a controlling stake in a Zimbabwean company. It is law.
Access to basic services in Zimbabwe are also important to reflect upon. Access to public healthcare, for example, is restricted to Zimbabwean citizens and permanent residents. This is vividly expressed in section 76 of the country's constitution.
Some rights explicitly denote that they are for “every person”, but healthcare is unambiguously “every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe”. And it's important to note that the attainment of both permanent residency and citizenship in particular, is a Herculean task.
While some Malawians and Zambians became naturalised citizens decades after immigrating to Zimbabwe, many years ago, it wasn’t a seamless process. Even more, they faced and continue to face discrimination from native Zimbabweans who generally refer to them as “vabvakure” (those coming from far) or “mabwidi”, a derogatory term describing immigrants from these countries as dimwits.
Zimbabweans, like all other Africans, must reflect deeply on what they allow in their country — which reflects the xenophobia that they challenge in SA. And xenophobia in our country must be challenged, because it is a regressive construct. But the narrative that SA alone is xenophobic is false and allows other countries to exercise their own xenophobic practices with impunity.
If we are serious about confronting xenophobia, we must be honest about its extent.
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