South Africa’s turmoil

The violence against immigrants must be stopped

With at least seven people dead, anti-immigrant violence in South Africa has reached the point that military forces are now being deployed in Johannesburg.

The hostility toward newcomers is unfortunate because South Africa, as the strongest economy on the continent, is bound to attract immigrants in search of work. The 5 million migrants in its population of 51 million come from neighboring Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Ghana.

There’s nothing new about the violence aimed at immigrants by South Africans, particularly by ethnic Zulus. This time two important Zulu politicians, King Goodwill Zwelithini and Edward Zuma, the eldest son of South Africa’s president, have stirred up some of the hatred. King Goodwill in a speech said the immigrants were taking South Africans’ jobs and should leave the country. Mr. Zuma claimed there was a risk of immigrants “taking over the country.”

A contributing factor is that the unemployment rate is, officially, 24 percent, with the real rate almost certainly higher. The country is also still making the transition from the pre-1994 apartheid period, when most economic power and all political authority were in the hands of its white minority, to postapartheid when majority rule came to prevail.

What is clear is that xenophobic attacks on foreigners will not make that process any smoother.