The recent surge in attacks against foreigners in South African townships has been portrayed as something that came out of nowhere. This is not the case. As far back as 1997 there have been reported incidents of xenophobic attacks particularly against Somalis, Mozambicans, Malawians and Zimbabweans. The attacks have left 44 foreigners dead and close to 20,000 being displaced.

As migrants that are fleeing political and economic hardships many of them are illegal and they therefore cannot find formal work without the required papers. They also end up moving into township squatter camps that are inhabited by nationals that are already living in squalor. More often than not, the migrants tend to set up small, but thriving businesses that are in direct competition with those of black South Africans that were already in the townships.

In a context such as is this that is characterised by unemployment, high food prices, squalor and crime the presence of foreigners simply gives rise to envy, hatred, intolerance and misconceptions about their intentions. Foreigners then end up being blamed for stealing ‘South African’ jobs, houses and in some instances even women.

The attacks have left me with a certain sense of despair. I have tried to stay away from the newspapers and the TV as I have found it difficult to stomach the gruesome images that have characterised the ‘lynch-mob’ attacks. Attacks of this sort have got their roots embedded in the violent nature of slavery and even the very apartheid system that so many Africans fought to end.

I must say that my own experiences of xenophobia are usually very subtle and they more often than not take place at the most mundane places – stores, markets, petrol stations and/or when am in the company of cab drivers.

On one or two occasions I have had the phrase ‘Amakwerekwere’ directed towards me, but this has only happened in those instances where I am part of a group of foreigners at some public place. This derogatory phrase is used by black South Africans to describe non-South African blacks. In some ways, it is the equivalent of using the N-word.

As such, it is usually at the airports that I often get reminded that I don’t belong, that I am an ‘other’ and not part of ‘us’ South Africans. From the immigration officials right all the way down to the cleaners I am often met with the following set of questions:

“I hope you are not planning to stay forever?”

“Why don’t you like your countries?”

On one particular occasion an official found it necessary to remind me that, “South Africa is for South Africans”.

Having been raised by a generation of nomadic parents, aunts and uncles that have consistently encouraged me and my siblings and cousins to open up our worldviews, to cherish our Africanity and to treat the world as a global village - I am not usually shaken by these instances of being belittled and/or being treated as someone from an inferior (African) country.

However, in the past few weeks I have also often found myself worrying about my young South African born cousins. As children of mixed heritage – Ugandan and South African - they are part of the rainbow nation. Although they speak IsiXhosa and often espouse the common cultural norms of what it means to be South African (in all its diversity) I worry that the xenophobes and/or even the proponents of cultural purity might one day classify them as being alien and impure.

An ethnic cleansing strategy of this sort would clearly shatter their sense of self. This is not a far-fetched scenario given that some of the people that have been attacked and classified, as foreigners are actually South Africans that come from ethnic groups that are seen as being inferior.

In my attempts to make sense of all this I have tried to keep a clear and objective mind and to steer clear of simply blaming the xenophobes. It is in this regard that I often find myself reducing the recent attacks to self-hatred and self-loathing as in an extreme dislike of oneself. The xenophobic attacks in all their unAfricanness point towards a state of mind that is need of repair. This is not entirely surprising given that for over 350 years black South African were fed with propaganda and disempowering tools of analysis that encouraged them to see themselves and their black African brothers and sisters as being inferior, backward and sub-human.

South Africa, which has done so much in the past few years to drive the African renaissance project, still needs to do a lot more in terms of encouraging cross-cultural conversations about what it means to be South African and African. The spirit of pan-Africanism that has been espoused by the likes of Steve Biko and more recently Thabo Mbeki must be kept alive.

As we try to make sense of these attacks we should also not forget that most South Africans are actually very accommodating and willing to build bridges across cultural diversity. Although the ideals and dreams of rainbow nation might seem shaky at this very moment such incidences can only work to bring the nation together. Already nationals and non-nationals are setting up coalitions and networks that are providing food, shelter and protection to the displaced people.

Dr. Andrew Kanyegirire is a Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, South Africa.