The current xenophobic attacks in South Africa Research Paper

The current xenophobic attacks in South Africa - Research Paper Example The recent xenophobic violence in South Africa is believed to have erupted after some anti foreigner and hateful comments made by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who is believed to have a considerable influence amongst the dominant Zulu ethnic group (Aljazeera, 2015). The current violence in South Africa has targeted poor migrants from the rest of the African nations like the people from Nigeria and Zimbabwe (Essa, 2015). Many of the African nations were indeed shocked at the rise of the xenophobic violence in South Africa in the recent times. In the current violence in the nation, the South African citizens targeted the foreigners scattered across varied townships around the country (Essa, 2015). This gave way to massive killing, plundering, raping and looting of the foreigners living in South Africa. It indeed showed an ugly aspect of the South African society. In these xenophobic attacks it became clear that the South African society has a xenophobic side to it. Since the fall of apartheid in 1994, South Africa aspired to become a ‘rainbow nation’, a place where nobody is discriminated against owing to one’s race or nationality. However, the current violence has shown that South Africa eventually happens to be a society where people are discriminated against owing to their race and nationality (Essa, 2015). The racial discrimination earlier targeted all the black South Africans. However, in an independent and democratic South Africa, the discrimination has found a new target, and they are the foreigners. This has once again reminded people of the days of apartheid. It has made people realize that the institutionalized racism that constituted a big force in the racist South Africa, will take much time before it dies. The xenophobic discrimination is not new to South Africa, but is a force that has been impacting the nation since the days of apartheid. The current