Othering, Afrophobia and Coloniality on Black South African Twitter

The present study employs the concept of coloniality, understood as the lingering impact of inequalities and power dynamics resulting from the colonial encounter long after the end of historical colonialism, to investigate xenophobia on Black South African Twitter. Xenophobia, defined as the fear or hatred of people from other countries, received extensive media coverage in the aftermath of the attacks against foreign nationals which took place across South Africa in 2008, 2013, 2015 and, most recently, 2019. Hashtags such as #PutSouthAfricansFirst, #WeWantOurCountryBack, #ForeignersGoHome, #ForeignersVacateOurJobs and #ForeignersMustLeaveSA emerged on Black South African Twitter and sparked much debate and controversy. Xenophobic incidents appear to have a strong intra-Black component as racial/ethnic/national divisions and hierarchies inherited from the colonial and apartheid eras appear to be reproduced in the online space. The methodology includes a content analysis of selected tweets and semi-structured interviews with Twitter users. Findings suggest that the process of “othering” migrants from other African countries reflects different dimensions of coloniality. Finally, despite a history of common struggle against White minority rule, Black South African Twitter users seem to embrace apartheid’s notions of exceptionalism and attribute to citizens of other African countries, an inferior form of humanity. This is evidenced by the use of derogatory language and constant reference to the question of who belongs where, a key concern of racial segregationist spatial politics.