The question of xenophobia and violence against foreign nationals involves perceptions of discrimination against the other based on race, ethnicity, and place of origin. For Pillay [Verbum et Ecclesia, 38, 3–17 (2017)], “xenophobia is directly linked to racism and ethnicity when institutionalised measures are undertaken to protect the rights and interests of the ‘in-group’ against the development of the ‘out-group’”. While racism and xenophobia go hand in hand, they are differentiated. Racism is about superiority of race against the other, but xenophobia is about fear and hatred of the other because they are regarded as an outsider, a stranger or a foreigner [Pillay, Verbum et Ecclesia, 38, 3–17 (2017)]. Rattansi [Racism: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press (2007)] notes that racism does not only refer to hatred of the other due to skin colour, but it is also intertwined with issues of class, sexuality, and the idea of a nation. The question of who belongs to the nation and the idea of outsiders fuel the spirit of segregation and marginalisation of the other, particularly the foreigner. Therefore, sometimes racism is embedded in xenophobia in South Africa. Xenophobia targets foreigners for the sake of exclusion from the social and economic systems of society; the question of social justice, therefore, becomes central.