Xenophobic experiences of foreign African women residing in a low income community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract: The International Organisation for migration in South Africa (2016: 14) defines ‘xenophobia’ as the “attitudes, prejudices and behaviour that reject, exclude and often vilify persons based on the perceptions that they are outsiders or foreigners to the community, society or national identity”. In Fanon’s (1967) conceptualisation of the colonialist mentality, he argues that xenophobic violence is testimony of internalised oppression and that through institutionalised racism, Africans tend to emulate their oppressors. Moreover, the author is of the view that irresponsible comments made by the Zulu Monarch, King Zwelitini in April 2015, when he stated that foreign nationals are enjoying wealth and services that are meant for local citizens; was perceived as a primary cause of a spate of xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals across the country (Hans, 2015; Muthuki, 2013; Adam & Moodley, 2015). Researchers such as Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2018), Neocosmos (2010), Piper and Charman (2016) argued that in the Post-1994 era, such anti-migration sentiments stem from the politics of nationalism and dire socio-economic challenges experienced in the country..