Re-reading xenophobic discourses from an ubuntu perspective: a study of the plight of ‘makwerekwere’ in Mhlongo’s After Tears

ABSTRACT Classification of African migrants in South Africa as undesirable, economic parasites, illegals, among other derogatory terms, characterises current xenophobic discourses and foregrounds frontiers that divide people in Africa. Xenophobia violates the philosophy of ubuntu/Vumunhu/Umunhu and the parable of the Good Samaritan which define humanity as diverse but collective. Drawing from this philosophy and parable as prisms through which xenophobic discourses can be analysed, we interrogate notions of African/ness and neighbour/liness in contemporary South Africa. African humanity is heterogeneous and existing xenophobic attitudes and practices provide sites for academic inquiry to generate deep understanding. Mhlongo’s After Tears identifies fault lines which need to be sutured vis-à-vis the current fear and hatred of strangers. The varied forms of xenophobia reflect nuanced but interconnected dynamics, such as historical legacies and socio-economic divisions that mask differences, which feed into makwerekwere metadiscourse. African immigrants become imagined as real sources of problems in South Africa today.