Who is welcoming and who is not?: an attitudinal analysis of anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa

Abstract

Recurrent xenophobic violence in South Africa highlights the strong undercurrent of popular opinion opposition to international immigrants. This article examines public attitudes towards the international immigrant community in South Africa and the factors influencing those attitudes. The author uses public opinion data from the 2014 South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). The article will show that there is an asymmetry in the processes of opinion formation on immigrants in the country. The findings seemed to call into question the bipolarity of attitudinal measures used in public opinion studies of anti-immigrant sentiment. In addition, the author found that stereotypes about the harmful impact of international immigration were powerful drivers of public antipathy towards foreigners. Greater scrutiny of harmful stereotypes of foreign immigrants voiced by the media, politicians and national leaders is therefore needed.