Representation of Afrophobia Violence on X in South Africa

Abstract

Afrophobia refers to prejudice, hostility, discrimination, or hatred against individuals and cultures from Africa and the African diaspora. This represents a new form of racism in South Africa. This qualitative study examined the discursive construction of Afrophobia on X (formerly Twitter) specifically focusing on how African immigrants were represented on X, through explicating discourses employed in the representation of African migrants on X, and explaining the possible implications of such social media discourses on society. The study analysed discourses on Afrophobia on X with special posts and reposts on Operation Dudula, a South African pressure group between 2021 to 2024. The study employed an exploratory case study research design which is a methodology that enables an investigation into research questions that have not previously been studied in depth. A software architecture that uses the X application programme interface (API) was used to retrieve relevant posts and reposts that focused on Afrophobia in South Africa. The posts and reposts were further selected through a purposive sampling technique, thematically coded and interpreted using the deductive or inference approach. The study revealed that there were several discourses associated with the “othering” of immigrants of African descent, where they were stereotypically associated with terms such as “illegality”, “criminality”, “invasion”, and “alien”, “dispossession”. The study argues that such discourses of “othering” demonstrate how narratives, language and discourse have practical consequences, but also undermine South Africa’s image on the continental and global stage. The study concludes that Afrophobia discourses in online communities potentially undermine South Africa’s foundational values of Ubuntu and the country’s Pan-Africanist project as well as its democratic cultural values.