Magister Legum - LLM / International law explains the significance of the right to a birth certificate,1 birth registration and what it means to be a national of a specific state.2 International law also explains how important the right to birth registration is and how it has historically been connected to the right to nationality.3 Legal scholars have over the years provided insights as to how international and national law can best address the right to birth registration.4 In South Africa the DHA does not issue birth certificates to children born to undocumented non-South Africans or documented non-South Africans with both parents holders of foreign documentation with the exception of non-South Africans with permanent residential permit.

This half-thesis has developed as a supporting document to an exhibition titled Vabvakure, people from far away, which responds to the growing trends of violence perpetrated against African foreign nationals living in South Africa. This violence which has generally been termed as 'xenophobia' has been framed within this discourse as 'afrophobia', as it is fraught with complexities of race, ethnicity and class. Evidently, not all foreign nationals are at risk but selective targeting of working class black African foreign nationals seems to be the modus operandi. Fanning these flames of prejudice are stereotypes and negative perceptions of Africa and African immigrants that have permeated into the national consciousness of South Africa, which the mainstream media has been complicit in cultivating. My practice is concerned with challenging this politic of representation in relation to the image of the African foreign national within South African society, who have been presented negatively and labelled as the 'Makwerekwere', the 'bogeymen' that have been blamed for the country’s current woes. In response to this, my research adopts the premise that forms of cultural mediation such as visual and performance art can offer further insights and possibly yield solutions that can be used to address these sentiments. As globalisation and neoliberal ideologies reshape the world, there is a growing need in the post-colonial state to revisit and re-construct notions of individual and collective identity, especially that of the nation. Nations, nationalisms and citizenry can no longer be defined solely through indigeneity, for as a result of radical shifts in the flow of migration and immigration policies that allow for naturalisation of aliens and foreign nationals, we are now faced with burgeoning levels of social diversity to the extent that constructions of nationhood that are based on the concept of autochthony have resulted in the persecution of the ‘other’.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes and effects of xenophobia in South Africa. The study also aimed at focussing on tracing whether there are any programmes in place to counter xenophobia. The ultimate goal was to establish ways in which secondary schools can play a role in averting xenophobia in the country. The research centred on gathering information through a review of literature, the use of questionnaires and conducting interviews. The literature reviewed highlighted a pattern of xenophobic tendencies since the dawn of independence in South Africa in 1994 which ultimately reached alarming levels in May 2008. Foreigners are accused of ‘stealing’ jobs and women from locals, commiting crimes, accessing government grants, accepting wages below the minimum laid down and enjoying better living standards than many locals. The foreigners’ way of life is not acceptable to some South Africans in terms of their language, lifestyles and personalities. Poverty seems to play a big role as most of the xenophobic acts occur in densely populated urban townships and squatter camps. The study did not come across significant efforts either from government or civic organisations aimed at countering xenophobia in South Africa especially in light of the extreme 2008 attacks on foreign nationls. The questionnaires were administered on 241 South African learners and the interviews were conducted with 15 African foreign learners in South Africa. The information gathered through questionnaires and interviews was summarised and analysed leading to conclusions that mostly corroborated the findings of the literature review. Some of the responses to the questionnares are worrying as they clearly reveal some xenophobic tendencies whilst some reponses to the interview questions recount some disturbing experiences that the participants encountered. Some of the recommendations made include the introduction of strict measures against name calling in schools, dealing with any xenophobic incidents in schools no matter how small the incident might be and organising regional sporting events together with educational exchange programs such as Mathematics Olympiads with schools from neighbouring countries. It is hoped that the implementation of the suggested recommendations may reduce the occurrence of xenophobia in South Africa. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / This thesis is an exploratory study of how African international students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa experience xenophobic attitudes and behaviours, and how they make sense of it. In post-apartheid South Africa, the xenophobia phenomenon has become an intensely debated issue. While numerous researchers have attempted to investigate the forms of xenophobia and the underlying reasons of aggressive behaviour towards foreign migrants in South Africa, very few studies have been done thus far on xenophobia at South African Higher learning institutions. In this research I am interested in finding out whether international students particularly African international students at UWC, encounter xenophobia on campus and outside the academic environment. An Ethnographic study was conducted on and off the UWC campus, which involved participant observation, in-depth one on one interviews, focus group and diaries which were kept by key informants to record their daily experiences. The research participants were ten UWC African international students, who stay on and off campus, from different levels and field of study. The strategy to analyse the data was framed on basis of inductive approach. Moreover, informal discussions were used as a source of data to this study and I also made use of my own experiences as of one of African international students at UWC. The findings pinpoint that xenophobic experiences of African international students inside and outside the university include exclusion, discrimination, verbal abuse, blames and harassments, as well as stereotypes. The findings also show that xenophobic violence is experienced off campus. Although the violence experience was reported by one student out of the research participants, this issue is still pertinent enough to be considered. The central argument of the thesis is that while no violence against foreign African students has been reported from UWC, this does not mean that there would be no instances of xenophobia there. Instead, this research shows that because at higher learning institutions we find mostly people of the social middle classes, xenophobia is expressed in subtle ways through negative attitudes and behaviours towards foreign students.

<p>The aim of this study was to examine how the political party Sweden Democrats is represented in two Swedish newspapers. The study included a national newspaper and a local newspaper, Aftonbladet and Blekinge Läns Tidning.</p><p> </p><p>We studied 35 articles from both papers, from 2005 and from 2009. We analyzed the texts using the linguist Norman Faircloughs (1995) method for discourse analysis. Based on his theories, we created our own model to examine the texts. Our model primarily focused on representation.</p><p> </p><p>The study was conducted at a time when Sweden Democrats was given much support in opinion polls and knocked on the door to the Swedish Parliament.</p><p> </p><p>The study showed that Sweden Democrats in both newspapers, primarily by descriptions, the choice of interviewees, etc., often are represented as racists. Another phenomenon is that SD in a number of texts often are linked with suspicion and assigned with a hidden agenda. In contrary, we have also found examples of articles that portray SD as any other party in the political spectrum, especially in the articles published in 2009.</p><p> </p><p>Our study aimed to discuss and also showed that here are several complicated problems, both legally and ethically, when dealing with, and reporting about Sweden Democrats.</p>

The aim of this study was to examine how the political party Sweden Democrats is represented in two Swedish newspapers. The study included a national newspaper and a local newspaper, Aftonbladet and Blekinge Läns Tidning.   We studied 35 articles from both papers, from 2005 and from 2009. We analyzed the texts using the linguist Norman Faircloughs (1995) method for discourse analysis. Based on his theories, we created our own model to examine the texts. Our model primarily focused on representation.   The study was conducted at a time when Sweden Democrats was given much support in opinion polls and knocked on the door to the Swedish Parliament.   The study showed that Sweden Democrats in both newspapers, primarily by descriptions, the choice of interviewees, etc., often are represented as racists. Another phenomenon is that SD in a number of texts often are linked with suspicion and assigned with a hidden agenda. In contrary, we have also found examples of articles that portray SD as any other party in the political spectrum, especially in the articles published in 2009.   Our study aimed to discuss and also showed that here are several complicated problems, both legally and ethically, when dealing with, and reporting about Sweden Democrats.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 240-274).

This study investigates DRC refugees' economic activities in the Durban area in order to understand why some DRC refugees adapt and integrate in the local economy whereas others fail and migrate to refugee camps outside South Africa. We use various migration theories, and the concept of social exclusion to understand refugee action, and highlight the importance of social networks as a form social capital among refugees. Social networks form the cornerstone of DRC refugees' source of income through vital information sharing, financial, material and psychological support. These networks constitute a social net for newcomers and provide important support during random events such as unemployment, illness and death. However, access to the benefit of these networks is often subject to class, gender and age differentials which can have negative effects on both members and non-members. DRC refugees are subject to diverse forms of exploitative practices both from locals and from economically stable refugees including those from the Congo. Key officials and the voluntary sector play different roles at different times. These are mainly negative but are occasionally positive. These negative effects limit Congolese refugees' ability to successfully voice their concerns. Social exclusion and xenophobic attitudes from some key officials and ordinary people worsen the already precarious situation of the refugee communities. Yet, the research findings indicate that xenophobia is not something fundamental. It is fuelled by political manipulation and competition over scarce resources. Further research over time is necessary to confirm or reject this hypothesis. DRC refugees take whatever opportunities they can to establish their livelihoods and increase their resilience to shocks and uncertainty in Durban. Thus their incomes originate from different economic activities. Incomes also come from social support including remittance from other countries and provinces of South Africa, ethnic-based NGOs, political parties and churches, and manipulation from South African NGOs for individual's benefit. Yet, mistrust and social exclusion both within the DRC refugees and between this community and South Africans negatively affect their livelihoods. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Previous research shows that small workplaces more often discriminate immigrants during the process of hiring new employees than larger workplaces, and usually explains this result by referring to structural factors. At the same time, previous research also shows that self-employees tend to have different personality traits than other people. Could it be the case that the higher discrimination among small workplaces can be explained at an individual level? I examined the hypothesis through OLS-regressions using a survey called Employment, Material Resources, and Political Preferences. The results showed that people working at small workplaces tend to have more negative attitudes towards immigrants than people working at larger workplaces. In addition, by using a Big-Five model combined with background factors at an individual level, I found that people employed by small organizations tend to have other personality traits than those employed by larger organizations. But the Big-Five model cannot explain why small workplaces are more inclined to discriminate immigrants. In contrast, background factors such as education and gender have strong correlative effects on why people employed by small organizations have more negative attitudes towards immigrants. That is, small workplaces are more likely to employ men and people with relatively low education compared to larger workplaces, which is interesting in this context because men are on average found to be more negative towards immigrants than women, and lower educated people are more negative than those with higher education.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Middle East, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa))--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Russell, James. "September 2008." Description based on title screen as viewed on November 5, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-71). Also available in print.