( CNN ) As we approach April 27 when South Africa marks the anniversary of the first post-apartheid elections held that day in 1994 , we are faced with yet another wave of deadly attacks against African migrants . Outrage triggered by this violence is being heard loudly throughout social media with `` # WeAreAfrica '' showcasing the need for a common front against this affront . These recurring attacks against migrants and their property might be read as one more indication of how the rainbow nation 's dream has faltered . That vision not only symbolized a multi-ethnic South Africa , but one where living in dignity is shared across racial and class lines . Attacks against newcomers in South Africa are often reduced to attitudes of hate and resentment towards other black Africans . The national and international headlines use `` xenophobia '' as if any one word can convey the multifaceted crisis within which this phenomenon occurs . Labeling this turmoil as xenophobic fails to convey the conditions in which African migrants are scapegoated for the persistent legacy of apartheid in the post-liberation era . This word also does not tell us that extreme poverty now exceeds that experienced under apartheid . And it certainly does not account for how extreme inequality is now fully embraced and normalized by a new black elite joining the `` white-haves '' of yesteryear . The question of why foreign blacks are targeted and not foreign whites is also repeated ad nauseam , as if the majority of black citizens and African migrants share any common spaces and experiences with white South Africans or white foreigners . Contact between the majority of African migrant groups and native black South Africans mostly occurs in under-developed informal settlements and townships . In the interaction and competition between these groups in these spaces , we need to be wary of the simplistic treatment of South Africa 's ailment as xenophobia . Such labeling does not and can not explain the totality of the contact , competition and conflict between native poor black South Africans and foreign African entrepreneurs . Attention as to how such interactions occur in an environment where a vast portion of South Africa 's black majority experiences segregation , persistent and relative poverty , and high crime rates in post-apartheid South Africa is paramount . Neglecting access to social rights , such as water , electricity , education and other services , is tantamount to violence by political leaders against the poor . Condemning and prosecuting those who incite violence is essential to maintaining law and order and protecting those vulnerable because of their nationality . But the evictions , harassment and ultimately brutal killings of foreigners can not and should not be separated from the daily brutal violence poor South Africans in informal settlements and many townships experience . It can not and should not be separated from South Africa 's status as one of the most unequal societies in the world ; it can not and should not be separated from the fact that South Africa has one of the highest homicide levels in the world . A mantra of xenophobia wishes away the fact that the everyday lives of those in vulnerable positions in this society ( the poor , the disabled , women , children , the elderly ) are filled with violence similar -- if not worse -- than that facing African foreigners eking out a living in the midst of abject poverty . Labeling South Africa 's poor blacks as ungrateful and amnesiac to the history of hospitality other Africans bestowed on their exiles under apartheid does a disservice to both the local poor whose citizenship rights are marginal at best and the resilient migrants in search of asylum and dignity . Such labeling only serves politicians and the elites who are sealed off by barbed wire surrounded by a security industry that outspends and outnumbers South Africa 's police force . It allows corruption to persist while the political leaders who are implicated in this violence scapegoat `` criminal youth '' to further fill an overflowing prison industry . Religious and civil society leaders ' recent mobilization saying `` not in our name '' in reaction to violence against migrants should be applauded . But religious , civil society and student groups also have an obligation to organize and denounce the inequality and the violence that is the everyday lot of the extremely poor in South Africa . Pervasive misery and corruption in the midst of a nation with so much potential should not be tolerated . Neither a hashtag of outrage # WeAreAfrica nor the expedience of the label `` xenophobia '' can wish away the angst , violence and the impending crisis in South Africa . Migrants ' security and dignity is part and parcel of a greater security and dignity for all South Africans , which seem deferred for now .
Xenophobia can not explain the conflict between native poor black South Africans and foreign African entrepreneurs , says Abdi . Killings of foreigners can not be separated from the brutal violence poor South Africans experience , she adds .