An insight into South Africa's xenophobia: Impacting on Africa's integration

One of the goals of post-colonial Africa is the integration of the disparate countries on the continent. The Organisation of African Unity and the African Union (which replaced the former) are among attempts aimed at achieving the continent's unification. While the legacies of the continent's colonial past, neocolonialism and the idiosyncrasies of African leaders have been identified as impediments to the realisation of the continent's integration, the role of xenophobia as a hindrance to Africa's integration has not been recognised and acknowledged. Although xenophobia is not a new phenomenon on the continent, the size and scope of xenophobic attacks in recent years underscores its significance to the continent's integration particularly in South Africa. Using the South African case study, this paper argues that Africa's integration can only be realised if the question of xenophobia is acknowledged and addressed. Failure to do this could lead to the vision of the continent's integration being a mere intellectual and elitist pursuit.