Xenophobic attacks a political hot potato

AS election campaign reaches fever pitch across the country, political party news, corruption and service delivery seem to dominate news headlines.

A report by Media Monitoring Africa titled “15 years of reporting South African elections: Same same but different” released last year, analysing South African media’s coverage, of all local and national elections since the first democratic elections in 1994, found that across all elections, the media focused more on political party’s activities rather than social issues.

With less than a month from elections, social services organisations have raised concerns about the lackluster approach of political parties and the media following acts of xenophobic violence across the country.

“South Africa saw an outbreak of xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals during the second half of 2008. However, the topic was not an election issue for the media, and this shows that there is clear lack of interest by the media to set the agenda about pressing societal issues during the elections .Previous media monitoring reports by MMA indicate that the media often fall short of setting the agenda on matters relevant to society.

“Many media, instead of setting the agenda, merely reported on the events as they occurred in reactive vein, without engaging with the issues raised to requisite levels of analysis and discussion,” stated the report.

According to Abigail Dawson, spokesperson of Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa, the use of foreign nationals as campaign fodder for South African politicians should be condemned.

“It cannot be correct and accepted 25 years into democracy that politicians are campaigning for votes at the expense of the most vulnerable groups. Politicians need to think of honest electioneering strategies which speak to the frustrations that South Africans are experiencing – systematic issues including corruption and an absence of management – instead of pinning these problems on already vulnerable migrants.”

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The report also claimed political parties drove the agenda even though this period could have been used as a moment of reflection where communities would have had an opportunity to reflect on the performance of the parties and to raise issues that are important to them.

Echoing Dawson’ sentiment is Yasmin Rajah of the Refugee Social Services (RSS) a Durban based registered NPO (not for profit organization).

The organization provides social services primarily for refugees and asylum seekers.

“It has been generally, preceding an election, that this type of displacement happens. I don’t have an issue with people being asked to obey the law, that’s what we are expect of everyone. However, punishment for not obeying should be equal, it cannot be selective- migrants should not have to be collectively punished for crimes committed by a small minority who are of the same nationality. Migrants or refugees are not able to vote, so they cannot benefit the politicians,” she said.

Speaking at the SANEF Election Training Workshop, held at the ICC, Director of Media Monitoring Africa William Bird said: “This is a disturbing trend because it suggests that the elections are not about the people, when in fact I am sure they are. In March, load-shedding was a significant issue in the media, State Owned Enterprises (SEO) and Eskom. What happened to the land, where has the land story gone. A few months ago land was the biggest and the only story, where has it gone? The issue that was in everyone’s discussions has suddenly just disappeared even though Parliament received the most submissions ever.”

The report also stated that, political parties drove the agenda even though this period could have been used as a moment of reflection where communities would have had an opportunity to reflect on the performance of the parties and raise issues important to them.

The analysis made clear the lack of diversity across the media. It claimed that the media, be its diversity of issues or sources, lagged behind in all important aspects of the election. Media diversity is critical in a society such as South Africa. The lack of coverage of citizen agenda topics such as health, economy, education, protest and environment cannot be excused, as these issues are central to the voters.

The study also provided evidence that there is a need for competent, well-trained journalists to help develop high-level skills that are necessary for effective democratic elections, where every issue receives equal attention from the media and the majority of members in society have a chance to participate in fair, free and credible elections.

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