Decolonization, Neo-Apartheid and Xenophobic Violence in Phaswane Mpe's Welcome to Our Hillbrow - Pertanika
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Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021)
SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES
Journal homepage: http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/
Decolonization, Neo-Apartheid and Xenophobic Violence in
Phaswane Mpe’s Welcome to Our Hillbrow
Mustafa Mohammed Abdullah1*, Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh1, Omar Mohammed
Abdullah2, and Mohammed Fleih Hasan3
1
English Department, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400
Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
2
English Department, College of Education for Women, Anbar University, 46001 Anbar, Iraq
3
English Department, College of Arts, Anbar University, 46001 Anbar, Iraq
ABSTRACT
South Africa is undoubtedly one of the most unreceptive destinations in the world for
black African refugees due to the prevalent xenophobic violence since the dismantling of
apartheid in 1994. Previous research claimed that attitudes of intolerance and xenophobia
towards foreigners were results of social and economic insufficiencies. Yet, this study
argues that apartheid was not really dismantled, and that incomplete decolonization led to a
state of neo-apartheid which catalysed citizens towards aggression and intolerance against
foreigners. The article looks at Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001) by Phaswane Mpe through
the lens of Fanons’ concept of decolonization, and attributes the actions of xenophobic
violence in South Africa to the incomplete process of decolonization after apartheid. The
article concludes that unsuccessful liberation and incomplete decolonization can lead to a
state of neo-colonialism and ultimately, neo-apartheid. Xenophobic violence is triggered
and motivated by the reality that nothing has
really changed in South Africa even after the
dismantlement apartheid.
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Keywords: Decolonization, Fanon, foreigners, Mpe,
Received: 21 May 2020 neocolonialism, xenophobia
Accepted: 30 June 2020
Published: 26 March 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.29.1.25
INTRODUCTION
E-mail addresses:
mustafaliterature@gmail.com (Mustafa Mohammed Abdullah) The fear of the unknown can be seen all
jshardev@yahoo.com (Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh)
omar.moh@uoanbar.edu.iq (Omar Mohammed Abdullah) over the world and the fear of strangers
mohamedfleih@uoanbar.edu.iq (Mohammed Fleih Hasan)
*Corresponding author
has grown manifold because of the human
ISSN: 0128-7702
e-ISSN: 2231-8534 © Universiti Putra Malaysia PressMustafa Mohammed Abdullah, Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh, Omar Mohammed Abdullah and Mohammed Fleih Hasan
diaspora and dislocation of people from their Since the independence of South
native lands due to war, uprising, racism, Africa, xenophobic violence has escalated,
ethnic cleansing and natural calamities. alongside the mounting number of strangers
Xenophobia originates from the Greek pouring into the state. The attitude of
words xénos ‘stranger’ or ‘guest’ and revulsion towards newcomers is particularly
‘fear’ phóbos. Remarkably, the second aimed at individuals approaching from
implication, ‘guest’, has lost its validity. other African states (Hopstock & de
It is translated as ‘fear of strange”. M. S. Jager, 2011). In May 2008, countrywide
Bhatia defined xenophobia as “an irrational xenophobic violence broke out in South
and excessive fear of strangers or strange Africa, starting in the Alexandra Township
(foreign) cultures, which can often become in Johannesburg. The South African Human
converted into intense, Jingoistic patriotism Resource Commission (SAHRC) stated that
and/or racial or cultural prejudice” (2009, 62 people were murdered and over 100,000
p. 453). were evacuated. The substantial damages
In South Africa, xenophobia appears ran into millions of Rands. Jonathan Crush
as a reaction to the economic decay and stated that the aggressive insolences towards
the unchanging state of poverty of its foreign inhabitants living in South Africa had
people after liberation. The failure to continued to harden (Crush, 2001). Based
achieve complete decolonization after on numerous researchers, South Africa is
the collapse of apartheid led people to considered as one of the most unreceptive
be xenophobic against African migrants and xenophobic states worldwide. Many
because they perceive them as invaders sources of literature portray xenophobia as
and competitors for the nation’s scarce an intensely engrained, continuous, growing
resources and thus their state needs to be phenomenon in South Africa which will
fully decolonized. South Africa experiences remain to be categorized as an essential
severe discrimination with a racist system human rights concern in the state for the
of segregation and apartheid. William foreseeable future (Adjai & Lazaridis,
Beinart and Saul Dubow (2013) stated that 2013).
“Segregation was the name coined in early Having garnered worldwide attention
twentieth century South Africa for the set and public concern, literary scholars had
of government policies which sought to started to record this phenomenon in the
regulate the relationship between white literary scholarship. Phaswane Mpe’s
and African colonizers and colonized” (p. Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001) is
1). The most significant discriminatory extensively observed as a significant work
regulation is the law that bans black Africans in the literature of post-apartheid period.
from acquiring or renting property outside Similar to other novelists such as Zakes
the capital from individuals who are not Mda and K. Sello Duiker, Phaswane Mpe
black Africans. is considered as one among the three
458 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021)Xenophobic Violence in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
who established the core principle for the first South African novel to explore
the post-apartheid state. The text was the term “Makwerekwere” is Welcome
one of the first works to address African to Our Hillbrow, by Phaswane Mpe. A
immigration to South Africa after apartheid, Makwerekwere is a term constructed and
and the uncomfortable frustration with those used in South Africa to render and categorise
immigrants in the country. Mpe’s novel black Africans coming from other African
stands out from many of the scripts with states. Saayman (2016) argued that the
its revolutionary and cautious narrative novel was incomparable in its crucial
style focusing on African refugees and the request for the understanding of outsiders.
attitudes of xenophobia concentrating on The article argued that in his novel Mpe
them (Fasselt, 2014). presents the expression “Makwerekwere” at
Carrol Clarkson in her study “Locating the opening of the novel (Saayman, 2016,
Identity in Phaswane Mpe›s Welcome to Our p. 75). The article focussed on the term
Hillbrow” (2005) explored Mpe›s treatment “Makwerekwere” and its connotations in
of the South African identity not only as a South Africa and how it reflected citizens’
reaction to place, but also as a linguistic and reactions towards foreigners. The article
physical writing in the novel. In her article, missed to focus on the neocolonial condition
Clarkson (2005) argued that a repeated and the xenophobic violence in South
characteristic of numerous new novels Africa.
in South Africa was the examination of Hardev Kaur (2012) in her thesis
individual, social and ethnic characteristics Apartheid and The Reconciliation Process
in its relation to the individual›s indecisive in Post – Apartheid Novels of South Africa,
reactions to place. She added that Welcome to explored the concern of xenophobia in South
Our Hillbrow thematically traced the closure Africa and examined the reconciliation
of concepts of “home, of what establishes a process among citizens in the post-apartheid
community” (Clarkson, 2005, p. 451). The era. She highlighted the issue of xenophobia
researcher focussed on how the suspension in Welcome to our Hillbrow, among other
of the traditions, of considerations of society texts. She underlined the plight of the
and home, posed a test to the capability of migrants in South Africa and posited that
the individual’s liability, and then to his xenophobia was one of the dominant themes
understanding of his being. Thus, the study of Welcome to My Hillbrow. Kaur (2012)
explored the concept of home and identity focussed on the reconciliation process in
yet failed to focus on the xenophobic South Africa, yet missed to underline the
violence against foreigners in South Africa. black on black violence and the fallacy of
Sandra Saayman (2016) in “Imagining the rainbow nation.
the “other” – The Representation of the Rebecca Fasselt (2014) in her article
African Migrant in Contemporary South “Towards an ‘Afropolitan Deixis’:
African Literature” stated that probably Hospitality and ‘You’ and ‘We’ Narration in
Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021) 459Mustafa Mohammed Abdullah, Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh, Omar Mohammed Abdullah and Mohammed Fleih Hasan
Phaswane Mpe›s Welcome to Our Hillbrow” Fanon in their influential works. In Culture
explored the notion of the spatial politics and Imperialism, Said (1993) was more
implied in the method of hospitality shown involved, as the title of his book proposes,
towards black African foreigners coming with the cultural dimension in the process
into South Africa. The research emphasized of decolonization and, particularly, in
how “hospitality towards African migrants chapter three of the book “Resistance and
is denied, contested and extended in the Opposition.” Said argued that “culture played
diverse and complex spatial arenas depicted a very important, indeed indispensable role,
in the text” (Fasselt, 2014, p. 99). She both in extending and securing empire and
claimed that the text raised the concept of in eroding and undermining it” (1993, pp.
generosity, and the language of openness 221-222). He defined culture as a group
went on to encompass the organization of the of principles, ethics, standards, customs,
whole novel. The article explored the text’s conducts, formalities, and a method of life
application of “you” and “we” as methods that could distinguish one set from the other
utilising the conception of linguistic tools. (Kim, 2003). Fanon (1968), in his book, paid
As such, previous studies explored notions more focus on the process of decolonization
of place, identity, home and hospitality, yet and stated that while “decolonization
overlooked the xenophobic violence and must always be a violent phenomenon;
its causes and consequences on the African Colonialism is not a thinking machine, nor
and the South African communities. In this a body endowed with reasoning faculties…
sense, the article aspires to fill the gap of [it] is violence in its natural state, and it will
the study and open new horizons to study only yield when confronted with greater
xenophobia in South Africa and to unearth violence” (1968, p. 61).
the reasons behind it. As mentioned above, In The Wretched, Fanon (1968) argues
previous studies focused on the economic that colonialism is totalitarian, with the
and the social factors of the phenomenon, ‘native’ experiencing domination internally
whereas the current study attempts to revisit and externally. In fact, there is no occupation
the past of South Africa and to review the of the country, he argues, without the
decolonization process of the state. The occupation of the people, and thus there
decolonization is incomplete and this leads is no liberation of the country without the
the state to fall in a neocolonial\neoapartheid liberation of all the people. Colonialism,
reality which is the argument of the article. according to Fanon is a complete process.
It is constructed on segregation and
METHOD subjugation, the colonized is regulated
and relentlessly ordered not to relocate.
The concept of Decolonization was
Liberation, in this context, consists of
addressed by numerous theoreticians like
terminating these inner and exterior fences
Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak, and Frantz
which did not happen in South Africa in the
460 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021)Xenophobic Violence in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
post-apartheid period and as a consequence opinions of it as a perpetually warring and
xenophobia has become a dominant culture suffering ‘tribal’ state.
against foreigners. Eventually, a Fanonian perception
According to Fanon, decolonizing maintains that we need to perceive the
the land is not enough, it is important to pleasantness of South Africa’s political
decolonise the mind as well; otherwise, the independence from apartheid as unpleasant,
process of decolonization is not complete. recognised instantly when “the people find
He argued that it “is not possible to take out the ubiquitous fact that exploitation
one’s distance with respect to colonialism can wear a Black face” (Fanon, 1968, p.
without at the same time taking it with 145). This is in reference to the exploitation
respect to the idea that the colonised holds and xenophobia practised by black South
of himself through the filter of colonialist Africans on black Africans, a process
culture” (1968, p. 114). In other words, of exchanging roles from oppressed to
decolonizing the mind means liberating oppressors. Thus, Fanon asserted that,
the state from all the rules and systems of “decolonization is incomplete if it is not
colonialism and to create new democratic waged on both levels, political-economic
systems totally different from those of the and psychological, objective and subjective”
colonizers. In The Wretched, Fanon warned (Fanon, 1968, p. 13). Thus, failing to
against the pitfalls of national consciousness achieve complete decolonization will
and stated that “decolonization has to be produce nationwide and racial dogmatism
totalitarian and incomplete liberation may and this will lead to the creation of a new
lead to fragmentation, chauvinism, racism class of “bourgeoisified Blacks”.
and xenophobia” (1968, p. 156). Furthermore, just as black elites pursue
Undoubtedly, in discussing xenophobia political authorisation in the country,
in South Africa we cannot ignore the black political liberation is not liberation
political and psychological phenomena, from chauvinism because it leaves the
which are results of, in Fanon’s words, an state of human liberation incomplete.
“incomplete liberation” (1968, p. 13). South This is precisely what Fanon discussed
Africa in post-apartheid times is on the one in his criticism of the drawbacks of
hand, expressing itself to the international national consciousness, explicitly that
community as a prosperous, welcoming the “elite bourgeoisie will attain political
and a democratic state, a “rainbow nation”, independence in the country but without
a state that every individual, no matter completely liberating the state” (1968, p.
what his nationality, can succeed from 158).
unrestricted commercial marketplaces. At the conclusion of “Colonial War
On the other hand, it is characterised by and Mental Disorders”, perhaps the most
environments of paucity, violence and under-read chapter of The Wretched, Fanon
xenophobia, emphasising the international remarked that:
Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021) 461Mustafa Mohammed Abdullah, Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh, Omar Mohammed Abdullah and Mohammed Fleih Hasan
Total liberation is that which concerns all reference to the history of South Africa
sectors of the personality. Independence under colonisation and apartheid and their
is not a word which can be used as consequences on the citizens (Attree, 2005,
an exorcism, but is an indispensable p. 146).
condition for the existence of men At the end of the 1990s, Hillbrow became
and women who are truly liberated, in either a rational multicultural society,
other words who are truly masters of all class and ethnic group, or a deteriorating
material means which make possible the urban landscape of xenophobia, violence,
radical transformation of society (1968, narcotics, sex trafficking and HIV- AIDS.
p. 310). Examples were highlighted regularly by
Refentse, the protagonist, and Cousin, his
It is in this sense of speaking to cousin in the novel. In his journey, Refentse
comrades that we find expressions of uncovered the victims of official intolerance
Fanon’s ‘living’ dialectic. First, the concept demonstrated by governmental discourse
of total liberation as a product of the and popular rejection practised by Cousin
process of social liberation; and second, and his colleagues, an obvious demonstration
true liberation as the liberation from all of the continuity of apartheid in the post-
forms of alienation, and as the returning to apartheid age. During the apartheid era,
human beings all of their creative powers foreigners, like black Africans were blamed
which Fanon emphasized on in the pitfalls for stealing whatever scarce resources there
of national consciousness (1968, p. 315). were, from others and were apprehended
and found guilty for the outbreak of most
RESULT: INCOMPLETE of the communal misfortunes in society.
DECOLONIZATION IN WELCOME The many victimized, stigmatized and
TO OUR HILLBROW embittered people living in Hillbrow now
The issue of xenophobic violence and become perfect perpetrators of xenophobic
inhospitality towards outsiders is embedded crimes of the worst kind. As shown in the
in every aspect of Welcome to our Hillbrow text, foreigners are being blamed by South
(Fasselt, 2014). Phaswane Mpe in an Africans for all the corruption, criminality,
interview with Lizzy Attree (2005) clarified poverty and all other ills that have befallen
that he contemplated the practice of tackling their society even though they realize that
topics such as xenophobic violence in these foreigners are not the main cause of
the novel as not burdensome, “but an these ills. As Fanon warned, citizens would
opportunity to explore stories that have not be able to direct their anger towards the
not been told on the one hand and on the source, thus they would target the vulnerable
other, to revisit old stories, retell them in a section of society. So, foreigners will be
new context and see what you can learn”, “convenient scapegoats for everything that
thus, the novel is exploring old stories in goes wrong in people’s lives” (Mpe, 2011, p.
462 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021)Xenophobic Violence in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
118). As such, foreigners are considered as and xenophobia. Refentse proved Fanon’s
the weaker faction in the society, in addition prophesies and offered many examples of
to the accusations of being invaders and migrants’ experiences with xenophobia,
competitors, this makes them the logical the legacies and the continuity of apartheid
target to channel all the frustrations and (colonialism) rule which indicated that
disappointments of citizens. South Africa’s liberation and decolonization
Thus, the state’s incapability to improve were not totalitarian.
its overall economy is not merely due to Thus, the struggle to attain this state
a deficiency of incomes or the burdens of of affairs- of bridging the gap between the
cosmopolitan investment. It is also because new and the old - is further stressed when
of the economic and political preferences apartheid continues to rear its ugly head
that the nationalist political elites have to further divide and racially segregate
defined and taken during the period of the masses. This calls to mind Lindsay
transition whereby they turned their backs Bremner’s disturbing declaration that
on mass democratic participation which “Apartheid is not over, it has simply been
steered the public to direct their irritation deferred” (2010, p. 171). Instances of
and objection in the wrong direction (Fanon, apartheid and legacies of colonial systems
1968, p. 52). South Africa should not were seen through, the lens of Refentse and
then be seen as an extraordinary case, Cousin, both of whom validated the claims
but only as part of colonialism›s lasting of Bremner that apartheid was deferred but
legacy (Ahluwalia, 1996). In other words, not dismantled. Specifically under such
decolonization is incomplete, and this has authoritarian rule, citizens cannot oppose
led people to frustrate over the unchanging government and authorities so they blame
state of poverty and unemployment. Under foreigners for all the social ills, moral
these circumstances, it would appear that decay and economic crises in the country,
the only recourse they have is to blame their all of which are conducive to the growth of
misfortunes on these foreigners. xenophobia.
As demonstrated in the text, South Cousin, the antagonist, uncovered an
Africa has had a cultural heritage of violent important revelation about the legislative
actions that are rooted in inequality and innovation post-apartheid that was supposed
colonial segregation and its impact on to be driven by a new multiracial debate
people in post-colonialism (Saayman, which would combat the discriminatory
2016), and its continuous presence in the system of the apartheid regime. This
post-apartheid period. Similarly, Fanon forthcoming debate was projected to alter
(1968) warned against such circumstances the South African state into a democratic,
and insisted that decolonization has to be welcoming and receptive state known as
totalitarian and incomplete liberation may “rainbow nation”. However, there is a
lead to fragmentation, chauvinism, racism noticeable miscarriage in undertaking this
Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021) 463Mustafa Mohammed Abdullah, Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh, Omar Mohammed Abdullah and Mohammed Fleih Hasan
political schema which has led several authority and status. Cousin blames
intellectuals in post-apartheid to stigmatize foreigners for taking jobs from citizens and
and falsify the ‘democratic rainbowism’ as a that they are “responsible; not just for the
deceitful objectivity from the tangible reality physical decay of the place, but the moral
of violence, intolerance, and xenophobia in decay” (Mpe, 2001, p. 17). Thus, internal
the South African society (Mari, 2012). refugees are destined to co-exist and fight
Thus, post-apartheid, people’s for survival with inter-African migrants in
expectations of the rainbow nation may the marginal areas of cities. Thus, the sole
have given rise to hope and a promise of emphasis on xenophobia alone, may also
better things to come yet, there is also an obscure the fact that internal migrations and
awareness that the democratic machinery set xenophobic consequences are mainly due
up to achieve equality for all and alleviate to the failure of the post-apartheid political
poverty will not achieve its purpose; this agenda in the redistribution of wealth and,
then fuels further dissatisfaction and above all, land (Mari, 2012), an indication
resentment. Obviously, individuals are more of Fanon’s neo-colonialism and the pitfalls
mindful of their deficiency than ever before. of the incomplete liberation.
So, with much indignation and resentment, Refentse exposed the fact that South
and foreigners pouring into the country, it African citizens accused the foreigners in
is an ideal environment for a plague like the country of corrupting their community
xenophobia to take root and flourish, and with social ills like AIDS which was already
as Fanon suggested, “citizens are incapable so prevalent within the country. In addition,
to direct their anger and frustration towards the foreigners are blamed for a universal
the real sources of these disappointments” ethical deterioration linked to the prompt
(1968, p. 15). Thus, for Fanon, this is the expansion of the country in the post-
reality of the neo-colonial city and the apartheid period. Within this xenophobic
demonstration of the failure to achieve discourse, and similar to apartheid times,
complete liberation and decolonization. foreigners are considered as voiceless
Through the narrative Refentse reveals bodies, accessible only for sex and cheap
that political alteration to democracy in labour. According to natives, foreigners
South Africa has exposed the uneven contaminate others with AIDS, while their
delivery of incomes and capital in the state indigenous languages, cultural customs, and
and particularly in Hillbrow. Of particular historic background cannot be transmissible
notice is the practice by which foreigners (Davis, 2013). Such practices and attitudes
coming from elsewhere in the greater by natives towards foreigners mark the
continent are otherized and marginalized advent of the neo-apartheid city, which
as portrayed by Cousin. Those foreigners in Fanon’s words, is not unlike apartheid
are perceived as threats to civilians’ very towards all the black Africans at that time.
existence, and also deemed to challenge Thus, the processes of exploitation and
464 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021)Xenophobic Violence in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
otherizing enacted in the creating of such and neo-apartheid that Fanon had warned
wretched individuals may be perceived as newly liberated states from becoming, if
establishing an insensible expression of they did not achieve full and complete
discrimination and xenophobia that remains decolonization.
still in post-apartheid indicating a new phase Xenophobia has political and
of neo-apartheid (Fryer, 2014). Apparently, psychological roots in South African
along with Fanon, South Africans even society. Due to such disappointments
after the supposed democracy, still follow and indignations, natives, on the contrary
and sustains the approach of colonialism feel that their lives under apartheid were
and apartheid which is reflected in the better than their presence in terms of job
continuation of oppression and humiliation opportunities and resources. Along with
against foreigners in the community. Fanon’s projections, the only change was
with the ‘elite’, the black agents who are
DISCUSSION: NEO-COLONIAL supporting the hegemony of white rule.
AND NEO-APARTHEID CITY However, the black masses were becoming
increasingly disillusioned by the abject
Refentše’s journey to Hillbrow from
poverty they were living in. With every
Tiragalong represents a journey from the
kind of misery Refentše observed in the
past to the present, from old apartheid to
present, the stronger his sense of longing
new post-apartheid. Refentse confesses
for Tiragalong, for the past. This then is an
his longing to go back to his previous
indication of the failure of the transition and
life in Tiragalong. Hillbrow represents
the incomplete process of decolonization
the present, the post-apartheid age, not
expressed by Fanon.
a present that the South Africans had
According to Fanon, emancipation
dreamed of and were promised by the new
continues unfinished when the apartheid or
democratic state officials. Thus, having
colonial state is not restructured but merely
been privy to atrocities committed against
taken over. So, Mamdani agreed with Fanon,
humanity and the failure of the powers that
that in order to attain full emancipation, it
be to transform the state, there is a state
was crucial to reconstruct the state from
of yearning for the way things were in the
the remnants of colonialism and apartheid.
past. The narrator addressing Refentse to
Hence, in his comments on South Africa,
this: “with your memory constantly jogging
Mamdani emphasised that “the colonial
back to Tiragalong with such nostalgia that
state was deracialised but not democratised”
one would have thought you had not been
(Mamdani, 1996, p. 20). It is true that South
there for at least a year” (Mpe, 2001, p. 9).
Africa was politically decolonized and the
Citizens feel that nothing has really changed
black majority rules the country, yet socially,
in their lives; no wealth distribution, no
culturally and psychologically, the legacies,
land and no secured country. Thus, South
imprints and scars of apartheid still exist in
Africa lives a state of neo-colonialism
the neo-apartheid city.
Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021) 465Mustafa Mohammed Abdullah, Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh, Omar Mohammed Abdullah and Mohammed Fleih Hasan
Observably, Mpe is constructing a for xenophobic violence. Refentse added,
clear assessment of the apartheid and post- “black police officers contorting bribes from
apartheid regimes and their management fellow blacks accused of political and other
of the state and its citizens. Along with dissents. Black police and security forces
Fanon, Mpe also emphasises that the hitting fellow blacks mercilessly for crimes
decolonization process in South Africa is that were often not committed” (Mpe, 2001,
unsuccessful because nothing really changes p. 19). In this sense, apartheid dealt with
after the transition. Mpe recalled some black people in the same way that post-
grim memories of what black people and apartheid is treating foreigners in the present
foreigners experienced under apartheid and time. Thus, Refentse could deconstruct the
post-apartheid rule: post-apartheid new spatiality and refuted the
Many writers, politicians, social so-called “democratic rainbowism” which
workers and lecturers and the endless had turned to a hegemonic discourse in post-
string of South Africans hanging and apartheid (Mari, 2012).
jumping from their ninth floor prison Thus, living in Hillbrow, Refentse could
cells because the agents of Apartheid uncover the hidden realities in South Africa
government wanted them to do so in reference to the unchanged conditions
(2001, p. 19). in the post-apartheid period. Along with
Fanon, Ahluwalia insisted that the “system
Consequently, Refentse through his
of direct rule or apartheid may well have
various observations of life in Hillbrow,
been dismantled, indirect rule continues to
concluded that there was no big change
shape its future” (1996, p. 100). Refentse
in South Africa, “black agents of the
exposed, through Cousin, the methods
Apartheid State, playing their various roles
of extracting information from suspects
with a mastery that confounded the minds
revealing that Cousin was “part of the
of even the State itself” (Mpe, 2001, p.
interrogating police force that knew only
19). Black agents of apartheid ensure the
one reliable way of accessing the truth from
continuation of apartheid yet this time
suspects: torture” (Mpe, 2001, p. 19). Such
around, it is practised and enacted by black
methods of investigation and interrogation
people themselves, which results in the
were practised by the apartheid regime
neo-colonial and the neo-apartheid state
before 1994, revealing the huge similarity
described by Fanon. Along with Fanon’s
between the two regimes; the only thing that
conceptualization about the failed process of
changed was the skin colour of the rulers.
decolonization, the system in post-apartheid
Fanon asserted that “liberation is the
did not change, and there is no complete
total destruction of the colonial system”
liberation as the government and the police,
(1968, p. 105) yet, South Africa was not
along with others like Cousin are still
completely liberated and the process of
practising apartheid towards people in South
decolonization was not successful since
Africa, hence breeding a fertile ground
466 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021)Xenophobic Violence in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
the state of post-apartheid reproduced the during apartheid, which indicates that the
systems and the actions of their ancestors. colonial mentality still exists in people in
Consequently, South Africans do not the post-apartheid period. Necklacing was
experience complete emancipation from done to people who were suspected to be
apartheid laws and regulations concerning informants to the apartheid regime. This act
the economy; they still live in squalid demonstrates that the violence committed
poverty, without any land distribution and/ by citizens after 1994 is somewhat due to
or jobs. As such, being powerless to oppose the unchanged reality of colonial culture
the government because of authoritarian and traditions. Unquestionably, Mpe
rule, they direct their anger towards the emphasized how apartheid patterns still
most vulnerable faction in society, namely assembled the cultural background and
the refugees and migrants. thought of post-apartheid (Ogden, 2013),
Refentse made another reference to because, as Birmingham put it; “Africans
the unsuccessful decolonization in the continued to work on colonial assumptions,
state which was demonstrated by the fact making cultural, emotional and intellectual
that white people were still superior to the decolonization difficult for the heirs of
blacks. They live in gated communities empire” (1995, p. 7). For that reason, Fanon
with security forces protecting them from emphasised that the need to decolonize
‘black’ criminals. Working in a kitchen the mind was important, a mission he
of a white family is still a privilege for a anticipated to be much harder than just
black individual, which was the case during eliminating the colonizer.
apartheid. The process of poverty and Thus, Mpe highlights that the language
frustration continues among black people, of study and writing fiction in South Africa
they are still inferior to the whites and even should be English, which is the colonizers’
their psychological transition after 1994 language, or it will not be appreciated or
did not benefit them much. White suburbs published. South Africa has twelve formal
are considered as low crime zones unlike languages but if a writer wants to publish his
black zones, where according to Refentse, story he has to write it in English, which is a
“police bothered you less often in the surviving remnant of the colonizers’ culture.
suburbs, because those were not regarded The novel also reveals the unchanged
as high crime zones” (Mpe, 2001, p. 22) condition of South Africa in the post-
which indicates the unchanged reality that apartheid, Mpe narrated:
the white and black people are still living She did not know that writing in an
the same life with the same privileges due African language in South Africa could
to the incomplete decolonization. be such a curse… The woman of your
Necklacing was one of the most popular fiction, Refentse, was writing in 1995,
and violent methods for death punishment one year after the much acclaimed 1994
Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021) 467Mustafa Mohammed Abdullah, Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh, Omar Mohammed Abdullah and Mohammed Fleih Hasan
democratic elections; one year after hand” (1968, p.52). Fanon added that “this
the overthrow of the political and the incomplete decolonization marks post-
cultural censorship, and the damaging apartheid society and reverses the liberation
and the dishonest system (Mpe, 2001, project to mark neo-apartheid and violence
pp. 56-57). instead of creating a new history” (1968, p.
Thus, even one year after the acclaimed 52). Thus, similar to Fanon, Mpe offered
elections and the overthrow of the colonial a panoramic picture of the neo-apartheid
regime, the state is still following and society in his text.
enacting the procedures and rules of the A factor common to the neo-apartheid
previous state’s politics. That there was no state and the continuous impact of apartheid
full decolonization of the state is evidenced is the prevalence of violence. Much of the
by the continuous authority and use of the xenophobic violence that is detailed in the
colonizer’s language. Though South Africa text is committed by black natives. Sexual
has twelve formal languages, English exploitation of black foreign women is
is as yet, the formal medium in writing. executed by the native black policemen,
Mpe reveals that “in 1995, despite the “some of the womenfolk bought their
so-called new dispensation, nothing had temporary freedom to roam in Hillbrow
really changed. The legacy of Apartheid streets by dispensing under-waist bliss”
censors still shackle those who dreamed (Mpe, 2001, p. 21). These nefarious actions
of writing freely in an African language” by the police are contradictory to the
(Mpe, 2001, p. 57). Fanon had forewarned principles of police jurisdiction enshrined
that “true liberation is not that pseudo- in the new Constitution. This brings us to
independence… liberation is the total the observation of Ndebele that “Power and
destruction of the colonial system, from wealth became the dominant determinants
the pre-eminence of the language of the of behaviour: two key ingredients in the
oppressor and departmentalization” (1968, recipe of socially embedded corruption”
p. 105). (1998, p. 24).
Consequently, South Africans feel Finally, a Fanonian view insists that we
that nothing has really changed, and being view the sweetness of the South African
unable to direct their anger towards the transition from apartheid as bitter and
sources of corruption in the state, they vent incomplete, realised at the moment when
their anger and frustration on the foreigners “the people find out the ubiquitous fact
since the latter are the most vulnerable part that exploitation can wear a Black face”
of the community. Thus, according to Fanon, (Fanon, 1968, p. 145) and the apartheid
since citizens are unable to “attack the rule was replaced by a neo-apartheid one. In
source of oppression, the government and reference to the exploitation and xenophobia
the employers, foreigners became victims practised by black South Africans on
of this struggle because they were close at black Africans, it has become a process of
468 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 29 (1): 457 - 470 (2021)Xenophobic Violence in Welcome to Our Hillbrow
exchanging roles from the old oppressed to ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
the new oppressors. This failure to achieve I, represents the first and the correspondent
complete decolonization has resulted in author (Mustafa Mohammed Abdullah)
the formation of both national and racial would like to show my sincere gratitude
xenophobia and a new bourgeois class of the and appreciation to the co-authors for
Blacks. In this situation, South Africa has the continuous support and help during
become a neo-apartheid and neo-colonial writing the manuscript of this article,
city and blacks will have to fight again to my appreciation goes to my supervisor,
get democracy but this time the colonizers, Dr. Hardev Kaur for her guidance and
according to them, are black Africans. continuous support. I would not forget
the Library of UPM for the resourceful
CONCLUSION information I received from the staff.
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