Approximately 80,000 to 100,000 were displaced from their homes, and more than 200 shops were burnt. During two weeks of violence, at least 62 people were killed nationwide. The worst episode of anti-immigrant attacks took place in May 2008. Only a year after the first black majority government was elected, the Southern African Bishops‘ Conference, in a report on immigrants, refugees and displaced people, noted the prevalence of xenophobia in South Africa: “There is no doubt that there is a very high level of xenophobia in our country…a variety of people have been lumped together under the title of ‘illegal immigrants’, and the whole situation of demonizing immigrants is feeding the xenophobia phenomenon.” People were forcefully evicted from their homes in a campaign called ‘ Operation Buyelekhaya’, meaning ‘go back home’.

In late 1994 and early 1995, the Alexandra Land and Property Owners Association along with the Concerned Residents Group of Alexandra accused migrants from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi of causing crime, sexual violence, and unemployment in the township. The first incidents of such violence were recorded only a few months after the country’s first democratic elections. This study gave rise to the Housing Entrepreneurs in South Africa study, the RDP Assets in South Africa study and the Affordable Land + Housing Data Centre.Xenophobia has a long and bloody history in post-apartheid South Africa. Key questions asked by the study included: What role does the resale market play? What are the key challenges that undermine performance? How do we overcome these so that, over time, township properties become part of the wider residential property market? The purpose of this study, completed in 2004, was to understand the dynamics of township property markets in South Africa, and to develop policy and strategic recommendations which would result in the better workings of housing markets in township areas. With the transition to democracy, the housing markets in these areas have opened and households can now trade their housing. For generations, households living in townships areas were tenants with limited tenure security. The functioning of resale markets is a critical piece in the overall puzzle for resolving South Africa’s housing issues. And yet, in the face of huge housing backlogs and sprawling informal settlements, it has not received sufficient attention from policymakers.

Townships rising south africa