Tag Archives: xenophobia

In 2015, a wave of xenophobic attacks spread across South Africa. That year, the spark was the death of a 14-year-old named Siphiwe Mahori, who was shot dead by a Somali shopkeeper in Johannesburg. This is the autopsy of a young boy’s death, unravelling how the media, the police, the justice system, the community, the township economy, and politicians — from the local councilor all the way up to the office of the president — fuel the violence which continues to be meted out on foreigners, even in the midst of the pandemic.