Understanding the violence in South Africa directed at those perceived to be foreigners requires deep engagement with many layers of causality. One of these layers is the fraught space of race and identity. The Nelson Mandela Foundation has developed a position paper on race and identity generated through intense engagement with participants in a series of focus group dialogues. We commissioned three of the participants in the series to respond to the paper.
Eric Miyeni is a published author and distributed filmmaker working as festival director at RapidLion – The South African International Film Festival.
Ntombenhle Khathwane is an entrepreneur and a social-justice writer/researcher/activist.
Leon Wessels, research associate, Institute for Reconciliation an Social Justice, University of the Free State.