Local South Africans and immigrants as neighbours in the neighbourhoods

Mathias Alubafi Fubah, Isaac Kabelenga, and Dimpho Makitla examine a somewhat similar issue in Chapter Seven by looking at the relationship between immigrants and local South Africans in the places in which they live and work. In particular, the chapter explores the perceptions that local South Africans and immigrants hold about each other and how this plays out in the neighborhoods in which they live as neighbors. It argues that relations between immigrants and local South Africans are tense because of the prejudices that they hold about each other. The chapter is based on qualitative and quantitative data collected in two suburbs in Johannesburg and Pretoria, and one informal settlement in Pretoria between June and August 2022. The findings revealed that, as neighbors in the neighborhoods, local South Africans and immigrants live in suspicion of each other because of the prejudices that they hold about one another. Against this backdrop, the chapter recommends, among other measures, creating awareness to address the issue of prejudices and suspicion held by local South Africans and immigrants about each other, and the promotion of social security and justice for both local South Africans and immigrants.