my theses 70

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The portrayal of African migrants by the
South African print media
By Clement Omobolaji Banjo
Submitted for the degree of
MA (New Media, Governance and Democracy) 2014
University of Leicester

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Abstract
Since the end of apartheid in 1994, there has been a steady flow of African migrants into
South Africa. Many of these new members of the South African society come from other
African states. Hence, ‘the foreigners’ have been the subject of heated debate within South
Africa for the last twenty years – an often polemic debate in which the media plays a
prominent role.
This study explores the role of the print media in the portrayal of African migrants in South
Africa. By applying quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, the study explores
the key features of newspapers’ representation of African migrants. In particular, it seeks to
identify the key factors that underlie these representations. The findings of the study
suggest that there is a degree of bias in the way African migrants in South Africa are
portrayed in the media.
Word count: 13,600

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Dedication
Completing a master’s degree would have been farfetched until fate put me in the path of
one Jean Monique Theron (who later became Jean Monique Banjo). Monique I dedicate this
thesis to you. Over the last seven years, you have played the role of Mother, friend, sister,
girlfriend and Wife to me.

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Acknowledgements
Although the responsibility for this dissertation lies solely with me, I wish to express my
gratitude to friends and colleagues who offered me their help, without which this study
would not have been possible.
My greatest thanks to Gayle Edmunds without whom I would not have been able to access
the editors interviewed. Special thanks to Reggie Moalusi, Nicki Gules, Natasha Josephs and
Mondli Makhanya for taking time out from their hectic schedules to be interviewed for the
study. Your valuable insight is what made this dissertation possible and I am humbled that
you took such a keen interest in being involved.
Anyone who has been through a similar path knows well that a research project can never
be accomplished and presented decently without proper supervision; many thanks to my
personal tutor Eileen Shepard, for resolving key uncertainties so that I could go on and
complete this task.

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Table of Contents
Abstract...................................................................................................................................... 2
Dedication.................................................................................................................................. 3
Acknowledgements.................................................................................................................... 4
Table of Contents........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................. 7
1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 7
1.2. Research questions.......................................................................................................10
1.3. Rationale of a study on the portrayal of African migrants by the South African print
media. ..................................................................................................................................10
Chapter 2: Theory and Methodology ......................................................................................12
2.1 Theoretical perspective .................................................................................................12
2.1.1 Analysis of media occupations and professionals ..................................................12
2.1.2 The media representation theory...........................................................................13
2.2 Research methodology ..................................................................................................14
2.2.1 Content analysis......................................................................................................14
2.2.2 Qualitative semi-structured interviews..................................................................15
Chapter 3: Literature review....................................................................................................17
3.1 Literature review............................................................................................................17
3.2 Key concepts, historical factors that contextualise this study. .....................................19
3.2.1 Apartheid ................................................................................................................19
3.2.2 Immigration under apartheid .................................................................................20
3.2.3 Immigration into South Africa after 1994...............................................................21
3.2.4 Apartheid and the media........................................................................................23
3.2.5 Xenophobia.............................................................................................................24
Chapter 4: Results and discussion ...........................................................................................26
4.1 Content analysis research design ..................................................................................26
4.1.1 Newspaper selection ..............................................................................................26
4.1.2 Defining the universe..............................................................................................27
4.1.3 Selecting a sample ..................................................................................................27
4.1.4 Categories and coding schedule .............................................................................28
4.2 Findings of content analysis...........................................................................................28
4.2.1 Duality of the South African print media................................................................28

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4.2.2 The prominence given to migrant-related stories..................................................30
4.2.3 The source of stories...............................................................................................33
4.3 Analysis of News ............................................................................................................34
4.3.1 Analysis of newspaper headlines............................................................................34
4.3.2 Examples of biased headlines.................................................................................36
4.3.3 Lexicalisation of stories...........................................................................................36
4.4 Analysis of the tone of stories .......................................................................................37
4.5 Findings from semi structured interviews and selection process .................................37
4.5.1 The selection process..............................................................................................37
4.5.2 The Questionnaire ..................................................................................................38
4.6 Results and discussion ...................................................................................................38
4.6.1 Crime and publishing of the nationality of offender ..............................................38
4.6.2 The legacy of apartheid on the portrayal of African migrants ...............................41
4.6.3 Inclusion of the Daily Sun in study..........................................................................43
4.6.4 Xenophobic Society.................................................................................................46
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation..........................................................................48
5.1 Research limitation ........................................................................................................49
5.2 Recommendations.........................................................................................................49
Appendix 1 ...............................................................................................................................51
Appendix 2 ...............................................................................................................................52
Bibliography .............................................................................................................................53
List of Figures
Figure 1: Average Issue Readership of Newspapers and Magazines......................................28
Figure 2: The categorisation of migrants in the selected newspapers...................................30
Figure 3: Daily Sun - Wednesday 21 May 2008.....................................................................32
Figure 4: Migrant Stories placed in secondary section of publications...................................33
Figure 5: Inclusion of photos in migrant news articles...........................................................33
Figure 6: Source of migrant news..........................................................................................34
Figure 7: Actors in Migrant News...........................................................................................35
Figure 8: Analysis of newspaper headlines.............................................................................36
Figure 9: Analysis of Newspaper Stories................................................................................37
Figure 10: Participants...........................................................................................................39
Figure 11: Press release by the South African police service...................................................42

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
The landmark 1994 election which brought about the inauguration of the late Nelson
Rolihlahla Mandela as the first president of a fully representative democratic South Africa
changed the socio-political and geographical landscape of the country. Equal rights
substituted discrimination while a new constitution – one which continues to be ranked
amongst one of the most progressive in the world – replaced decades of legislated racism
under the guise of apartheid. Renowned American legal scholar Cass Sunstein (2001, p.4)
noted that “the South African constitution is the world’s leading example of a transformative
constitution. A great deal of the document is an effort to eliminate apartheid”.
In spite of the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, prejudice and violence
continue to mark the new South Africa. The change in political power has been accompanied
by a range of new discriminatory practices and victims. One such victim is ‘the foreigner'.
“Emergent alongside a new-nation discourse, the foreigner stands at a site where
xenophobia, racism and violent practice are reproduced” (Harris, 2002, p.169).
The fact that the sole targets of these discriminatory practices are black Africans has to be
emphasised. The long history of migration from Europe, as well as their control of the mass
media and economic power has helped to create a South African society friendly towards
European migrants. However, the migration of Africans to South Africa is a much newer
phenomenon which is accompanied by general scepticism and distrust. Thus, as a visible
continuity with the past, it is therefore not surprising that intolerance is targeted exclusively
at blacks from other African countries (Valji, 2003).
Scholars such as Crush (2001) have made a similar observation by noting the increase in
xenophobia in South Africa particularly in the post-1994 era. This he attributed to the fact
that most South Africans perceive foreigners – especially black foreigners – as a direct threat
to their socio-economic well-being.
These xenophobic attitudes have manifested themselves through the use of derogatory
words such as “makwerekwere” – an isiXhosa word which refers to “a black person from
underdeveloped Africa who is different and does not belong in an exceptional (developed)

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South Africa” (Isike & Isike, 2012, p.100). In recent times, it has escalated from mere rhetoric
to physical aggression and damage to property belonging to African migrants.
For example, the series of xenophobic attacks which took place – simultaneously – across
the country in May 2008 exposed the deep and fractured relations between black South
Africans and their “brothers” from other parts of Africa for the world to see. Although the
attacks started in the predominantly working class township of Alexandra (Johannesburg),
they spread across the entire country leaving over 40 people dead and hundreds displaced
from their homes.
This led to credible humanitarian and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the
United Nations Refugee Agency to issue statements condemning the abuse suffered by
African migrants within the republic and demanding that the South African government
protect their rights (Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1999,
p.14).
Furthermore, the magnitude of the attacks led to an array of literature on the issue of
xenophobia in South Africa. Lubbe (2009, p.1) concluded that the attacks are a culmination
of years of resentment by locals towards African migrants and deemed xenophobia a
“tangible and embarrassing reality in South Africa”.
According to Danso and McDonald (2001, p.115), the South African media plays a pivotal
role in fuelling hatred towards African migrants in South Africa through the “uncritical
reproduction of problematic statistics and assumptions”. Harris (2001) shares the same
stance by postulating that the manner in which the South African print media represents
African migrants is often based on negative stereotypes.
Media organisations do not exist in isolation; they are equally influenced by public opinion.
“It is an established fact in the study of the mass media that although the core function of
mass media is to disseminate information to the general public, it also reproduces certain
ideologies and discourses that supports specific relations of power” (Smith, 2008, p2). It is
therefore important not only to look at the media as a means to measure public perceptions
of foreigners, but also the manner in which perceptions are created. Thus, it is almost
impossible to understand phenomena in South Africa without assigning a pivotal role to
historical factors such as the apartheid regime and how its legacy continues to overtly and

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covertly influence media professionals in the news gathering, selection and dissemination
process.
Since the focal point of the study is to assess the representation of African migrants by the
South African print media, the primary source of the data that the study relies on is from the
media houses and their employees. It thus becomes imperative here to note that the study
is not based on audience perception. The reason for this approach is the pivotal role the
study assigns to the media and its ability to influence public opinion.
To a large extent, the news agenda of the mass media influences the agenda of the public.
When newspaper companies prioritise a certain topic in the news, it becomes the issue
regarded as the most important by the public (McCombs, 2013). Furthermore, as with any
form of news disseminated by the mass media, the manner in which a media company
packages a particular story can also determine how it is received by the public. It is not
simply about whom the press quotes or gets to comment on migrant issues, but it is also
“the way in which these comments are framed and presented that is also significant” (Harris,
2001, p.169).
It is worth pointing out that the interpretation of the news by the audience is also influenced
by factors such as each individual’s standpoint, socio economic condition and outlook
(McQuail, 2000). For example, a wealthy businessman might view news on the arrival of
African migrants into South Africa as the arrival of cheap and skilled labour. On the other
hand an unemployed individual may view them as a threat to his employment prospects.
However, since this study is not audience research orientated, it focuses on the pivotal role
of the print in shaping public opinion of African migrants.
In terms of methodology, the study made use of semi-structured interviews conducted with
key role players in the South African print media as well as a content analysis of newspaper
articles of selected publications to assess the current state of the portrayal of African
migrants within the Republic.
The thesis is structured in the following way: chapter one provides a context for the
research, discusses the rationale of the study and the research questions to be answered.
Chapter 2 discusses the applicable theoretical perspectives and methodology and identifies
their strengths and weakness. Chapter 3 looks at existing literature deemed relevant to the
study and explains key concepts and historical factors that contextualise the study. Chapter

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4 discusses the research design and results of the interviews and content analyses. Chapter 5
discusses recommendations for future research and limitations of the study and makes
concluding arguments.
1.2. Research questions
Although cognisant of the multi-faceted factors that often shape media portrayal, this
dissertation posits that the manner in which the South African print media portrays African
migrants contributes to xenophobia. The research questions to be answered are:
1. Are there signs of bias in the manner in which African migrants are portrayed by the
selected South African newspapers?
2. Are there trends and similarities across the spectrum of newspapers to be analysed
within the study?
3. Are there key factors that influence the manner in which journalists write on African
migrants?
1.3. Rationale of a study on the portrayal of African migrants by the
South African print media.
Globalisation and the cross-border movement of people have made issues surrounding
immigration a very important topic that often generates heated debates. More people live
outside their country of birth today than in any other period of human history, and these
levels are expected to continue to rise in the future (International Organisation for
Migration, 2011, in Lawson, 2013, p.518).
The arrival of African migrants into South Africa has created a new segment of society.
According to the Census 2011 of South Africa, there are 2.2 million African migrants living in
South Africa (Sowetan Online, 2012). While this segment of the South African society
currently receives little attention, it promises to be relevant in both the socio-economic and
political dimensions in the near future. Although there are no official statistics on the
number of businesses owned by African migrants within the republic, their businesses are
conspicuous in the central business districts of major towns and cities of South Africa.

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Given the potential political and economic significance of this segment of the South African
society, civil society movements such as the Nigerian Union of South Africa, an NGO that
seeks to unite Nigerians in South Africa – migrant communities have been approached by
local political parties and government departments in order to forge better relationships.
This gives impetus to the rising political significance of this segment of the South African
society. It is worth mentioning the United Nigerian Wives in South Africa (UNWISA) – a civil
society organisation that consists of spouses of Nigerians who reside in South Africa. The aim
of the group is to unite in order to address common challenges such as discrimination and
abuse faced by foreigners in South Africa (Mail & Guardian, 2014).
Furthermore, a growing number of locals are either cohabitating or are married to foreign
nationals thereby deepening social and cultural ties. As seen in countries such as Ivory Coast,
which have a large migrant community, and a president (Alassane Ouattara) whose parents
hail from Burkina Faso, one can argue that the offspring from relationships between
migrants and South Africans might play a significant role in the definition of national identity
in years to come.
Lastly, while a number of researchers have also commented on the role of the media in the
portrayal of African migrants (Hadland, 2008, and Crush et al. 2008), they did so
predominantly relying on previously conducted research (Smith, 2002, p2). Furthermore,
they have relied mostly on quantitative techniques without taking into account findings that
might have been discovered using qualitative methods such as interviewing. As noted by the
deputy editor of the Daily Sun, South Africa’s most read tabloid paper, “these researchers
come up with these findings without consulting us (media professionals)” (M. Regie,
personal communication, July 15, 2014).

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Chapter 2: Theory and Methodology
2.1 Theoretical perspective
This section looks at related theories and approaches that frame this study. The first section
focuses on the analysis of media occupations and professionals and section two discusses
the media representation theory.
2.1.1 Analysis of media occupations and professionals
The research topic can be contextualised within the study of media occupations and
professionals. This is due to the fact that a thorough analysis of media occupations and
professionals helps in identifying “processes and rationale that inform the selection and of
media content” (Boyd-Barrett, 1995, p. 270). This is in line with the emphasis the study
places on the views of media professionals and data acquired from the analysis of their
respective publications (as stipulated in section 1.1 of this study).
Furthermore, news entails a selective process that leads to a version of reality. The
implication of this is that there is the potential for the news to be doctored by media
organisations; as a result, it can be biased or influenced by the views and beliefs of the news
selector. MacDougall (1968, p.12 as quoted in Hall, et al., 1978, p.53) gives buttress to this
claim by noting that a vast number of events occur globally that can constitute a news story.
He further noted that, such events do not become news until media professionals give an
account of them. Therefore, news thus becomes “the account of the event, and not
something intrinsic in the event itself”. Only a study of the participants of the news process
can indicate the reasons for such bias (Holloran, et al., 1970 as quoted in Helland, 2007,
p.21).
A thorough understanding of the professionals in this field of study will shed light on how
certain socio-political and historical factors such as South Africa’s discriminatory past, and
the current realties of “black on black” xenophobia continue to influence the manner in
which they portray African migrants. A view corroborated by Curran et al. (1982, p.2) who
noted that the existing “socio-political consensus defines the boundaries and constraints
within which media professionals can be impartial”. The fact that the views of these media
professionals will play a key role in the conclusion of this study via semi-structured
interviews attests to the importance this study has assigned to them.

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2.1.2 The media representation theory
Although African migrants in South Africa come from various cultural backgrounds, they all
fall under the term “minority” within the South African society. Thus, the study can be
framed within the fields of media representation theory which focuses on minorities within
society; therefore similar principles can be applied.
Hall (1995, p.19) refers to representation as the manner in which the mass media plays a
pivotal role in the formation of ideologies that guides the way people think. He goes on
further by stating that "what they produce in precisely, representations of the social world,
images, descriptions, explanations and frames for understanding”. Pool (2005) agrees with
this definition of media representation but goes further by stating that, the media also
construct their own meanings, norms and values through signifying practices. What is meant
here is that representation is not just about recording and disseminating. It is a process
where news is acquired and then "filtered through interpretative frameworks" (Poole, 2005,
p.23).
In South Africa for example, the predominantly white owned mass media associates the
arrival of European migrants into South Africa with the arrival of scarce skill, job creators,
modernity and sophistication (Lubbe, 2009, p.10). African migrants on the other hand are
associated with terms such as crime, disease and poverty (Crymble, 2010, p.22). This
example is in line with Poole’s argument above. One can thus argue that the manner in
which both African and European migrants in South Africa are represented in the media has
played a role in the way they are both perceived by the South African society.
Pertinent to this study, Hall (1995, p.22) work on media representation aptly titled; The
Whites of Their Eyes: racist ideologies and the media. Hall noted that the media “constructs
for us a definition of what race is, the meaning and imagery that race carries and what the
‘problem of race’ is understood to be”. Whereas the focal point of his argument is how the
predominantly white owned mass media defines ‘the problem of race’ similar principles
apply in the media representation of foreign nationals within a given country. The
significance of Hall’s theory of representation in this regard is that it assigns a critical role to
the mass media in the shaping of public opinion within society.

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2.2 Research methodology
A mixture of qualitative and quantitative research methodology will be utilised to fully
understand the nature of the research problem. This will be in the form of content analysis
and semi-structured interviews.
2.2.1 Content analysis
As explained by Neuman (2006) and Hansen, (1998), the quantitative tool of content analysis
will be applied. In line with Neuman’s (2006, p.323) assertion that content analysis has a
qualitative dimension since “documents and statistics are cultural objects”, content analysis
was applied in a qualitative manner with the use of latent coding. This will gave room to the
researcher to assign meaning to omissions that might have a meaning.
This is a departure from the concept of manifest coding which seeks to only count the
prevalence of specific or combination of words which can be misleading since it does not
take the “undertone of words and phrases into consideration” (Neuman, 2006, p.325). This
is particularly pertinent for this study as there are “underlying implicit meaning” that will
arise in the content of the text to be studied due to the researcher’s knowledge of the
particular language and its social meaning (Neuman, 2006, p.326).
In answering some of questions this study poses, content analysis was chosen as a suitable
method. This is due to the fact that content analysis has the ability to explain and examine
media content and most importantly newspapers in a comprehensive and numerical manner
(Hansen et al, 1998, p.91). Its ability to merge the study and analysis of communications in a
systematic, objective, and quantitative manner for the purpose of measuring variables
(Wimmer & Dominick, 2006, p.157) makes it a suitable method for the research topic.
The focal point of the study is the portrayal of a minority group. Issues such as racial
discrimination and xenophobia are often polemic issues that are treated with a lot of
sensitivity and caution. Content analysis is appropriate due to its ability to expose underlying
biases. Thus, it is ideal when conducting studies that relate to the representation of
minorities in the media (Wimmer & Dominick, 2006, p.153).
Scholars such as Wimmer & Dominick, (2006) have questioned the reliability of content
analysis when used alone to answer a research question. This study concurs with this

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assertion and the concept of triangulation which emphasises the simultaneous use of two
different research methodologies when conducting a study. It is for this reason that the
study adopted the use of content analysis and semi-structured interviews.
Much of the allegations levelled against content analysis are that it gives room for the
researcher’s subjectivity (Hansen et al, 1998). However, scholars such as Hansen (1998),
Wimmer & Dominick, (2006), emphasise the need to be subjective and be guided by a
theoretical framework that will guide the process. What is meant here is that, the process of
choosing and omitting content has to be based on consistent criteria of selection. The
rationale for this is to ensure that the investigator remains objective and unbiased in the
selection process.
2.2.2 Qualitative semi-structured interviews
In light of the complex nature of the topic, a qualitative research method in the form of
semi-structured interviews was adopted. The choice of a qualitative methodology is based
on Halloran’s (2007, p.11) assertion that “what appears on screen and in print may be
influenced by a wide range of historical, social and political factors”. Qualitative research in
general helps to “discover and better understand human attributes, attitudes or behaviour
in a more exploratory way” (Mytton, 1999, p.125).
The scope of the study requires an in-depth understanding thus, the use of semi-structured
interview proved an ideal method. Sensitive and contentious topics are often delicate for
some people to talk about (Mytton, 1999, p.141); the research topic has to do with the often
polemic issue of race. The use of semi-structured interviews and open-ended questions
created a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere which enabled interviewees to answer
questions honestly based on their experience.
Furthermore, it enabled the researcher to build interpersonal relationships with the
respective interviewees which allowed him to contact them again at short notice when
follow up questions were required. As a testament to the importance of the interpersonal
relationship fostered by qualitative research methods; most of the interviewees divulged
certain (secret) organisational rituals during the second half of their hour-long interviews.
What this implies is that they divulged more critical information due to the relationship and
trust built with the interviewer.

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Semi-structured interviews give a researcher the flexibility to delve into topics that arise
while the interview is being conducted. It allows the researcher to gain context, “elaborate
data concerning respondents’ opinions, values, motivations, recollections, experiences, and
feelings” (Wimmer & Dominick, 2006, p. 139). Upon completing the study, a key advantage
of semi-structured interviews that the study identified is the relationship that was forged
between the researcher and interviewees. The one on one interviews created trust amongst
the researcher and interviewees which made the interviewees feel more comfortable to
divulge certain information that they wouldn’t have otherwise disclosed. This “trust” came in
useful considering the sensitive nature of the study. This is in line with Mytton’s (1999,
p.140) stance that semi-structured interviews have the “ability to reveal or understand
rather than to measure or quantify”.
A limitation to this method is what Wimmer & Dominick (2006, p. 139) call generalisability.
This is because some of the respondents’ answers to the same set of questions differed and
could be based on personal opinion. This raises the question of whether answers received
from interviewees can be accepted as the opinion of other journalists and editors.
Furthermore, a limitation observed in the course of the study is that semi-structured in-
depth interviews can be expensive. As in the case with this study, the logistics involved in
meeting interviewees whose offices are mostly based in commercial business districts can be
expensive.

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Chapter 3: Literature review
3.1 Literature review
There is a limited but a growing body of literature on how African immigrants in South Africa
are portrayed by the South African media. ‘Many of these analyses’ have to date focused
primarily on the economic and migratory elements of intolerance (Valji, 2003, p.2). Much of
these studies were conducted by NGOs who relied on private funding.
For example, Bird and Fine’s 2008 study which investigated the South African media’s
coverage of racial violence and xenophobia, published on behalf of the Centre for the Study
of Violence and Reconciliation, was funded by the Ford Foundation and Charles Stewart
Mott Foundation. The study reported that whilst apartheid and its racist structures no longer
formally exist, there appears to be a number of “racial incidents in the media’s agenda”.
Furthermore, the study observed that there appears to be a shift from bias across racial lines
to new manifestations of racism, such as racism within political discourse and xenophobia.
Researchers at the Southern African Migration project (SAMP) have conducted extensive
research on the issue of migration and xenophobia in South Africa (Crush et al, 2013, 2011
2009, 2008). In 2008, they conducted studies which lead to the publication of a report titled
“The perfect storm: the realities of xenophobia in contemporary South Africa”. Based on
interviews and surveys, the study identified key variables that motivated the xenophobic
attacks inflicted on African migrants in South Africa and suggested workable suggestions to
prevent a repetition. Amongst key issues identified by the study was a general mistrust and
paranoia toward African migrants amongst South Africans who were interviewed.
Danso & McDonald (2000) critically analysed the South African print media’s coverage of
cross-border migration in the post-apartheid period. Their study was based on a survey that
was the first and the most comprehensive of its kind ever undertaken in the country. It
analysed more than 1,200 newspaper clippings about migration from all English-language
newspapers in South Africa between 1994 and 1998. The report presents both a quantitative
and qualitative analysis on the portrayal of African migrants in South Africa.
In sum, the report argues that the coverage of international migration by the South African
press has been largely anti-immigrant and un-analytical. Harris (2002) on the other hand
gives a historical perspective on xenophobia in South Africa, and also investigates

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xenophobia as a current and arguably socially located phenomenon, one which she framed
as ‘pathological’ (2002, p.5). For Harris, xenophobia in democratic South Africa was born out
of the countries’ violent path and to address xenophobia in South African it has to be
accepted as pathological.
On media representation in general, Van Dijk’s work, themed “Selective bibliography on
ethnic minorities, racism and the mass media” (1995) traces the work of Simpson’s 1936
publication titled “The negro in the Philadelphia press” as the earliest academic study of
ethnic minorities, racism and the mass media. Simpson examined “the portrayal of African-
Americans in white new papers in Philadelphia”, using “what is now known as quantitative
content analysis” (Simonson 2005: p8).
One of the most prominent studies in the field of media portrayal and representation is the
work of Van Dijk (1991), titled “Racism and the press” – an interdisciplinary study that
focused on the portrayal of ethnic minorities drawn from newspapers in Holland and the
United Kingdom.
Van Dijk’s study gives a different perspective to the proposed research as it explores the
notion of racism and the press from a European perspective. The study concluded that issues
that threaten the interests of whites receive more attention by the media of the respective
countries (i.e. Holland and the United Kingdom) while that of blacks receive little attention.
Cultural theorist and sociologist Stuart Hall has written extensively on the topic of
representation in the media. His work titled; “The Whites of their eyes; Racist ideologies and
the media” (1995, p.1) posit the media as creators of ideologies. According to Hall,
information disseminated by the mass media provides the framework through which the
audience and society at large represent, interpret, understand and make meaning of some
aspect of social existence. In his work “Cultural identity and Diaspora” (1990), Hall agrees
with the role of the media in depicting ethnic minorities especially Africans. He goes a step
further by emphasising the pivotal role of media representation in society and how it
influences public opinion.

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3.2 Key concepts, historical factors that contextualise this study.
Whereas the aim of this study is the portrayal of African migrants within the South African
print media, media organisations do not exist in isolation. They are influenced by socio-
political and historical factors. As Boyd-Barrett (1995, p.272) succinctly posited, “News is
always likely to be diluted to some extent by the historical-traditional in the explanations for
why media operations are what they are”. Wa Kabwe-Segatti et al. (2008, p.29) assert the
importance of assigning a pivotal role to historical events when conducting scientific
research in South Africa by stipulating that the perception of migrants in South Africa
“cannot be understood without reference to the history of the country”. Thus, this section
explains key concepts, historical factors and terminologies that further contextualise this
study.
3.2.1 Apartheid
The history of racial discrimination in South Africa can be traced back to period of Dutch rule
between 1652 and 1806, and the nineteenth-century Boer republics and British colonies
(Beinart and Dubow, 1995). Racial discrimination during this era is best understood as a
societal norm amongst the settler community – towards black Africans - which was neither
legal nor illegal.
Discrimination became more organized, rigorously implemented, legalised and policed by
the ruling National Party in the year 1948. The early years of National Party rule saw the
formation of discriminatory legislation spearheaded by the Population Registration Act
(1950) “which allocated all South Africans to a particular racial group, from which flowed
differential privileges and prohibitions” (ANC Online, 1997). Hence, apartheid is best
understood as the formalisation of already existing discriminatory practices. “Apartheid
merely tightened the loopholes, ironing out the informalities, eliminating the evasions,
modernizing and rationalizing the inter-war structures of segregationist labour control”
(Legassick, 1977, p. 191).

20 | P a g e
The South African Apartheid Museum posits the following broad theories to explain
apartheid:
 The Afrikaner nationalist approach – this is based on the concept of Apartheid on
Christianity. The premise is that the Afrikaner identity was God-given and the African
population posed a threat. Afrikaner nationalist historians explain apartheid in 1948 as the
consolidation of these beliefs through a range of laws that were passed to prevent the
mixing of races and to preserve this "God-given" Afrikaner identity.
 The Liberal Approach – the liberals attribute apartheid to the concept of white supremacy
which emanated from the Nationalist Party.
 The Radical Approach – this school of thought lays emphasis on the economic and social
development of South Africa and attributes apartheid as a consequence of the need for
cheap labour. Social historians see apartheid as the by-product of resistance by ordinary
people to the restriction placed upon them. They assert that the resistance encountered by
the colonialists resulted in a cycle of draconian and discriminatory laws to maintain order
(Apartheid Museum, 1996, p. 11-13).
3.2.2 Immigration under apartheid
Whereas the vast amount of studies point to the arrival of the first white settlers under the
leadership of Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 as the beginning of the movement and migration into
modern day South Africa, there has been cross-border movement of indigenous people prior
to his arrival.
The movement of natives in the region took place before and after the arrival of European
settlers. This is evident given the shared linguistic and cultural similarities amongst the tribes
of the region. “Many of the ethnic groups in South Africa have links with others in the region
and not just because of the imposition of colonial national borders. Wars, particularly at the
time of Shaka Zulu, pushed people northwards” (Peberdy, 2010, p.3).
Once the Union of South Africa was formed in the year 1910, immigration regulations were
drafted in a manner that was more conducive to Europeans. This led to the drafting of the
racially exclusionary Immigrants Regulation Act of 1913 which was later passed into law. The
act discriminated on the basis of nationality, race and gender. For example, it limited the
free movement of Asians into the republic (Crush, 2009, p. 261). Suffice to say that the

21 | P a g e
Immigration Regulation Act of 1913 encouraged the influx of western Europeans into South
Africa, while discouraging the entry of non-Europeans. Peberdy (2010, p.3) made a similar
observation by noting that the white government allowed in any and all white immigrants
and kept out all black immigrants.
Therefore, entry into South Africa was dominated by European tourists and would be
settlers. This was due the euro-friendly approach to immigration buffeted by a need to
increase the amount of Caucasian South Africans who remained a minority. Lubbe (2009)
confirms this assertion by noting that the apartheid regime welcomed all Caucasians into
South Africa while “closing the door” for Africans. For example, “ the apartheid regime was
willing to take white people leaving de-colonising countries on the continent without
question, often when they did not meet the terms of immigration legislation” (Peberdy,
2010, p.14). The fact that whites who fled Mozambique were issued permanent residence
while black Mozambicans who fled the civil war were refused entry into the country gives
impetus to this notion.
However, the need for cheap labour meant that the government had to vehemently issue
temporary work permits to Africans from neighbouring countries. In 1961, during the regime
of Hendrik Verwoerd, the Froneman Commission was set up to inquire into the number of
“foreign Bantus in the Republic”. According to the report, there was an estimated 836,000
“foreign-born” Africans in South Africa of which 420,000 were in rural areas and 53,281 were
registered as working in urban areas (Peberdy, 2010, p.4).
Many of these migrants were often labourers who worked in the gold, platinum and
diamond mines. They constituted the labour force not because they were exactly welcomed
in the country, but because they were a source of cheap labour. In fact, they were subjected
to the same discriminatory legislation suffered by the indigenous blacks.
3.2.3 Immigration into South Africa after 1994
Upon becoming the ruling party of the “new” South Africa in 1994, the democratically
elected African National Congress (ANC) emphasised the country’s desire to draw skilled
migrants from the rest of the world (including Africa) to address a shortage of skills in key
sectors such as health, science and agriculture (Wa Kabwe-Segatti, 2008, p.29).

22 | P a g e
The significance of this afro-friendly approach in addressing South Africa’s skills shortage
cannot be over--emphasized. Firstly, it marked a departure from the previous racist
immigration policy; secondly, it also brought about the entry of economic migrants, asylum
seekers and students from other African countries into South Africa. Suffice to say that, since
the advent of democracy in 1994, migration patterns into South Africa have changed. This
was largely due to the arrival of migrants from African countries north of South Africa
(Peberdy, 2010, p.5).
The International Organization for Migration (IMO) asserts that there are five types of
migrants. This classification is apt in summarising the broad spectrum of these African
migrants in South Africa:
1. Documented migrant – a non-national who legally enters a foreign country and
doesn’t contravene its immigration laws;
2. Economic migrant – a person who leaves his country of abode for another
country in order to improve his/her living conditions.;
3. Irregular migrant –a person who has either violated their condition of entry or
entered a country illegally;
4. Skilled migrant – a migrant who possesses skills that are often scarce in another
country. Such individuals are granted residency based on their skills and
expertise;
5. Temporary migrant worker – skilled, semi-skilled or untrained workers who
remain in the destination country for definite periods as determined in a work
contract with an individual worker or a service contract concluded with an
enterprise. Also called contract migrant workers.
This new breed of migrants presumably came to South Africa during this era with the
expectation that the newly elected black government would depart from the previously anti-
African immigration regime. The assumption was that the negative attitude towards black
migrants would disappear after 1994 when a new and democratically elected government
took over (Lubbe, 2009, p.3).
The South African Bill of Rights (1996) enshrines the rights of all residents of the country and
affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom. This declaration
departs from the vast number of undemocratic and draconian laws that were put in place

23 | P a g e
during the apartheid regime. What is quite ironic however is the fact that there was not a
complete overhaul of the pre-1994 Aliens Control Act which governed immigration. The
consequence of this was that elements of the Aliens Control Act of 1991 remained in the
current Immigration Act of 2002 (Lubbe, 2009, p. 5). For example, the Immigration Act of
2002 requires that nationals of most African countries obtain a visa before entering South
Africa while most European nationals were waivered a requirement for a visa.
Peberdy (2010, p.6) concurs with this assertion by acknowledging that “[the] process of
legislative and policy reform since 1994 has been slow and marked by continuity with the
past rather than change in that immigration policy has been mostly exclusionary retaining a
national, protectionist and territorial vision.”
3.2.4 Apartheid and the media
Broadly speaking, the apartheid regime can be said to have made use of the mass media for
self-legitimisation and validation. It used the mass media to continually and systematically
assert separation as legitimate and necessary in order to hide inequality with “distortions
and myths which would aim to satisfy all South Africans and the international
community”(Bird and Garda, 1996, p. 1).
To ensure the realisation of its goals, the apartheid state drafted and signed into law a
“multifaceted web of laws and decrees with the sole aim of maintaining legitimacy, self-
protection and controlling what people read, heard and saw” (ANC Online, 1997). What
made the apartheid government’s propaganda machine more effective was the physical
segregation of people based on race. This not only reinforced ‘them and us’ relations
amongst black and white South Africans, but also left the creation of public opinion to the
often biased white-dominated mass media. As Bird and Garda (1996, p.1) posited, “It was
often difficult for the South African public to test what they have learnt from the media with
their experience”.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) played a significant role in the apartheid
regime’s media campaign. According to researchers at the African National Congress (ANC)
“it was the most important weapon in the apartheid state's battle for the hearts and minds
of the people” (ANC Online, 1997). The influence of the ruling National Party over the SABC

24 | P a g e
was maintained through the channelling of resources and the appointment of senior
managers who are card carrying member of the National Party (ANC Online, 1997).
Most of the privately owned media houses and particularly the Afrikaans language
newspapers played a similar role to the SABC. This can be attributed to two factors, namely:
the need to maintain good relationship with the ruling National Party and a feeling of kinship
towards the ruling National Party which had Afrikaner nationalism at the forefront of its
agenda. “These media houses played a major role in building morale among those white
Afrikaners who supported apartheid, for example by glorifying cross-border raids, and
downplaying the successes of sanctions campaigns imposed on the National Party led
government (ANC Online, 1997). Kolbe (2005, p.5) gives a succinct summary of the South
African media during apartheid by noting that, “[although] in many ways the press was
severely restricted during apartheid, ultimately it was a white controlled press which
profited from apartheid”.
3.2.5 Xenophobia
Xenophobia can be defined as a form of discrimination and hate towards people from
“other” countries. Whereas racism is based on skin colour, nationality is the defining feature
of xenophobia. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees defines
xenophobia as: “attitudes, prejudices and behaviour that reject, exclude and often vilify
persons, based on the perception that they are outsiders or foreigners to the community,
society or national identity” (UNHCR, 2001, p. 2).
Although the issue of xenophobia became a common discourse within South Africa post
1994, the country has a long history of xenophobia. For example, the apartheid regime
encouraged the migration of people from western European countries into the republic
while including a clause in immigration policies which limited the entry of Eastern Europeans
(Crush, 2009, p. 261).
Xenophobia in contemporary South Africa has however taken a different guise; it is
predominantly directed at African migrants. Scholars such as Motha & Ramadiro (2005, p.
18) have posited that in South Africa “xenophobia often manifests itself as afro-phobia
which indicates holding negative stereotypes towards people from other parts of the
continent”. Xenophobia in South Africa is not carried out “across the board”. “African

25 | P a g e
foreigners seem to be particularly vulnerable to violence and hostility” (Human Rights
Watch, 1998; Human Rights Commission, 1999 in Harris, 2002). The scourge in this trend of
discrimination is often attributed to a perception that African migrants are criminals, job -
seekers and women-snatchers.
Xenophobia and hate directed at African migrants in South Africa is best understood against
the backdrop of the concept of “makwerekwere” which Matsinhe (2011, in Isike & Isike,
2012, p.109) describes as the “narcissism of minor difference”. Chapter one of this study
explained the term ‘makwerekwere’ as a derogatory name used by black South Africans to
refer to black people from other African countries. Furthermore, it is a concept that is used
to identify (black) non-speakers of the local African dialect and foreigners to local African
tradition. Hence as Isike & Isike (2012, p. 109) succinctly posited, even when an
‘amakwerekwere’ obtains South African citizenship, such a person is still deemed an
outsider.
A meaning one can assign to this is that, some black South Africans assign more significance
to traditional and ethnic ties in their understanding of what constitutes a foreigner as
opposed to formal and legal concepts such as naturalisation and citizenship. It is important
to note that there are very few white South Africans who speak local African languages or
share cultural ties with indigenous tribes; yet they are generally accepted as legitimate
Citizens by black South Africans. This gives buttress to the notion of Afro-phobia, a form of
discrimination directed at African migrants within the republic.

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Chapter 4: Results and discussion
This chapter discusses the data acquired through the application of content analysis and the
semi-structured interviews. Furthermore, it also explains the research design which was
used in the selection of data for the content analysis and the choosing of participants that
were interviewed.
4.1 Content analysis research design
4.1.1 Newspaper selection
South Africa has a vibrant and diverse print media industry with a number of daily and
weekly newspapers. In total, South Africa has 23 daily and 14 weekly major urban
newspapers most of which are published in English. Some 12.4-million South Africans buy
the urban dailies, while community newspapers have a circulation of 5.5-million (Media Club
South Africa, 2010).
For the purpose of this study, content from five newspapers was chosen for analysis,
namely: City Press, Mail & Guardian, The Star, Sowetan and Daily Sun. The following factors
were put into consideration before choosing these particular newspapers for analysis:
 All five publications rank amongst the most established and influential newspapers in South
Africa. This is reflected in the number of readers they command as stipulated in the table
below;
 South African society is diverse; these five publications were chosen as they reflect diverse
views within South Africa. For example, they target all the racial groups within South Africa.
 These publications were more accessible as their archives can be found on the SABINET
database with the exception of the Daily Sun whose archives are not readily accessible by
the public.

27 | P a g e
Figure 1: Average Issue Readership of Newspapers and Magazines, January 2010 to
December 2010
Newspapers No of readers Readership
City Press 1,867 000 Cosmopolitan
Mail & Guardian 428 000 White and middle/upper class black
Daily Sun 5,023 000 Black working class
Sowetan 1,522 000 English-literate black readership
The Star 574 000 White publication albeit with growing black readership
Data sourced from the South African Advertising Research Foundation's All Media Products Survey (Amps)
4.1.2 Defining the universe
For operational purposes, the word ‘migrant’ is defined as black people from other African
countries (i.e. outside of South Africa). The period of study was set at 3 months, with articles
selected from the four newspapers from the 1 May 2008 to 31 July 2008. Due to the lack of
accessibility to Daily Sun’s archive, the study of its content is limited to a month; 1 – 30 May
2008.
The reason for choosing this particular period for analysis is that it was a period when issues
relating to immigration – especially that of African migrants – dominated national discourse
due to the widespread violence directed at foreigners in South Africa during that period. The
details of events that occurred during that period is outlined in section 1 of this study.
4.1.3 Selecting a sample
To identify the articles for analysis, a search was conducted using “SABINET”, a database that
houses the archive of all newspapers to be analysed (except Daily Sun) using the following
search string:
((alltext:(migrants)) OR (ocr:(migrants))) AND (publication_date:[ 2008-
001T00:00:00Z TO 2008-07-31T23:59:59Z ])
A search was conducted with the word “migrants” which resulted in a total of 285 migrant
related articles across all newspapers on the database. Four publications to be analysed
produced a total of eighty-three stories amongst them.

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The scope of the study entails a minority within South African society; this is reflected in the
limited coverage afforded to them. For example, should the same search using the word
“migrants” be conducted over a four month period from 1 January 2008 to the 31 April
2008, this would have amounted to a meagre 83 articles amongst 22 newspapers using the
search string:
((alltext_unstemmed:("migrants"))) AND (publication_date:[ 2008-01-
01T00:00:00Z TO 2008-04-30T23:59:59Z ]).
Furthermore, the aim of the study is to investigate variables and not to make a finding that
can be generalised; for this reason, non-probability sampling was chosen as the most
suitable method of choosing articles to be analysed (Wimmer & Dominick, 2006, p.88).
4.1.4 Categories and coding schedule
There was only one coder – the author – who read all the articles and identified all articles
that referred to migrants in South Africa. Articles measured as part of the corpus came from
every section of the newspapers with the exemption of adverts, sports and business
sections. The coding schedule operationalised specific indicators of importance that had to
do with African migrants. These were: For example, news source, page location, availability
of photo and indicator of stance (bias or judgemental).
4.2 Findings of content analysis
Here the study explains key findings from the result of the analysis.
4.2.1 Duality of the South African print media
Over this three month period, with the xenophobic attacks at their peak, the four
publications produced a total of eighty-three stories amongst them. This amounted to a
story rate of 0.2% per newspaper. In other words, the publications each published a story
once every five days. Although this is understandable for the City Press and Mail & Guardian
which are weekly papers, this was rather low for daily papers like the Sowetan and the Daily
Sun.
Mail & Guardian and City Press whose readership consist of the middle to upper class people
had the lowest coverage of the issue of African migrants in South Africa when compared to

29 | P a g e
Sowetan, Daily Sun and The Star who cater for the predominantly black and/or working class
segments of society. For example, during the period under review, of the articles that were
migrant-related City Press had 72% coverage of African migrants in South Africa while the
Mail & Guardian had a 57%. This contrasts with the 84% coverage by The Star and 100%
coverage by Daily Sun and the Sowetan.
It is important to note that the period under review was during the wave of xenophobic
attacks across the country which saw thousands of African migrants displaced. It was also an
era of political instability which culminated in the removal of Thabo Mbeki as the President
of South Africa.
Figure 2: The categorisation of migrants in the selected newspapers
On the one hand, one can argue that both Mail & Guardian and City Press devoted more
time to political issues of national interest; on the other hand, it could be that they gave the
issue of African migrants less coverage since it appealed less to their predominantly white
and middle to upper class black readers who reside in the more affluent suburbs that were
not affected by the attacks.
On the contrary, The Star, Daily Sun and Sowetan published more on African migrant related
stories. It is tempting to assume that these two newspapers gave more attention to issues
that relate to (Black) African migrants simply because of a feeling of kinship or solidarity they
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
City Press Mail&Guard
ian
Star Sowetan Daily Sun
African migrants 72% 57% 84% 100% 100%
Asian migrants 10% 0% 5.00% 0% 0%
Other 18% 43% 11% 0% 0%
The categorisation of migrants in selected
newspapers

30 | P a g e
enjoy from their predominantly black readers. However, a more realistic assumption is that
they gave more attention to migrant related issues during the period under review because
most of the attacks took place in predominantly black neighbourhoods in areas where their
target market or readers resided.
These statistics confirm the duality of the South African print media with one category
catering for the middle and upper middle class, who comprise the bulk of the white
readership, and the other segment focusing on the black working class. A finding worth
pointing out (although unrelated to the study) is the fact that there was very little coverage
of Asian migrants who although small in number make up a significant proportion of the
small-scale retailers in the areas where the attacks took place. This is reflected in figure 2.
4.2.2 Prominence given to migrant-related stories
Underlying the findings of this section is the assumption that the number of articles a
newspaper publisher gives to a particular subject is an indication of its editorial policy and
the relevance it attaches to it (Poole, 2005, p.55). This is because newspaper space costs
money, and the newspaper’s allocation of manpower in the form of photographers and
reporters also gives an indication of the significance it attaches to a certain story.
In all the reviewed newspapers, only the City Press and the Daily Sun (See Figure 4) carried a
story on its front page about African migrants for the entire period under review. This
occurred once on the front page of City Press and twice on Daily Sun. It is worth pointing out
that, whilst the Daily Sun published a migrant-related article on its front page, the emphasis
of one of its two front page articles focused on a prominent police officer who was returning
to his duty after been suspended from his duties (See the figure 3) as opposed to a coverage
of the actual event which had to do with displaced migrants.

31 | P a g e
Figure 3: Daily Sun - Wednesday 21 May 2008
While the other papers did not carry the story of migrants on their respective front pages,
they did not carry them on the primary sections of their papers either. The Sowetan and the
Mail & Guardian fared better in this regard as they had stories closer to the front page
where they had higher visibility.

32 | P a g e
Figure 4: Migrant Stories placed in secondary section of publications
Throughout the period under study, the electronic media carried graphic accounts of homes
being burnt down and people being beaten in the streets, perhaps in an attempt to
humanise the “foreigners”. At the very moderate level, the electronic media carried pictures
of the camps where migrants sought shelter when they were attacked in their homes. As a
result, one would expect the print media to follow suit. However, a content analysis of the
period under review showed that very few of the stories carried any photos as shown by the
chart below.
Figure 5: Inclusion of photos in migrant news articles
0.00%
20.00%
40.00%
60.00%
80.00%
100.00%
City Press Sowetan Mail &
Guardian
Star daily sun
Percentage 81.80% 55.60% 71.40% 83.70% 17.64%
Migrant Stories placed in secondary section of
publications
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Guardian
The Star Daily Sun
Articles with Pictures 9% 0% 10% 16% 70%
Articles without Pictures 91% 100% 90% 84% 30%
Inclusion of Photos in Migrant News Articles

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As seen from the graph above, almost all the newspapers rarely included photos in their
stories which would have carried a powerful message in putting across what was happening
during the period under review. This finding is corroborated by a similar analysis (Magubane,
2008) that was conducted which noted that in some publications such as the Daily Sun,
stories regarding the attacks were only published in front pages when high profile politicians
visited the scenes of the attacks.
4.2.3 The source of stories
The table below shows the source of news from the different sources. According to the
analysis, the bulk of the stories came from correspondents. In other words, the publications
chose not to assign their core reporters to cover the stories on immigrants but rather chose
to rely on external sources as seen below.
Figure 6: Source of migrant news
Looking at the source of the stories, it is important to note that most of the stories came
from official sources, with a sizeable number of them coming from ‘experts’ called upon to
report on the stories. Considering that the stories were playing out in the townships, one
would have expected the stories to be based on the citizens – that is those perpetrating the
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Guardian
Star Daily SUN
Agency 18% 11% 5% 9% 23%
Correspondent 36% 78% 48% 37% 0%
Reporter / Editor 36% 0% 43% 30% 76%
Columnist 0% 11% 0% 7% 0%
Press Release 0% 0% 5% 0% 0%
Other 9% 44% 2% 46% 0%
Source of Migrant News

34 | P a g e
violence and those being victimised. This would have provided a more balanced and
authentic coverage of the stories. However, most of the stories were based on columnists
disengaged from the violence playing out in the townships.
Figure 7: Actors of migrant news
4.3 Analysis of News
4.3.1 Analysis of newspaper headlines
Figure 6 below shows how the headlines in the migrant stories were presented in the media.
The news headlines were analysed on whether they were being descriptive, analytic or
biased. This is because the tone of the headline determines the content and orientation of
the stories.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Guardian
Star Daily Sun
Officials 9% 44% 19% 46% 52%
Citizens 18% 22% 9% 16% 47%
Experts 36% 22% 14% 30% 0%
Other 36% 11% 57% 7% 0%
AxisTitle
Actors of Migrant News

35 | P a g e
Figure 8: Analysis of newspaper headlines
As shown in the table above, the headlines in the publications were predominantly
descriptive especially for the Mail & Guardian. The papers also had a fairly high number of
biased headlines. This can be explained partly by the correlation between the high number
of comments and opinion-based articles instead of the news where the headlines reflect the
content of the stories.
It is relevant to refer to a land mark dispute brought to the SA Press Appeal Tribunal on
Wednesday, 22 October 2008 by media watch dog Media Monitoring Africa against the Daily
Sun regarding the discriminatory undertone of the word “alien” when referring to African
migrants. The case culminated in an admission of guilt by the Daily Sun who agreed to stop
using the word to refer to African migrants.
This land mark case has brought about a legal precedent which will not only influence later
cases that involves the use of the word “alien” to refer to migrants, but also clearly
categorized it as a word that can be deemed biased and derogatory. It was against this
backdrop that headlines with the word ‘aliens’ in migrant related topics were deemed to be
biased.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Guirdian
Daily Sun Star
Descriptive 54% 67% 71% 38% 63%
Biased 27% 33% 19% 24% 23%
Analytical 19% 0% 10% 38% 14%
Analysis of newspaper headlines

36 | P a g e
4.3.2 Examples of biased headlines
“Aliens find refuge at Methodist church” (Sowetan, 22 May, 2008: 1)
“You’re not welcome” (Sowetan, 22 JULY, 2008: 1)
“War Against Aliens” (Daily Sun, 14 May, 2008;2)
“Bloody end of alien lover” (Daily Sun, 09/05/2008 p. 2)
“It’s war on aliens! 20 bust for attacks!” (13/05/2008)
“War against aliens! Thousands forced to flee Alex” (14/05/2008 p. 2)
4.3.3 Lexicalisation of stories
Figure 7 below shows the content of the stories on migrants for the time under review. The
stories were largely descriptive, outlining in broad strokes the plight of migrants during the
period under review with little specific narratives. This can be attributed to the nature of the
stories as they were predominantly opinions and analysis rather than news in the traditional
sense. The graph below shows the breakdown of how the stories were presented in the
publications.
Figure 9: Analysis of Newspaper Stories
Although not as pronounced as the descriptive stories there is a marked proportion of
stories with biased undertones. This again is explained by the nature of the stories as
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Guardian
Star Daily Sun
Descriptive 55 78 71 53 58
Judgemental 9 22 19 26 23
Analytical 36 0 10 21 19
Analysis of Newspaper Stories

37 | P a g e
columnists need to be assertive in their arguments hence the stories taking a judgmental
stance. Most importantly there is a high proportion of stories that are rather analytical. This
is important because these stories came at a time when a section of the South African
populace believed that foreigners were playing a part in their economic and social
misfortunes thus justifying the violence.
4.4 Analysis of the tone of stories
Looking at the actual tone of the stories, most of the stories are predominantly neutral when
it comes to the issue of migrants. This is rather surprising because in the middle of such
violence and persecution one would expect the story to take on an anti-violence stance
rather than remaining neutral. The largely neutral stance can probably be explained as an
editorial policy of not picking sides with the violence perpetrating citizens or the foreigners
being victimised. While neutrality and objectivity are admirable traits in journalism, in the
period under review the newspapers could have taken a more pro-active stance in
denouncing the violence more than they did rather than taking a neutral stance.
4.5 Findings from semi structured interviews and selection process
This section is divided into several sub-sections that focus on key themes that emerged from
the data analysis of the interviews. In line with the overall aim of the study, key issues that
came up across all the interviews conducted are discussed concurrently.
4.5.1 The selection process
A total of four editors were interviewed during the course of the study. While attempts were
made to involve more participants, access to suitable candidates was cumbersome owing to
their busy schedules and proximity.
With these limitations in mind, at the forefront of the selection criteria was to ensure that
the limited number of participants were veterans in the South African print media. All
participants are professionals who are not only in management and decision making but
have also worked through the ranks (from journalists to editors). The significance of this to
the study is that, the opinion expressed by all interviewees can be said to be a fair reflection
of the general view of media professionals within the South African print media on the
research topic.

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Figure 10: Participants
Name News Paper Position Years of
experience
Previous
employer
Nicky Gules City Press Deputy Editor of news 24 Mail & Guardian
(editor)
Natasha Edward City Press News Editor 8 Cape Argus
(Editor)
Reggie Moalosi Daily Sun Deputy Editor 15 Sowetan
(Journalist)
Mondli Makanya City Press Editor in Chief 26 Mail & Guardian
(Editor)
4.5.2 The Questionnaire
Questions used in an in-depth interview are not supposed to be rigid; they act as a mere
guide for the interviews (Mytton, 1999, p. 141). A questionnaire was made prior to the
interviews as a guide for the interviews (See Appendix 2). Thus, questions in the interview
guide were broad in nature, thereby enabling the use of further on the spot questions.
Furthermore, the participants were assured of privacy and confidentiality, as well as their
rights and ownership and overall ethical practices via a participant information and consent
form (see Appendix 1).
4.6 Results and discussion
4.6.1 Crime and publishing of the nationality of offender
The underlying assumption of this thesis is the notion that the media plays a pivotal role in
shaping public opinion on issues such as xenophobia. At the forefront of xenophobia in
South Africa is the perception that African migrants are criminals and increase the already
high crime rate within the republic.
Participants were asked why and if they felt it was important to publish the nationality of the
perpetrator of a crime in their respective publications and whether they thought nationality
would make such a news story more appealing or interesting to their readers.

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All participants interviewed mentioned the fact that news stories on criminal activities were
received via a daily press release from the South African Police Service’s (SAPS)
communications department which as a norm included the nationality of the perpetrators of
the crime.
This finding is corroborated by Crymble (2010, p.27) who accused the South African Press
Association (SAPA) of “merely parroting the police’s interpretation of events as well as
reproducing police press statements which link migration with crime”.
Similar research conducted in the 1960’s during the civil rights movement in the USA
described a similar situation. The black protesters interviewed resented the fact that “news
makers generally rely on the police for their information about what is happening during
protests” (Van Dijk, 1991, p. 12). While it is arguable that publishing the nationality of a
perpetuator of crime is not a clear indication of a xenophobic or biased intent, it is worth
pointing out that when a crime story involves a South African citizen; neither nationality nor
ethnicity is mentioned.
When asked if the naming of perpetuators of crime made a news story more appealing to
readers, the response of Nicky Gules, a veteran editor at City Press was:
“Naming the nationality doesn’t necessarily mean people will buy the publication;
we say the name of the country based on the context of the story. The general
trend before the attacks of 2008 is that we publish the nationality. Since the 2008
attacks, we have since stopped publishing nationality of perpetrators of crime
due to its ability to incite violence. The Daily Sun’s (a tabloid daily) strategy was
to sensationalise stories through the publication of perpetrator of crime. They
came under quite a lot of pressure after the attacks. Other newspapers accused
them of fuelling the attacks due to the manner they covered and published
stories of migrants; especially perpetrators of crime and the use of the word
‘aliens’ at the height of the attacks”.
The Editor in Chief of the City Press Mondli Makhanya who was vehemently against the
notion that the South African print media in its entirety had an agenda to label foreigners as
criminals, noted that:

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“While the Daily Sun approach might have been inappropriate, the manner they
portray African migrants in their publication is more about tabloidism and
sensationalism than xenophobia”.
While previous studies into the portrayal of African migrants within the South African media
have blamed the publishing of the nationality of crime on SAPA and the SAPS (South African
Press Association, South African police service) (Crush 2001, Crymble 2010), little attention
has been given to the role of the editors involved in the decision-making process. The
question here is, “to what extent can the editors’ own views and beliefs influence the
manner in which migrants are portrayed?”
All participants were asked whether editors within the print media industry in South Africa
are able to influence the manner in which African migrants are portrayed. The overall
consensus was that editors are able to influence the manner in which migrants are
portrayed as far as crime reporting is concerned.
It is worth pointing out here that a similar study conducted by media watchdog Media
Monitoring Project, which explored racial profiling in the South African media during
apartheid, found that the South African media used “racial identifiers to distinguish black
and white people from each other. Whilst white people were not always racially marked, the
skin colour of black people was used as an explanation for their behaviour”. The study
concluded by noting that although the apartheid era is over, some of these black stereotypes
still exist in the media (MMP, 1999, p.15).
This correlates with the current state of affairs where naming the nationality of crime
perpetuators has become the norm. Gules pointed out that:
“The naming of the nationality of a crime perpetrator is either due to the editor’s
bias against African migrants or an act of unprofessionalism where editors simply
copy and paste what comes from the police to cover a word hole without editing
the content”.
In an email that followed Gules further noted:
“Please see below – this comes straight from the cops. Now, lazy reporters are
going to simply rewrite the press release and stick it in tomorrow’s paper. Mark

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my words: you will find that in the Citizen and the Star, especially in the briefs
section. This is a good one to track because the foreigner status is immaterial to
the story”.
Figure 11: Press release by the South African police service
4.6.2 The legacy of apartheid on the portrayal of African migrants
This section is as a result of questions that arose during the interviews. The aim was to
identify how South Africa’s past of racial discrimination has a role to play in the manner in
which African migrants are perceived twenty years after the advent of constitutional
democracy – a phenomenon which Gules labelled “the continuation of the apartheid
dehumanisation project”.

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In order to ensure there is economic stability, the post 1994 government of South Africa
ensured that key industries such as the media remained in the hands of the white minority.
The consequence of this is that the same media professionals who negatively portrayed
Africa and Africans during the apartheid regime continued to occupy decision making
positions. This led to the institutionalisation of racism and xenophobia. It is important to
note here that in even more developed “north-western societies” still display forms of
institutional racism and discrimination (Van Dijk, 1991). Van Dijk (1991, p.5) went further by
positing that “the white dominated press or media in general contributes to the
reproduction of prejudice and racism and the maintenance of ethnic dominance and in
society.”
Anti-apartheid activist and opposition party leady Bantu Holomisa (during a presentation to
the Press Freedom Commission's (PFC) public hearings (in Johannesburg in 2012) gives some
context in this regard by stating that: “the South African media is still being controlled by a
white minority who have been in power since apartheid. One cannot shy away from the fact
that the South African media is still heavily influenced by those who had been given power
during apartheid” (Times live, 2012).When asked about how the discriminatory and
Eurocentric approach of the pre-1994 print media continues to play a role in modern South
Africa, Natasha Joseph news editor at the City Press gave the following answer:
“Objectivity is a myth; I am never going to be able to report a story outside the
lenses of a white South African woman. That’s the way I see the world. You can’t
ask me to park everything that I am at the door”.
This standpoint is commensurate with the criticism levelled against the American media
during the Kerner Commission which was set up to investigate the causes and media
coverage of riots in predominantly black neighbourhoods across the USA from 1963 to 1967.
The report concluded that the media reported “from the stand point of a white man’s
world” (Van Dijk, 1991).
When faced with the same question, Makhanya mentioned that:
“South Africans generally are insular due to the fact that the country was closed
up from the world during apartheid and a deliberate propaganda campaign to
paint the rest of Africa in a negative manner. On the one hand, we had the ruling
National Party who ensured that the state-run SABC and all loyal mass media

43 | P a g e
companies published negative news about the rest of the continent. What they
tried to do was to tell both black and white South Africans that situations such as
military coups, economic collapse, war and farming will take place in South
African should a black government take-over. On the other hand, there was a
steady flow of what can be regarded as mostly English broadcasted positive news
about Europe. What made the apartheid regime’s propaganda machine even
more effective is the solidarity it had from the mostly white male journalists and
managers in the media. Most of them took part in the compulsory two years
military training and were often involved in combat in neighbouring African
countries which further reinforced the notion that the rest of Africa is an enemy”.
The term “apartheid” is synonymous with white domination and racial discrimination.
Insofar as the legacy of apartheid in the print media is concerned, what became clear during
the interviews is that, on the one hand the negative reporting of Africa during that period
reinforced afro-pessimism amongst white South Africans. On the other hand, it also planted
a seed of paranoia, distrust and superiority amongst black South Africans. This is evident
through the use of derogatory terms to refer to other Africans in the media and popular
discourse.
4.6.3 Inclusion of the Daily Sun in study
The Daily Sun was not initially part of this study. However, since every single media
professional interviewed blamed the Daily Sun as the main culprit as far as negatively
portraying African migrants is concerned, the decision was made to include this paper.
Gules, who covered the xenophobic attacks in 2008 while with Mail & Guardian, labelled the
manner in which African migrants were portrayed by the Daily Sun as “shocking and
inhumane”. According to Makhanya:
“The Daily Sun was the main culprit in the 2008 attacks”.
Furthermore, it is worth pointing out that the Daily Sun has a large market in areas with
demography that is closely aligned with that of the areas where the violence took place
(Media Monitoring Project, 2008).Other than the criticism levelled directly at the
management of the Daily Sun, on the 29th of May 2008, Media Monitoring Project (MMP) –
a watchdog which promotes ethical and fair journalism that supports human rights -

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officially reported the Daily Sun to the press ombudsman about its coverage of African
migrants. The complaint was against the backdrop of an ongoing debate about the role of
the media during the 2008 xenophobic attacks.
In its complaint, the MMP pointed to the repetitive usage of the word “alien”, pictures in
headlines, and phrases such as “Alien terror” and “War on aliens” to depict African nationals.
“The failure of the Daily Sun to clearly condemn the violence until most of it had been
contained, and the failure to offer any non-violent alternatives, or additional information to
help prevent violence and to condone mob justice that was inflicted on African migrants. It
also alleged that the Daily Sun’s reporting fuelled violence through perpetuating stereotypes
of foreign peoples” (Media Monitoring Africa, 2008).
In a landmark ruling in the last quarter of 2008 which went in favour of MMP, the Daily Sun
agreed to desist from using derogatory words such as “aliens” when reporting about African
migrants. The Daily Sun is one of South Africa’s widely read daily tabloid publications. In the
words of its Deputy Editor Reggie Moalosi:
“The Daily Sun was born out of the need to create a daily newspaper to cater for
black South Africans in the township and rural areas. We have 5.3 million
predominantly working class readers who buy our publication on a daily basis”.
Moalosi was asked whether he thought the ruling against the Daily Sun brought not only a
change in the use of certain words, but an overall paradigm shift within the organisation as
to how African migrants are written about.
Moalosi noted that:
“It wasn’t a paradigm shift, it was more like an evolution of news agenda and
how we cover migrant-related news in the most balanced way possible thus far.
One thing we have started doing of late is to speak to representatives of African
migrants in order to hear their own views before we publish. We have also been
more careful with the words we use to depict African migrants”.
Although Moalosi did not categorically confirm whether the 2008 case totally changed the
way they portrayed African migrants, one can assume that the negative coverage the case

45 | P a g e
received in the media (which put them under intense scrutiny) would have made the
publication more cautious of the manner in which they portray African migrants.
When asked about the publication’s policy when reporting crime committed by African
migrants, his answer was:
“We have stopped naming the nationality of perpetrators of crime simply
because sometimes our journalists get the nationality wrong. However, if the
nationality is named via a press release received from the South African Police,
we publish on the premise that they have confirmed the nationality of the
suspects.”
When asked whether “copying and pasting” a police press releases without verification into
the publication was irresponsible journalism as alleged by other interviewees, his answer
was:
“We have daily deadlines to meet; we cannot confirm the validity of a police
press release.”
As with most newspapers, the Daily Sun tends to make use of slang that are used by its
predominantly township-based readers. Moalosi corroborated this by saying that:
“Words like ‘aliens’ (used to depict African migrants) and ‘4 by 5’ (human
testicles) were adopted simply because our readers connect with such words.”
The pro-readership approach of the Daily Sun is best understood against the back drop of
the 2009 elections when the publication was initially against populist leader Jacob Zuma.
Upon realising that most of its readers supported Zuma, the publication swiftly changed its
stance into a pro-Zuma publication (The Harbinger, 2012).
To best understand the Daily Sun’s stance on a complex and sensitive issue such as
xenophobia, it is important to understand its overall founding ideology and particularly that
of its late founder and publisher Deon Du Plessis.
Amidst criticism on the manner in which the Daily Sun covered the 2008 attacks, Du Plessis
said, “batting for the home team— that’s what we do, nine times out of ten, at Daily Sun. It
may not be a very worldly view. But then it’s not intended to be — a worldly view that is.

46 | P a g e
What is intended is that the People’s Paper leaves its target audience in no doubt that
they—South Africans—come first” (Mail & Guardian, 2008).
He further noted that, although other people (such as migrants) are important, the working
class South African is more important and the Daily Sun aimed to write things the way the
working class sees things even when such views are unpopular. He dismissed the notion of a
united Africa and came to the conclusion that his average reader had no feeling of kinship
towards the rest of Africa (Mail & Guardian, 2008).
The implication of Du Plessis’s approach to the editorial policy of the Daily Sun is that, it is
based on the assumption that the readers of the Daily Sun either associate certain
derogatory words with African migrants or are generally xenophobic. This leads to the next
chapter which deals with xenophobia in South African society at large and how it influences
the editorial policy of the selected publications.
4.6.4 Xenophobic Society
A recurring theme that emerged during the interviews was the notion that the South African
society (i.e. the readers of the newspapers) are xenophobic. The significance of this recurring
theme cannot be over-emphasized since it is a generally accepted norm that ‘one cannot
make judgements about portrayals without considering the wider context within which they
are produced’ (Poole 2002:52).
In this light, interviewees were asked to give examples of instances that xenophobic
tendencies were displayed by readers.
Joseph recalled:
“I think South Africans are generally xenophobic across race groups. We
published an article about an organisation in KwaZulu Natal called “Mayibuye” a
few years back. They are an anti-migrant organisation that deem migrants a
threat to the economic survival of black South Africans and often used derogatory
words when referring to migrants. The reporter who wrote the story got
bombarded with phone calls and emails from our readers who wanted to join this
organisation within the first week of publishing the article”.

47 | P a g e
When asked whether she had ever sensed any form of xenophobia within the news room,
she answered “no”. Gules corroborated the notion of a xenophobic society by stating that:
“We have received comments and feedback from readers saying that, ‘Yes, South
Africa is part of Africa, but we are better than the rest of Africa’”.
The City Press editor Makhanya had a much more historical and philosophical perspective on
whether South Africans are xenophobic or not. For Makhanya, the issue of xenophobia was
intrinsically linked to the struggle for survival. He further noted that:
“When apartheid ended, black South Africans moved to the cities (economic
hubs) with high expectations. The educated ones were given jobs that were
reserved for white people during the old dispensation. On the other hand, the
mostly uneducated working class who either started informal small businesses
suddenly had to compete with ‘people from other countries’. I think the language
barriers further complicated the situation, remember the first set of African
migrants to arrive were French-speaking Congolese”. To further prove his point,
Mondli noted that: “remember even before the fall of apartheid we had
Zimbabweans and Malawians who peacefully worked in the mines with South
Africans. So it was the expectation that came with freedom that caused all this
xenophobia”.
Based on the opinion of the interviewees, it is safe to assume that there are xenophobic
tendencies amongst the readers of their respective publications. The manner in which they
(editors and publishers) take advantage of their apparently xenophobic readers in order to
make their stories more appealing to them is a sensitive topic media professionals will find
uncomfortable to answer. It is worth noting that most media houses have the departed from
the norm were “professional journalists define what is newsworthy toward letting the
market decide” (McManus, 1992, p.1)

48 | P a g e
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation
The focal point of this study was to establish how the South African print media represents
African migrants to its readers and the South African society at large. By applying
quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in the form of content analysis and
semi-structured interviews, it identified the key features of newspapers’ representation of
African migrants in South Africa and identified the dominant features that underlie these
representations. The findings from the content analysis and semi-structured interviews
identified some trends and patterns in the newspapers studied.
The publications analysed gave little attention to stories that relate to African migrants. One
of the key features of all the publications analysed is the association of African migrants with
nefarious activities such as crime, law breaking activities and citizens of impoverished
nations. Majority of the sources of the news stories analysed were either government
officials or experts. Little attention was given to the voice of migrants. This plays an
important role in the manner they are perceived by the South African public.
As seen in the results of the content analysis, a recurring trend across all publications
analysed is that each publication has a clearly identified target market whose needs plays a
role in editorial content. The study found that such needs are influenced by variables such as
place of residence and race of the target market. However, the dominant factor influencing
what is published appears to be the economic and social class of the target market of each
publication.
For example, most African migrants reside in the less affluent townships where most black
working class South African citizens reside. The implication of this is that African migrants
are part of the daily life of most working class South Africans as they reside in the same
neighbourhood and compete for similar jobs and resources. This is perhaps why publications
such as Daily Sun, Star and Sowetan (all of whose target market is the black working class)
give more attention to African migrant-related stories – as it is part of the “world” of the
working class South African.
The pre 1994 media ownership structure remains intact. Although significant effort has been
made to depart from the Afro-pessimistic news selection and dissemination process, there
remains a Eurocentric approach which continues to influence the news making process.

49 | P a g e
While the intention of this study is not to make a general assumption on the tolerance level
of South Africans towards African migrants, emphasis has to be given to that fact that all
interviewees categorically said that South African society is generally xenophobic.
Furthermore, all interviewees also noted the market-orientated nature of the South African
print media. Seen in this light, the ideology of the selected publication appears to be market-
orientated in nature and based on demand and supply based on what appeals to its
“generally xenophobic” readers.
The predominantly neutral and analytic stance of the stories analysed pointed to a general
lack of apathy to the plight of foreigners. It is apt to conclude that the xenophobic attacks of
2008 coupled with a myriad of criticism levelled against the print media by civil society
organisations brought about a rethink within the selected newspapers in the way they
portrayed African migrants. Furthermore, this event appears to have made some
newspapers’ editorial policy more sensitive to the representation of African migrants due to
its possibility of inciting xenophobia.
5.1 Research limitation
The author of this study is an African migrant currently residing in South Africa. Whilst an
enormous amount of effort has gone into ensuring objectivity, the emotional nature of this
topic has the potential of influencing it covertly. Furthermore, the semi - structured
interviews is limited to four participants, three of whom currently work at one newspaper. It
is therefore not possible to make a generalisation that these opinions reflect those of all
media professionals in South Africa.
5.2 Recommendations
Future research is suggested for the representation of Asian migrants in South Africa. There
is a rapid increase in the Asian community in South Africa since 1994. The content analysis
conducted discovered that they receive very little attention by the print media. Statistics
from the South African Department of Home Affairs suggest that the number of Asian
migrants in South Africa continues to grow apace. There are currently (approximately)
“350,000 Chinese citizens, 70,000 – 100,000 Pakistanis, and a further 55,000 Bangladeshis,
as well as a large influx of new migrants from India in South Africa” (Park & Rugunanan,
2010, p.5). Furthermore, much of the research on media portrayal of African migrants within

50 | P a g e
South Africa has focused on the print media. A study of other forms of mass communications
such as television and radio will bring more knowledge into the discourse.

51 | P a g e
Appendix 1
Participant Information and Consent Form
Research title: The portrayal of African migrants by the South African print media
Principal Investigator: Clement Omobolaji Banjo, Post Graduate Student, University of Leicester -
Department of Media & Communication Studies
You are invited to participate in this research project which is being carried out as a course of study
towards fulfillment of a Masters degree in New Media, Governance and Democracy.
Time commitment: It is hoped that no more than two interviews with you will be satisfactory. Each
interview with you will not exceed one hour. Your total time commitment will be approximately 2 hours
over 2 weeks.
Privacy & Confidentiality: It is not anticipated that you will be required to divulge information of a
private or confidential nature.
Rights &Ownership: During the interview, you have the right to (a) not answer a question, (b) terminate
the interview, or (c) withdraw from the study at any time in the process. We do encourage you to be as
open and honest as possible.
The discussions will be recorded, transcribed and analysed. All texts will be kept in strict confidence
after the discussion until you give permission for their publication.
We agree that the texts generated in the research process will be held in the strictest confidence and
unless you agree, will be treated as such always, even in published forms. The original recording and
transcripts will be available only to the researchers and graders of the study report.
Publication of discussions: With your permission the discussions may be made public in the form of
data archives, web sites, journal articles, or books.
Remuneration: You will not be paid for participating in this research. Some expenses incurred may or
may not be covered by the researcher
Ethical practice: We give the assurance that the research will be conducted in accordance with ethical
research practices as it relates upholding human dignity, respecting your privacy and personal
autonomy; and in no way places you at physical or professional risk.
Your Signature
I understand what is involved in this research. I have read and understood the Participant information
form and I agree to take part in this study without prejudice to my legal or ethical rights
_______________________________________________
Signature of participant Date
Signature of researcher
I believe the participant is giving informed consent to participate in this study
_________________________________________________
Signature of researcher Date

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