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I worry that a xenophobic flare up is imminent in #SouthAfrica. I wrote an article about the strange confluence of interests occurring around the #PutSouthAfricansFirst nationalistic and xenophobic hashtag that is fanning these flames: http://www.superlinear.co.za/xenophobia-nationalism-populism-whats-going-on-with-putsouthafricansfirst
The hashtag gets used thousands of times a day. It's pretty popular by #SouthAfrica standards. Here's a network of the people using the hashtag.
It may all just be a bunch of unrelated cynical populists harnessing people's real economic anguish in this Time of COVID. But there are a series of coincidences and many familiar faces involved.
Herman Mashaba & the RET-linked ATM party are the public face. They a push a nationalist, MAGA-like message while anonymous accounts spew vitriol against foreigners. It's a classic 1-2 punch: public figures legitimise an otherwise unpalatable narrative. Just coincidence?
Another coincidence: both parts of this nationalistic, xenophobic movement have seminal events organised on 29 Aug: Mashaba's People's Dialogue launches and the anonymous xenophobes have a "citizens march" against foreigners, moving their rhetoric into the real world.
In fact, these 'anonymous trolls' aren't completely anonymous. The DFR Lab's @jean_le_roux has done some great work digging into whose behind some of the most vitriolic, xenophobic content: https://medium.com/dfrlab/afrophobic-south-african-twitter-account-connected-to-nationalist-political-party-7e7205cc8987
So many coincidences: a common hashtag, shared gatherings in the past, seminal events on the same day. What does one make of it? 
Are you guys watching what's going on here (thread above)? cc @maxdupreez @songezozibi @karynmaughan @tumisole @samsole @ermbates @paulivw @kylecowan @adriaanbasson @ferialhaffajee @maggsnaidu @sikonathim @reditlhabi @mariannethamm
Burning your neighbour's furniture https://www.newframe.com/xenophobic-south-african-mobs-we-are-sanitising/
