South Africa's anti-migrant wave linked to economic failures and manufactured scarcity

The article highlights that while the political infrastructure behind groups like March and March, Operation Dudula, and South Africans for Constitutional Reform has been exposed, the underlying economic terrain is less examined. High unemployment rates, particularly among youth, and underfunded public services contribute to widespread desperation. Political entrepreneurs exploit this anger by framing migrants as "queue-jumpers" for scarce resources.

The Institute for Economic Justice challenges the dominant narrative of fiscal crisis, arguing that claims of an imminent crisis are exaggerated and that fiscal space exists for public services if resources are mobilized effectively, including through wealth taxes and addressing revenue lost to tax breaks. The article contends that South Africa's issue is not a lack of wealth but extreme inequality in its distribution, with resources hoarded by the wealthy and diverted offshore. Corruption and the failure to transform the apartheid economy are also cited as factors contributing to the current economic landscape.

The author, Dr. Gilad Isaacs, executive director of the Institute for Economic Justice, suggests that economic elites benefit from the scarcity narrative, which deflects attention from unequal resource distribution and the need for a new economic path