Surviving the Street: African Immigrant Traders and the Politics of Informality in South Africa

Abstract

This study investigates the structural and discursive forces that shape the vulnerabilities of African immigrant informal traders in South Africa. The main objective is to understand how xenophobia is not merely a social attitude but a systemic condition embedded in state policies, urban governance and public discourse. Employing a qualitative, literature-based research design, the study relies on critical discourse analysis of secondary sources, including academic literature, legal frameworks, policy documents and media reports. It is grounded in theoretical perspectives such as structural violence, necropolitics and acts of citizenship. The analysis reveals that African immigrant traders face multifaceted forms of exclusion and precarity, which are reinforced by ambiguous legal statuses, criminalisation by municipal authorities and the instrumentalisation of xenophobic sentiments by political actors. At the same time, the study uncovers acts of resilience and informal agency as traders navigate hostile environments, form support networks and assert their presence in urban spaces through everyday practices. The study concludes that informal trade must be understood not only as an economic activity but as a political and social space where power, identity and belonging are contested. Addressing the vulnerability of immigrant traders requires structural policy reforms and a reconceptualisation of citizenship and inclusion in the post-apartheid urban context.