The Mitigating Strategies of South African Security Agencies to the 2015 Xenophobic Attacks in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The tensions between locals and foreign nationals have been worsened by the ill-equipped and inadequate response of security agencies in detecting, avoiding, preventing and mitigating the impacts of xenophobic attacks. The strategies that were implemented by government agencies (including the South African Police Service and the intelligence agencies) to curb attacks against foreign nationals in 2015 are presented in this study. This research study sought to dissect the disaster risk reduction strategies that were applied by government agencies in an attempt to mitigate the impacts of the xenophobic attacks of 2015.|To achieve the above objectives, a qualitative research approach was followed which sought to unearth new realties on security agencies' strategies in mitigating the impacts of the xenophobic violence, using open-ended interviews. A total of 13 informants from security agencies were targeted and documents were analysed to determine the impacts of the strategies implemented by the security agencies in mitigating the xenophobic attacks.|This research provides insights overlooked by scholars regarding the triggers of xenophobic violence in South Africa. This is mainly influenced by security agencies failing to enforce business by-laws and foreign nationals being employed to do menial jobs. The inability of the security agencies to proactively detect and mitigate the impacts of xenophobic violence has been exacerbated, something which has not been mentioned in scholarly publications in the academic disciplines of sociology and management.