Divide, Distract, Rule: The Politics of Manufactured Conflict.

Salim Mohamed Badat

Governments, regardless of the party in power, often serve the interests of powerful political and economic elites whose priorities extend beyond the welfare of ordinary citizens.

From this viewpoint, administrations change, but the underlying centres of influence remain remarkably consistent. In South Africa, for example, the apartheid government and the ANC government that succeeded it operated within different international political and economic frameworks, each advancing the priorities of influential global power structures in its own way.

Large-scale migration, are the predictable outcome of policies that have reshaped societies while deepening division.Uncontrolled migration has strained social cohesion, while allowing a small criminal minority to tarnish the reputation of entire immigrant communities.

The result is predictable: fear, resentment and racial tension, with ordinary people blaming one another instead of questioning the policies and power structures that created the conditions for conflict in the first place.

The consequences are visible in many societies. In Europe , far-right groups have targeted immigrants and businesses associated with other migrant communities.

In South Africa, xenophobic violence has repeatedly been directed against African migrants from elsewhere on the continent.

Although the contexts differ, the pattern is striking: ordinary people, often facing economic hardship and insecurity, are turned against one another instead of directing their frustrations towards the policies and institutions that contributed to these conditions.

Societies trapped in perpetual crisis are easier to govern and manipulate. Political polarisation, ethnic tension, economic uncertainty and social unrest distract citizens from examining deeper structural problems.

The age-old principle of "divide and rule" becomes increasingly effective when communities see one another as the enemy rather than questioning those who shape public policy and wield significant political and economic influence.

Whether one agrees with this interpretation or not, the lesson remains significant. Stable societies are built upon justice, accountability and social cohesion, whereas division, fear and perpetual conflict benefit very few ordinary people.

The challenge, therefore, is not merely to condemn xenophobia or extremism wherever it appears, but also to critically examine the policies, institutions and concentrations of power that contribute to conditions in which these conflicts emerge.