Two months ago, 29-year-old Godfrey Sibanda was walking home from work in the early evening in Seshego township near the regional centre of Polokwane in northern South Africa. A mob set upon him in the semi darkness, beat him and threw rocks at him.
The police in the area had been on alert but were too late at the scene: Sibanda succumbed to injuries sustained in the attack. His crime? He was a Zimbabwean and he had a job. In Seshego, as elsewhere in South Africa's poor township communities, this combination can be a capital offence.
Previously in nearby Lebowakgomo, 3000 people of Ethiopian origin were rendered homeless after a South African family accused a young Ethiopian man of raping the family member he'd been seeing.
Such incidents follow a disturbing pattern. In Seshego, years of frustration at lack of services led to a meeting between the community and its political leaders. The meeting called for the 'eviction' of local Zimbabwean residents that are seen as competing for the same jobs, waiting at the same bus stops for trucks to come along and offer them casual 'piece' work for the day.
The local councillor is one of the 12 people charged with Sibanda's murder.
As horrific as this incident was, what is more worrying is a recent shift in the message from parts of government towards migrants in general and the Zimbabweans in particular.
Two years ago South African authorities declared a special dispensation trying to cope with the thousands of irregular movers crossing the border from Zimbabwe. This made the crossing, albeit still risky, much safer. This dispensation ended last year as South African authorities announced that all Zimbabweans living in South Africa should henceforth be registered and properly documented.
The measure intended a beneficial outcome — it was aimed at regularising Zimbabweans in the country so they would not become the victims of 'impunity' crimes or attract unscrupulous labour practices. But the refusal of the Department of Home Affairs to admit that its registration process may have missed important sub-groups (normally the most vulnerable) and its scepticism about total numbers of Zimbabweans, have the potential to compromise the expected benefits.
More damaging was a statement made in June by Maggie Maunye, head of Parliament's oversight committee on Home Affairs, which suggested foreigners were compromising the freedom South Africans gained in 1994. As well as being inflammatory, this suggests a political agenda is at play.
Like Australia, South Africa