INTRODUCTION

South Africa is a diverse nation with a complex history, that has experienced significant migration patterns influenced by economic, political, and social factors. The country’s migration policies, including the Refugees Act and Immigration Act, aim to regulate and protect migrants while addressing concerns about irregular migration and its impact on society. Despite efforts to regularize migrants, special permits and programs have recently expired, leaving many in precarious situations. South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs manages refugee and migrant affairs, including identification, documentation, and border control. Internal migration in South Africa is predominantly rural-urban, driven by labor-related factors, with an increasing feminization of this trend. South Africa hosts a significant number of refugees and asylum seekers, with the Department of Home Affairs responsible for their status determination and protection under the Refugees Act of 1998. South Africa has experienced a significant increase in refugee and asylum seeker populations, primarily from neighboring countries. The country has also seen a substantial emigration of highly skilled workers, particularly to Australia. Despite legal frameworks to combat human trafficking, the issue remains prevalent, with victims exploited in various sectors, including domestic service, agriculture, and sex trafficking.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

International migration into South Africa is an old phenomenon. As a white settler colony in the 19th century – South Africa attracted thousands of European migrants who permanently migrated to South Africa during colonial rule (Peberdy, 1997). The opening of the diamond fields in Kimberly and Witwatersrand precipitated a huge demand for unskilled and cheap labour readily available in the neighbouring SADC countries. According to Van der Horst (1971), by 1899, there were about 97,000 foreign mineworkers in South Africa, mainly from other African countries. According to Wentzel and Tlabela (2006), before 1963 - when the first migratory law came into effect, there was no statutory differentiation between workers from other African countries and indigenous South Africans. However, the apartheid migratory policies in South Africa had four distinctive characteristics; racist policy and legislation, the exploitation of migrant labour from neighbouring countries, tough enforcement legislation, and the repudiation of the international refugee convention.

The ushering of a new political dispensation in 1994, whose doctrine was grounded on building an inclusive society, motivated a new wave of migration into the country. Given its advanced economy and relative political stability, South Africa remains one of the migration hubs in Africa - attracting migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees from within and outside Southern Africa. In the opinion of the Migration Policy Institute (2021), the end of the apartheid rule created new prospects for internal and international migration and a new inducement for movement. Other key factors that influence migration into South Africa from other parts of Africa include globalization, economic, political, and social crisis. It is important to note that after the demise of apartheid and its racial segregation policies, South Africa, led by the ANC government, still retained the old immigration policy (Alien Control Act of 1991), though with some changes like the cancellation of the Population Registration Act, pass laws and the Bantustan Act, and also the opening of the country to other African migrants as enshrined in the Refugee Act 130 of 1998. In the opinion of Wentzel and Tlabela (2006), three streams of movement from Africa to South Africa can be identified from the colonial to post-colonial era: contract migration, other categories of voluntary migration, and refugee migration.

Nelson Mandela meets the United States Boxers. Source: UN Photo / Milton Grant

MIGRATION POLICIES

The primary legislation governing refugees and asylum seekers is the 1998 Refugees Act (Act 130 of 1998). It extends the protection of forced-migrants. It applies a rights-based approach to asylum seekers that rejects camps and allows asylum seekers to move freely. It grants the right to work and study to refugees and asylum seekers and deliberately refuses to make a distinction between asylum seekers and refugees in many respects. The Act additionally defines who is a refugee and sets out the refugee status determination process, and it sets out and affirms the principle of non-refoulement and the non-penalization of irregular entry or presence of anyone in South Africa seeking asylum. The 2008, 2011, and 2017 Refugees Amendment Acts; all amended the Refugees Act 130 of 1998. The amendments were signed along with corresponding requisite regulations in 2019 and came into force in January 2020.  

The 2017 Refugees Amendment Act is the most extensive of the amendments that add extensively to provisions on the exclusion of refugee status, excludes asylum seekers from refugee status if they haven't reported to a Refugee Reception Office within five days of entering the country, and limits the right to work for asylum seekers to those who are unable to support themselves and their families after four months and those who are not supported by an NGO or UNHCR. Asylum-seekers must also be able to provide a letter of employment within six months of being granted the right to work. The amendment extends the time limit before refugees may request permanent residence from 5 to 10 years. It also provides for a fine or prison sentence (up to five years) for persons in possession of an expired asylum-seekers visa allowing for asylum applications to lapse and the removal of asylum seeker's registration in the status determination process.

Additionally, international migrants are governed by the Immigration Act that refines migration policy to ensure various forms of migration including visits and sojourns, study, and the migration of skilled labour. The Act also provides for identification and deportation processes. It implements different categories of work permits to facilitate access to foreign skills for South African employers primarily on a temporary basis. The Act also reinforces temporality, control, and deterrence of migration. In general, it strengthens border surveillance and immigration law enforcement, read with the South African Border Management Authority Act 2 of 2020, to curb irregular migration and reduce associated "pull factors". In 2004 the Immigration Amendment Act was passed that reinforced the restrictive nature of the original Immigration Act and included an extension in the powers of the Minister and Director-General of Home Affairs, reduced the number of permits available, and adjusted the work permit policy to apply only to persons in a particular "occupation or class". The 2007 Immigration Amendment Act brings about changes in favour of cross-border merchants, particularly women, and relaxed the obligation for African students to pay repatriation fees. 

Timeline of Migration Policies in South Africa. Source: SIHMA

Government dispensation projects and permits were starting with the 2010: Zimbabwean Dispensation Project followed by the Zimbabwean Special Permits, the Angola Special Permits, and the Lesotho Special Permit process, aimed at regularising and documenting generally low-skilled international migrants from SADC countries with documentation that enabled permit holders to work or study in South Africa without the complexity of the Immigration Act visa options. Some of these special permits have already expired, for example, the Angola and Lesotho Special Permits that expired in 2021 and 2019 respectively and the Zimbabwean Special Permit will also expire by the end of 2023 – putting permit holders in a very precarious position. 

The majority of the provisions in the South African Constitution relate to everyone within the country including international migrants. The Births and Deaths Registration Act and the Citizenship Act also relate to people on the move. South Africa is also a party to several international instruments that relate to refugees and migrants. This includes the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol and the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention. South Africa has signed the 2005 South African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons which allows visa-free travel between SADC States for up to 90 days and aims to promote a liberal policy of permanent and temporary residence and a work permit policy between SADC States, but the protocol is yet to come into force due to the limited number of ratifications. South Africa is not a party to the Statelessness Conventions of 1954 and 1961, nor is it a party to the 2009 Kampala Convention on IDPs. To prevent and combat the trafficking in persons, there is the 2013 Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons (PACOTIP) - although the regulations for the Act’s immigration provisions are yet to be promulgated.

GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS

The Department of Home Affairs is the primary government Ministry concerning refugees and migrants and is responsible for the identification and documentation, grants refugee status, and deals with border control and migration matters. There are several other relevant government departments including the Department of Social Development, the Department of Basic Education, the Department of Health, and the Department of Labour. The Department of Home Affairs contains various directorates including the Immigration Inspectorate that works with the South African Police Service and the Asylum Seeker Management. The Director-General of Home Affairs determines the need and location of Home Affairs Refugee Status Determination offices in consultation with the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs. Refugee Status Determination is managed by Refugee Status Determination Officers (RSDOs) and RSDO’s rejection decisions which are appealed go before the Refugee Appeal Board or are subject to review by the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs.

• Department of Home Affairs website here
• Department of Social Development website here
• Department of Basic Education website here
• Department of Health website here
• Department of Labour website here

South Africa's Government Structure. Source: SIHMA

INTERNAL MIGRATION

Internal migration within the context of South Africa is predominantly rural-urban migration. During the apartheid era, due to the restrictive apartheid legislation, South Africa experienced circular internal migration as black recruited South African men oscillated between their permanent rural environment and the urban mining areas as they were restricted from permanently settling in the urban areas where they work. Post-apartheid South Africa is experiencing a more permanent relocation from rural areas to urban areas that exceed cross-border migration. For example, according to Statistics South Africa (2011), 5% of the population has experienced some form of internal migration as compared to 1% having immigrated outside the country (Ginsburg, et al, 2021). Similar to the apartheid era, internal migration in contemporary South Africa is largely labour-related. However, unlike the apartheid era when internal migration was male-dominated, recently, there is an increased feminization of internal migration. According to the Population Census (2011), age, gender, and education are key individual-level predictors of internal migration, and such migration are intricately linked to employment and job-seeking motives – with municipalities with high unemployment experiencing high levels of out-migration. A quarter of all internal migration occurs between Gauteng and Limpopo and Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal - with Gauteng having 45% of the total internal migration population (Ibid). Interestingly, there is also rural-rural migration in South Africa. High levels of unemployment and scarcity of jobs in the cities are some of the drivers of this type of migration.  People are now migrating into peri-urban settlements (smaller towns) where they could get better access to government services and where the cost of living is low compared to urban settlements.  People also migrate from rural to other rural areas – especially where there are employment opportunities (Atkinson, 2014). For example, migration from other rural areas into the Mpumalanga farms and game farms because of the growing tourism sector in the area.  Lack of opportunities in urban settlement and the growing cost of living has also seen urban-rural migration though at a small scale.

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS, CONFLICT AND DISASTERS

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (2023), there are 211,000 displaced people in South Africa. Recently disaster-related displacement contributes enormously to the stock of internal displacement in the country.  Historically, South Africa has been characterized by forced removals grounded in the apartheid policies driven by the desire of the government to provide separate development for different races – Whites, Africans, Indians, and Coloureds through the creation of Bantustan Homelands. With the demise of apartheid and the subsequent repealing of laws that were the basis of forced removals, for example, the Group Areas Act (GAA), and Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act (PISA), and the promise of providing a better life for every South African by the new democratic led ANC government which created a beacon of hope to all disadvantaged South Africans. However, things have not materialized so well for most disadvantaged South Africans living in informal settlements “shacks” as they are still a subject of forced removals in the “new” South Africa. These removals are in some cases reminiscent of apartheid forms of forced removal (The Guardian, 2022).

211,000 Internally Displaced Persons in South Africa (2023)

Natural disasters like floods, hail storms, tornadoes, and wildfires have also contributed to internal displacement in South Africa. For example, flooding in areas of Ivory Park northeast of Johannesburg destroyed homes and left at least 187 people homeless (Floodlist, 2022). In April 2022, the province of KwaZulu-Natal experienced floods that killed 443 people and displaced more than 40,000 people (Reliefweb, 2022). Also, according to Independent Online (IOL) (2023), floods displaced 151 people in Durban, with the hardest hit areas including Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma, Kwasmashu, Pinetown, Folweni, Umzumbe, Umdoni, and Umuziwabantu. In June 2023, floods displaced more than 1000 residents in Rawsonville in the Western Cape (News24, 2023).

IMMIGRATION

In 2010, the international migrant stock was estimated to be 2,114,800 (4.1% of the South African population). In 2015 it was 3,816,700 (6.9% of the South African population). In 2015, it was estimated to be 4,224,300 (7.2% of the South African population). This reflects a steady increase from 2010 to 2015 (UNDESA, 2019). However, an estimated 2.9 million migrants resided in South Africa in mid-year 2020 (Migration Data Portal, 2022). 

Except for the United Kingdom, with slightly more than 100,000 immigrants, all other immigrants come from other African countries – precisely other SADC countries. Mozambique has more than 700,000 immigrants in South Africa, while Zimbabwe has almost 400,000 immigrants, Lesotho has about 350,000, and Namibia has about 200,000 immigrants (UN DESA, 2019). The recent increase is informed by South Africa's comparatively more industrialised economy, more stable democratic institutions, and South African status as a middle-income country. However, it is important to note that the statistics maybe not be a true reflection of the number of immigrants in the country because of the restrictive immigration policies and the reluctance of the Department of Home Affairs to issue legal documents to immigrants (Amit & Kriger, 2014). 

FEMALE MIGRATION

In 2010, 42.2% (888,216) of the international migrant stock were women. In 2015, the female international migrant stock stood at 44.4% (1,694,614). In 2019, it was estimated to be 44.4% (1,875,588) of the international migrant stock (UN DESA, 2019). Although women's participation in the labour force in South Africa remains lower than that of men – 54.3% and 64.9% - respectively, international female migration into South Africa, as indicated above, is on the rise (Statistics SA, 2022). The increase is informed partly by the perceived assumption of many migrant women of the growing and vibrant South African economy with opportunities that are not available in their country of origin. The steady increase of female migrants into South Africa – especially from other parts of Africa is informed partly by the perceived assumption of many migrant women of the growing and vibrant South African economy with opportunities that are not available in their country of origin (Democracy Development Program, 2022). However, upon arrival, many migrant women are involved in the unregulated informal economy that makes them vulnerable. According to the Institute for Security Studies (2019), because of their vulnerabilities, women migrants are at heightened risk of sexual violence, exploitation, forced labour, abuse, and health vulnerabilities. The Institute further states that migrant women in South Africa face triple discrimination with xenophobia, racism, and misogyny.

 MINORS

According to a UNICEF report in 2020, there were more than 642,000 migrant or displaced children in South Africa, making it the country on the continent with the largest child migrant population. This mixed movement includes unaccompanied and separated minors, smuggled migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and victims of human trafficking. Within the context of South Africa, the care and protection of unaccompanied and separated migrant children are determined by the courts, and they are placed in child and youth care centres (CYCC), or temporary community-based foster care. There are several challenges confronting migrant children in South Africa which include documentation that prevents them from accessing several services, for example, the child support grant. Child migrants are also subjected to detention which makes them vulnerable to the violation of their human rights, deprivation of education, health, adequate food, clean water, and proper housing (Gadisa et al, 2020). 

642,000 Migrant Minors in South Africa (2020)

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS

Refugees and Asylum seekers in South Africa are protected in terms of the Refugees Act of 1998 and accompanying regulations and in terms of extensive amendments to the Act and regulations that came into force in January 2020 (Refugee Act 130 of 1998 & Refugee Amendment Act 11 0f 2017, and additionally the 2011 and 2008 amendments). Refugee status determination is done by the South African Department of Home Affairs and consists of two to five stages including potential reviews and appeals. Refugees and asylum seekers have freedom of movement in South Africa and generally have the right to seek employment or self-employment although the aforementioned amendments limit certain categories of asylum seekers’ right to work (Refugee Amendment Act 11 0f 2017). 

The refugee population in South Africa gradually increased from 6,800 in 1997 to 66,000 in 2013 and then rose fairly substantially to 112,000 and 121,600 in 2014 and 2015 respectively (Migration Data Portal, 2021). Since 2015, the refugee population dropped to 91,000 in 2016 and stabilised at about 89,000 each year from 2017 until 2019 (Ibid). Refugees in South Africa are primarily from Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Burundi, and Zimbabwe. There is a similar trend with asylum seekers, with 463.9 thousand asylum seekers in 2014 and then a substantial rise and peak of 1.1 million in 2015 and thereafter plummeting to 218.3 thousand in 2016 and gradually dropping to 188.3 thousand in 2019 (Migration Data Portal, 2021). As of 2023, the refugee and asylum seeker population stood at 250,250 (UNHCR, 2023). Refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa come predominantly from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of South Africa, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia, and Zimbabwe (Ibid) 

Asylum applications are made by a predominantly young asylum population with 71% of asylum applicants aged 19 to 35 and 17% being minors aged 0 to 18 years (Auditor-General Report, 2019). The number of asylum applications being processed plummeted over eight years from 223,324 in 2009 to 24,174 in 2017 (Ibid). The majority of asylum applications in the refugee determination process in 2017 were Ethiopian (26%), followed by DRC (17%), Bangladesh (14%), Zimbabwe (10%), and Pakistan and Nigeria (each at approximately 5%) with the balance from other countries (Ibid). There is a substantial backlog of asylum cases escalated to the internal government appeal or review authority and remain undecided, amounting to 188,296 active cases by 2019 (German Network for Forced Migration Studies, 2020). The study also indicates that the Refugee Appeals Board is working on a backlog that will take 68 years to complete (Ibid).

EMIGRATION

The total number of emigrants from South Africa in mid-2020 was 914.9 thousand (Migration Data Portal, 2021). In the post-apartheid period, increasing numbers of highly skilled white workers emigrated, citing disillusionment with the government, load shedding, high unemployment, poverty, crime, poor services, and a reduced quality of life (CIA World Factbook, 2022). The 2002 Immigration Act and later amendments, were intended to facilitate the temporary migration of skilled foreign labour to fill labour shortages, but instead, the legislation continues to create regulatory obstacles (Ibid). The 2017 White Paper on International Migration from the Department of Home Affairs stated that South Africa loses a significant percentage of its skilled workforce every year. An estimated 520.000 South Africans emigrated between 1989 and 2003, with the numbers increasing by approximately 9% annually (Department of Home Affairs, 2017). Around 120.000 of those emigrants had professional qualifications that represent about 7% of the total stock of professionals employed in South Africa and is more than eight times the number of professionals in the same period immigrating to South Africa (Ibid). Although the education system has improved and the brain drain has slowed in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, South Africa continues to face skills shortages in several key sectors, such as health care and technology (Ibid). The South Africa-Australia migration corridor is among the top 10 migration corridors involving Oceania countries with the migration of almost a quarter of a million South Africans to Australia.

914,900 South African Emigrants (2020)

LABOUR MIGRATION

Like any other aspect of movement regulated during the apartheid era, labour migration was no exception. Labour migration during this era was circular - with black migrant labourers oscillating between their temporary work places and their permanent homes (Posel, 2006). The migrant labour system during the apartheid era was designed to feed the growing demand for cheap labour in the cities and mines (Vosloo, 2022). While the nature of this movement has changed within the country - with more people migrating from the rural areas together with their families to permanently reside in the urban areas where they are employed, little has changed with international migrants as they still consider themselves temporary migrants (Posel, 2006). According to the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS) (2020), in 2017, there were an estimated two million international migrants of working age (15-65) in South Africa - constituting 5.3% of the labour force - more likely to be employed in precarious work and or the informal economy. The study further reveals that 27.1% of international migrants work in the informal sector, and 12.4% work in private households as gardens, nannies, and domestic workers (Ibid). 

It is important to note that through its regional economic formation – SADC, there is an express intent to facilitate the movement of migrant labour within the region. For example, Article 2.1 (C) promotes “labour policies, practices, and measures, which facilitate labour mobility, remove distortion in labour markets and enhance industrial harmony and increase productivity, in SADC member states” (Charter of Fundamental Social Rights in SADC, 2003:3). Paradoxically, the establishment of the framework is met with increased border securitization and border management approaches that do not only delay but prevent the free movement of people (Tevera, 2020).  

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

For the past five years, South Africa has been classified as a country of origin, transit, and destination for trafficking. It entails that victims are trafficked from South Africa and moved through the country to other areas for exploitation, and foreign victims are also brought to the country as their final destination. Trafficking is not generally reported to the police, because victims fear retaliation, and thus, the exact statistics on the extent of human trafficking are not available. South Africa is also a Tier 2 country – as the government is making significant efforts in some respects but does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking as espoused by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) (US Department of State, 2023). 

As of the reporting year - 2022, the government identified and referred 74 trafficking victims to care - 42 labour trafficking victims, 23 sex trafficking victims, and nine victims of unspecified forms of trafficking. On their part, through transit monitoring, NGOs identified 52 trafficking victims and 383 potential victims (Ibid). Trafficked victims were provided with temporary emergency shelter, food assistance, interpreters, specialised medical care, psycho-social support, and transportation (Ibid). Police initiated 29 trafficking case investigations - 19 for sex trafficking, 8 for labour trafficking, and 2 for unspecified forms of trafficking and continued the investigation of 35 cases from the previous year - 2021 (Ibid). The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) initiated 15 prosecutions for 30 suspects and continued 28 prosecutions of 74 suspects from the previous reporting year (Ibid). The government convicted 14 traffickers in 8 cases in the reporting year - 2022 (Ibid). Traffickers recruit victims from poor countries and rural or poor areas within South Africa to urban centres, like Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, and Bloemfontein, where traffickers force victims into forced labour in domestic service and agricultural sectors, illegal mining, criminal activities, and sex trafficking (US Department of State, 2023). 

Traditional spiritual practices are used by traffickers to coerce some victims (Ibid). Foreign males aboard fishing vessels in South Africa’s territorial waters are exploited by traffickers (Ibid). Young men from neighbouring countries who migrate to South Africa for farm work are exploited by traffickers and some are then arrested and deported as undocumented immigrants (Ibid). Furthermore, the US Department of State (2020) highlighted that traffickers subject Pakistanis and Bangladeshis to forced labour through debt-based coercion in businesses owned by their co-nationals (Ibid). One main challenge the government face in combating trafficking in the country is the complicity of some of the government officials in trafficking activities. For example, three police officers were charged with extorting potential trafficking victims in 2021, and two NPA officials were charged with protecting a high-profile public figure for an alleged child sex trafficking offense (Ibid).  Bello & Olutola (2022), argue that despite the existence of a good legal framework established to fight against human trafficking in South Africa, for example, the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Person (PACOTIP) Act of 2013, aimed at criminalizing trafficking, strengthen law enforcement capacity to combat human trafficking and deter criminals from engaging in it, these measures have not reduced the rate of human trafficking significantly.

REMITTANCES, RETURNS AND RETURNEES

According to the World Bank (2022a), South Africa received its highest remittance payment in 2011, which amounted to 1.16 billion dollars, and since then, it has experienced a sharp decline to 755,434,049 in 2016.  From 2018 - 2022 remittance flow to South Africa has been oscillating between 929,043,381 and 810,881,604 (Ibid). Within South Africa, remittances constitute less than 3% of GDP from 2000 to 2022 (World Bank, 2022b).  Musukwa & Odhiambo (2020) argued that even though the impact of remittances on poverty is sensitive depending on the poverty proxy used in South Africa, for example, household consumption and mortality rate, remittances, generally, can be of great importance to South Africans in poverty reduction.

Recently, South Africa is very familiar with its role in assisting foreign migrants in South Africa to return to their country of origin. For example, in 2022, a joint effort from the Department of Home Affairs and UNHCR facilitated the voluntary repatriation of forty-nine of the more than 600 Congolese refugees who volunteered to return home (UNHCR, 2022 & Mail & Guardian, 2022). However, with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019, some South Africans living abroad were very vocal about their desire to return home. According to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (2020), the government has assisted in the repatriation of more than 3000 South Africans during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.