Socio-economic effects of the migration policy on foreigners in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa amongst other African nations has since 1994 been one of the major migrant-receiving countries attracting people from other parts of the world. A majority of them coming from other African countries have stirred negative responses from both the government and the local communities straining relationships between foreigners and citizens. This study aims to assess the socio-economic effects of the migration policy on foreigners. The researcher used three different methodologies, desktop, qualitative and quantitative approaches to analyse data. Questionnaires were administered to 158 participants and 31 others were selected to participate in the one-on-one semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion. Findings from this study established that South Africa’s migration policy has been regressive further complicating the socio-economic integration of foreign nationals over the years. Additional findings show that xenophobia and the fear of xenophobia negatively affect migrants’ integration in South Africa forcing many to live in isolation and have weak relationships with nationals resulting in negative integration. Besides, the lack of proper documentation has prevented foreigners from accessing certain services and properly integrating into South African society. Findings from the ANOVA analysis found that there is a difference between groups in the way the SA immigration policy affects those with no formal education, secondary education, tertiary and vocational education. More findings established that xenophobia affects foreigners in the same way regardless of their income levels and employment status.