Participation of African migrants in the labour force of South Africa : are there structural changes from 2001 to 2011?

Abstract

This thesis examines the distribution of African migrants across the different segments of the labour force in South Africa. The specific objective of this study is to demonstrate that there has been structural changes from 2001 to 2011 in the deployment of African immigrants in terms of occupation, employment sector, income groups just to name a few. Studies that have been recorded using the 2001 population census suggest that the South African labour market attracts majority of African migrants that are not highly qualified. The proposed study makes use of the 2011 population census to evaluate the extent to which the situation has changed or whether it remained the same between the two periods. The assumption underlying this study is that, over time the magnitude of qualified migrants has improved. As far as African migration is concerned, to capture the structural changes during the ten-year period (2001 to 2011) this study focuses on variables such as demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. To profile changes in the participation of African migrants, this study makes use of the 2001 and 2011 national population census data. Furthermore, statistical packages are used to test the relationship between variables. Policy document about migration are also used to provide the legislated framework with regards to the involvement of foreign labour in the South African labour force. The geographical scope of the study is national meaning it covers all nine provinces of South Africa.