Immigration Policy in South Africa: Public Opinion, Xenophobia and the Search for Progress

Abstract

Developing progressive migration policy and legislation in South Africa is significantly hampered by anti-immigrant sentiment amongst the general public. Despite the recommendations of experts, the country has not adopted a clear and coherent immigration integration policy. Moreover, xenophobic violence presents a clear threat to the current South African migration regime. Why has this young democracy struggled to develop meaningful policy solutions to deal with migration? The paper explores this important question through the unique lens of mass opinion. Data from the South African Social Attitudes Survey for the period 2003–2018 will be used for this study. The outcomes of this analysis offer new insights into the obstacles facing attempts to implement both progressive immigration policy as well as anti-xenophobia strategies in South Africa. The paper concludes by outlining the implications of this work for academic attempts to understand address anti-immigrantism in the country. Recommendations for future research are also presented for discussion.