Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants

Lawrence Vorvornator

doi:doi:10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20

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Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants

Lawrence Vorvornator^*

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 13, Issue 4)

Received: 22 May 2025 Accepted: 5 June 2025 Published: 30 July 2025

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Abstract

The study explores South Africa’s (SA’s), migration politics of cooperation which allows easy cross-border for immigrants to enter but later shifted to migration coercion practices. The study is relevant because of right-wing politicians, vigilantism groups and prominent personnel’s calls on SA’s government to deport immigrants. This study is triggered by sporadic xenophobic attacks on immigrants by locals which resulted to loss of lives and properties. Grounded in migration diplomacy of cooperation and coercion theory, the study adopts a literature review also known as a ‘meta study’ to explore SA’s residence immigrants. The study’s findings reveal that White skilled labours’ migration after apartheid due to first Black government’s uncertainty made SA’s authority relaxed visa requirements to attract skilled immigrants to contribute to economic development. Immigrants arrival was short-lived. Economic contractions resulted to high unemployment rates and service delivery declines affect the youth mostly lead to foreign policy shifts from migration cooperation to coercion; which triggers vigilantism groups formation where citizens chased away immigrants not to access public facilities. Right-wing politicians and prominent personnel’s in South Africa’s anti-immigrant sentiments were ‘bought’ by some citizens. This leads to immigrants’ accusation for ‘stealing’ jobs from indigenous. Many immigrants left the country to save their lives. Overall, the paper argues that despite SA’s apartheid legacy of poverty and inequality, it is nothing compared to Sub-Sahara Africa nations. South Africans enjoy social benefits and the economy is rated best on the continent. Xenophobic attacks on immigrants is due to hatred rather than economic issues. Because other SSA nations with ailing economy live in harmony with immigrants. The paper therefore recommends massive education to South Africans that immigrants are also human beings who deserve human rights and dignity everyone deserves irrespective of status. Right wing leaders should be educated to be circumspect about their utterances. The paper therefore recommends that future research should explore factors that drive migration cooperation shift to migration coercion.

Published in	Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 13, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20
Page(s)	373-381
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Migration Diplomacy, Migration Cooperation, Migration Coercion, Immigrants, South Africa

1. Introduction

The study explores South Africa’s migration politics of cooperation which allows immigrants to enter the country but later changed to migration coercion practices. The study is relevant because of calls from right-wing politicians, emergence of vigilantism groups, and prominent personnel’s in South Africa, calls on the government to deport immigrants. In the local parlance in IsiZulu language deportation termed ‘abahambe’. Grounded in the

[33]

migration diplomatic of cooperation and coercion theories, the study asks what are South Africa’s migration cooperation adopted to attract immigrants? And, what are South Africa’s migration coercion practices employ during shift in foreign policy?

Migration is defined as people’s movement from one place to another. People migrate for various reasons which is classified as push and push factors

[24]

. The push factors are uncomfortable situations which trigger people to move from their place of residence to another for betterment of living standards

[25]

. Examples of push factors are; unfavourable environmental conditions such as drought and flood; economic conditions (unemployment), and war and conflicts. The pull factors are considered as favourable factors which attract migrants to travel to another place with the aim to improve their living standards such as good governance, media freedom, and social amenities

[36, 46]

. Migration reasons lead to the type of migrants’ classification such as economic migrants (people who migrate for economic reasons), refugees (people who flee conflicts and war), and reunion migrants (migrants who join their families)

[36]

During apartheid era in South Africa almost all nations prohibited their citizens to travel to South Africa. It was written in their passports that ‘‘travel to any country apart from South Africa’’

[35]

. After the demise of apartheid which ushered in the democratic dispensation in 1994, South Africa opened her door to the immigrants to enter the country to build inherited ailing economy. Since the White population were uncertainty about the first Black’s government rule. They migrated to Britain, Australia and Canada

[21]

. This paved the way for South Africa foreign policy to practice open door policy also known as migration cooperation to attract skilled and unskilled migrants

[33]

Migration cooperation is defined as situations where nations relax their borders for easy entry into their country

[2]

. Migration cooperation enhances mutual benefits between nations and boost their economy; since it enhances cross border migration

[28]

. Migration cooperation is usually practiced when nations need human resources to build their economy. It means during the economy prosperity stage borders are relaxed for easy entry, whereas during the economy declines borders are tighten to prevent entry into the country. The process described as migration coercion

[33]

. Migration coercion means chasing away immigrants from the country.

South Africa’s inherited problems such as inequality, employment and poverty are not more than the rest of Sub-Sahara African (SSA) nations. Despite, SSA nations economic woes they live and co-exist with other immigrants. Why do sporadic attacks on immigrants especially the African immigrants which leads to loss of lives and properties? The paper aims to contribute that South Africa’s migration politics of coercion which entails harassment and xenophobic threats are not due to economic reasons, since social benefits such as pension grants, child grants, old age are paid to citizens for better living standards but due to hatred of immigrants. Because other SSA citizens do not receive such benefits but they co-exist with immigrants.

The study is structured as follows: the theoretical framework, which dwells on the migration politics of cooperation and coercion. I then, proceeded to the literature review which presents border relaxation concerns and sporadic attacks on immigrants. Methodology is presented from the literature review which is also known as a ‘meta-study’. The study’s findings follow, then conclusion and recommendations. The next section presents theoretical framework of the study.

2. Theoretical Framework

The study is grounded in migration diplomacy of cooperation and coercion propounded by

[33]

. Migration cooperation politics allows nation’s borders to be opened since the two nations derive mutual benefits. It means freedom of movement from one country to another without restrictions. Nationals and organisations such as European Union (EU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and East African Community (EAC), demonstrated migration cooperation. During Gaddafi’s regime there was migration cooperation between Egypt and Libya

[2]

. Migration cooperation are employed by nations if their economy is in prosperity stage; where labour is needed to contribute for its growth and development. This implies more labours both skilled and unskilled are needed to contribute to the economy.

Migration coercion is the politics employs by a nation to maltreat citizens from a specific nation they have international rows with. It is also employed to draw international communities’ attention to secure funds or assistance because the immigrants are living in their country

[47]

. Weapons such as harassment, deportation, deportability (threats of deportation), xenophobic threats and afro-phobic (fear of Africans peculiar to South Africa) are employed. Migration coercion is employed when the state’s economy declines. This implies the economy may experience high unemployment rates, high inflation and low productivity.

Relating migration politics of cooperation and coercion theories to residence immigrants in South Africa, it means after the demise of the apartheid and the White population migrated to other nations for betterment of living standards; South Africa’s economy needed skilled workers and professionals to expand

[11]

. There was the need to attract skilled immigrants into the country to contribute to South Africa’s economic growth and development. Hence, South Africa attracted immigrants from all walks of life through migration cooperation politics. Currently, 34.2% unemployment rate in the country, leads to foreign policy shifts from migration cooperation to coercion; which aims to ‘chase away’ immigrants since the immigrants are considered to ‘steal’ the jobs of South Africans. The next section presents the literature review of the study.

3. Literature Review

Globalisation is defined as nations’ interdependence across the world. In spite, the advent of globalization; it has not decreased the sovereign state’s monopoly in world politics. The state still remains the actor in the process of cross-border migration

[1]

. And, it is likely to continue to be so, especially with the rise in populist nationalism and the renewed importance of border controls

[1]

. Just as states engage with one another in issues relate to trade, culture, economic, war and peace, human rights, and environments; border controls and migration diplomacy are interestingly becoming areas for cooperation among the states

[48]

. Migration of cooperation issues are centered on security interests, soft powers, economic interests, and issues related to identity and public diplomacy

[2]

. Despite, growing work of the complex facets of modern diplomacy it is yet to be recognized by the practitioners.

According to

[18]

international-relations politics on migration cooperation and coercion was not taken seriously until recently international-relations theorists rated it (international-relations politics) low. Research reveals that international-relations studies were concentrated on the immigrant nations rather than the CODs

[45]

. This leads to biasness in favour of the CODs. A study identifies that ‘‘to focus on the consequences of immigration in wealthy, migrant-receiving societies, and to ignore the causes and consequences of migration in origin countries’’ does not reflect the true international-relations theory

[45]

. Currently, there are international-relations studies that explored both migration politics of cooperation and coercion. Because of that this study aims to explore migration cooperation and coercion nations adopt to attract and expel migrants in case they (immigrants) are no longer needed. What are migration politics of cooperation and coercion adopted by South Africa against residence immigrants?

Migration politics of cooperation which ensures mutual benefits between nations are migration diplomacy, cooperation between countries, regional cooperation and incentive aids.

3.1. Migration Diplomacy

Migration diplomacy is defined as the use of processes and diplomatic tools for cross-border migration without any hindrances

[23]

. It aims at implementation of strategic goals to achieve migration related issues. Migration diplomacy is centred around human rights and security issues. This consists of cooperation and dialogues between countries and international organisations. This process is adopted to protect migrants’ rights and ensure sustainable economic development

[38]

3.2. Migration Cooperation Between Nations

Migration cooperation between nations usually turn to be centred on economic benefits and security issues. A nation which needs skilled labours might sign an agreement with other countries they consider their citizens to be more qualified. This leads to waive of visa requirements or relaxation to attract immigrants. Research reveals that the cross-border contributes to both COOs and CODs economically

[7]

. For instance, the Bracer programme implemented from 1942-1964 between México and the USA was a typical example

[38]

However, it is important to establish that migration diplomacy cooperation is concerned about the relevance of cross-border management mobility as an international issue. This means it disassociates itself from a wealth of migration matters and do not have direct impacts in the interstate relations; citizenship status, welfare of migrants and refugees, and access to human rights. Usually, the international law is applied as well as foreign policy of the states. How does South African foreign policy is implemented on the migrants’ arrival after migration cooperation?

3.3. Migration Diplomacy of Coercion

Migration diplomacy of coercion is a measure adopted by nations to discourage the influx of immigrants into their country

[33]

. These measures do not concern cross-border but rather are the internal strategies adopted by the host nations to achieve goals such as drawing attention of sending countries and international communities. Among the measures adopted as migration coercion are: barrier to entry, remittances sanctions, deportation or deportability threats, xenophobic attacks and formation of vigilantism groups.

3.4. Barriers to Entry

Barrier to entry is the measure adopted by host nations to curtail immigrant’s influx into CODs. Research reveals that visas requirement are tighten and borders are strictly controlled to prevent immigrants to enter into their CODs

[18]

. Elements of policing and vigilantisms are intensified, and criminalisation of the sending states are adopted to discourage immigrants influx

[18]

. In November, 2015 when the Russian military aircraft was shot near the border of Syrian and Turkey, President Putin reacted by scratching the Turkish visa to Russian

[22]

3.5. Remittances’ Sanctioning

Remittances’ sanctioning is the process where CODs adopt to prevent migrants from sending money into their COOs. This measure could lead to an arbitrarily increase in taxes and ban on the institutions responsible for transferring remittances to COOs. Research identified that host nations adopt remittances sanctioning as a measure to curb immigrant’s population

[17]

. Research explains that remittances form the basis of most sending nations’ economic growth and development, and are usually targeted by the CODs

[3, 17]

. Remittances are especially important to Africa continent and Middle East region because it contributes to the stability of economic and political regimes

[4]

. Research reveals that CODs adopt remittances sanctions ‘‘because economic sanctions can impose costs … without carrying the degree of risk attached to military actions’’

[19]

[32]

further states that, ‘‘governments use them (remittance and economic sanctions) as coercion and leverage measure, as a signal to resolve and exert pressure for policy changes’’ on the COOs (Italics are mine). Remittances inflow from the CODs to the COOs are usually stopped

[15]

. Immigrants might be subjected to uncertainty, deportability, violence and threats which purposefully are not directed to the immigrants, but to the states in which they originate

[12]

Remittances dependence by the sending states may force the host nations to leverage their power in terms of sanctioning remittances flow

[16]

. Rational for remittances sanction could be for the sending countries to comply with some of the concerns of the CODs, hence the negative economic sanctions

[5]

. Example of remittances sanction are the USA embargo laid on Cuba immigrants for transferring remittances to Cuba

[43]

. Further, bilateral relationship deterioration between Japan and North Korea in 1999 over ballistic missile testing; Japan warned North Korea for remittances sanctioning which was estimated to be between $600 million to $1 billion annually

[7]

. Not only Japan warning to North Korea but Jordan and Libya also threatened Egypt for remittances sanctioning because the Egyptian government relied on remittances for economic growth and development

[2]

. The phenomenon

[2]

termed as ‘‘migration interdependence’’.

3.6. Deportation or Expulsion of Immigrants

Deportation is the process of arresting immigrants with no valid documents who are repatriated to their COOs

[2]

. In some instances, deportability threats measure is adopted. Deportability is defined as the threats to deportation

[38]

. This entails arresting and harassment of immigrants for possible deportation but they are later released. Deportability aims to send signal to the international community and the COOs about the COD’s concerns

[37]

. Research describe deportation as ‘‘demographic engineering’’

[2]

. A study explained that demographic engineering measures adopted by the CODs are extreme processes to convey message to the COOs and international community compared to remittance sanctions and strict borders control

[14]

. Demographic engineering takes the form of road blocks, works and homes raid with the aim to arrest immigrants and deport them

[14]

In 2008, Russia executed Legal Status of Foreign Citizens known as deportation through declaration of certain immigrants ‘undesirable’. Aftermath, it was estimated that over 117,493 migrants were deported notably from the Central Asia and the Western States

[31]

. Research identifies that Arab States such as Libya and Saudi Arabia waste no time on expulsion when the bilateral-relations deteriorated

[31]

. However, research reveals that deportation is expensive to CODs to undertake

[30]

. The CODs may adopt deportation to pressurise their demands to be met; through arresting few immigrants and deport them and later leave the rest

[30]

3.7. Xenophobia Is Global Phenomena Not Unique to South Africa

Xenophobia is defined as fear of foreigners; it is not a unique to South Africa but cuts across globally

[26]

. For instance, England and France accused immigrants of their predicaments

[26]

, Turkey; a geopolitical state accused the Syrian refugees for their problems

[2]

, and President Trump blamed the Mexican migrants of America’s problems

[40]

. However, the impact of xenophobic was largely felt in 2008, 2015 and 2019 in South Africa. In 2008, 60 foreign nationals with 1 South African loss their lives, thousands displaced and properties damaged in xenophobic attack

[10]

. The

[20]

on the xenophobic attacks described the situation that:

“In May 2008 xenophobic violence broke out in Alexandra, Johannesburg, and rapidly spread to seven of South Africa’s nine provinces, resulting in 62 deaths, including 21 South Africans, 11 Mozambicans, five Zimbabweans and three Somalis; thousands were injured. Some 40,000 foreign nationals left the country and a further 50,000 remain internally displaced”.

Seven years later, the xenophobic violence re-occurred, and 7 deaths and properties damaged were recorded

[11]

. Xenophobic attacks indicate some South Africans’ not ready to accept the immigrants which serve as migration coercion measure.

3.8. Vigilantism Groups Formation

Vigilantism groups formation are the situations where law enforcement is undertaken without legal authority in South Africa to harass and intimidate immigrants. Because some citizens regard immigrants as the causes of their livelihood’s deprivation

[41]

. In 2022, the vigilante group namely Operation Dudula demonstrated in front of an Atteridgeville-based hospital in Gauteng province, South Africa. Patients ‘black’ in complexion and were not able to express themselves in local languages were considered as foreigners. They were turned away from seeking medical attention

[8]

. In IsiZulu language, dudula literally means ‘push away vigorously’, which may be the name originated to chase away immigrants from South Africa as a migration coercion.

3.9. Right-wing Politicians’ Roles as Migration Coercion

Right-wing politics are the cross section of people with political ideologies who consider social orders and hierarchies as normal, natural and inevitable. Right-wing politicians behaviour also serve as migration coercion measures in South Africa. Right-wing political parties’ campaign messages usually centred on anti-immigrant issues to cover up their failed promises

[11]

. In 2022, the then Health Member of the Executive Council (MEC), (Phophi Ramathuba) of Limpopo in South Africa was heard reprimanding sick Zimbabwean immigrant for over burdening the hospital facilities and budgets in Bela Bela hospital

[6]

. Meanwhile, finance minister, Mr. Godongwana in 2021 presenting the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), warned that the decline in the services provision in the local government ‘‘is breeding ground for economic strife and future instability in South Africa’’

[34]

. This pointed figures to corruption and mismanagement by the officials

[49]

. Further, former Johannesburg Mayor, Mr. Herman Mashaba states that ‘‘irregular foreigners are holding our country to ransom and I am going to be the last South African to allow it’’

[27]

The right-wing politicians behaviour towards immigrants is not only in South Africa, but cut across nations. In Kenya anti-immigration campaign was launched and the

[39]

replied that:

‘‘In the run-up to elections many politicians will not hesitate to manipulate the refugee situation as an electioneering gimmick. Members of Parliament have been known to distort facts, and stereotypes and vilify refugees as the sole source of increased crime and insecurity, proliferation of illegal arms and scarcity of resources. Blaming refugees detracts attention from their responsibilities towards their constituents”.

In 2022, United Nations research on xenophobic occurrences about right-wing politicians in South Africa reveals that:

‘‘anti-migrant discourse from senior government officials has fanned the flames of violence, and government actors have failed to prevent further violence or hold perpetrators accountable. Without urgent action from the government of South Africa to curb the scapegoat of migrants and refugees, and the widespread violence and intimidation against these groups, we are deeply concerned that the country is on the precipice of explosive violence’’.

Right-wing politician’s anti-immigration sentiments are ‘bought’ by the masses which lead to immigrant’s accusation and xenophobic attacks.

3.10. Some South Africans’ Immigrants Accusation

Another measure adopts by the South Africans as migration coercion is ‘blame game’

[10]

. Some South Africans accuse immigrants to be their main problem of services delivery decline and their living standards. To some extend the blame game is the process to find fault with minority (immigrants) where there is none. This according to

[12]

indicate that immigrants as a minority in society are pointed fingers at for any misfortune, social vices or ‘ills’ in South Africa. Research states that: ‘‘blame game tendencies and public rhetoric of fear and loathing collectively shape and define the contours of the symbolic threat posed by immigrants’’

[10]

. That is, they transform diverse migrant groups in the public imagination as an undifferentiated mass representing a threat and menace to the security and well-being of South Africans

[12]

. Some South Africans immigrants’ blame game strategy divert the Ubuntu in societies, hence the attack on immigrants as a migration coercion. The next section presents the methodology of the study.

4. Methodology

This study began with a literature review (LR) exploring on South Africa’s migration politics shifts from cooperation to coercion.

[42]

states that LR is ‘‘the process of accessing published secondary data’’. The definition elaborates two different things. The first is that an LR employs only information from secondary sources, not primary sources. Data from secondary sources was adopted in this exploration, and these sources included journals, articles, books, and organisational and non-organisational reports

[29]

. Secondly,

[42]

definition implies that LR is desktop research, and it is not undertaken in the field

[42]

. Another way to define such a study is a ‘meta study’, because it reviews, assembles and organises the data presented in previous studies in a coherent way.

Several search engines such as EBSCOhost, JSTOR, Google Scholar, Scopus Research Gate, and Web of Science were employed to study South Africa’s migration politics shifts from cooperation to coercion. Migration websites and journals including, inter alia, the Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies and Journal of International Migration and Integration were consulted. In addition, search terms such as: ‘migration diplomacy’, ‘migration cooperation’, ‘migration coercion’, and ‘migration leverage’, were employed.

The study acquired 1505 ideal publications; 1493 of these were derived from an electronic search, and twelve were found through forward and back searches. Eligibility criteria was conducted and a total of 50 articles were selected i.e. (1505-1455), cited and referenced, through the following eligibility assessments: a) publication concentrates on either or both migration politics of cooperation and coercion; b) publications focus on South Africa’s migration politics shifts from cooperation to coercion; c) publication date in 2012 or later; but pockets of literature older than thirteen years relevant to the study were selected; d) publication in English

[9]

Thirteen years was chosen as a way to limit the scope of this study because it explores the phenomena related to unprecedented world conflicts since that time have resulted in rising numbers of refugees, including those from Afghanistan, Syria, the Arab Spring migration to Europe, and current Ukrainian refugees.

Research explores six steps in presenting LR namely: a) identifying primary research objectives and questions; b) exploring the ideal articles; c) making inclusions; d) exploring the articles’ quality and their content; e) extracting information, and f) analysing data.

[44]

Articles considered insignificant were excluded. After an eligibility check, the researcher proceeded to the information extraction and analysis stage. Information extraction entails coding important articles related to South Africa’s migration politics shifts from cooperation to coercion. I then, employed ‘framework analysis’, which deals with methodological procedure. I, analysed and extracted the important literature. The guiding procedure which facilitates both analysing and extraction important information is described as ‘‘sifting, charting and sorting materials according to key themes and issues’’

[50]

. Simply, familiarization was carried out to have actual knowledge about articles’ relevance. I further, identified the thematic framework concerning theories that emerged from reading on South Africa’s migration politics shifts from cooperation to coercion. Indexing was executed through sifting the information related to particular themes; charting the data is done to sort-out relevant headings and sub-headings during thematic framework stage

[3]

. These were the procedures that I followed. Mapping and interpretation—which entails reviewing, assembling and analysing all criteria features of dataset—and a synthesis of data were carried out.

Key articles selected for this study employed a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Meta-analysis for the quantitative data was excluded because this research method was different. This research did not share common methods or the same elements with a quantitative methodology. Textual information was coded and presented accordingly by adopting a framework analysis process. The concepts and LR employed here present a broad picture, one that forms baseline information data, and assists in the understanding existing literature on South Africa’s migration politics shifts from cooperation to coercion

[29]

. The LR on South Africa’s migration politics shifts from cooperation to coercion assisted to avoid the duplication of previous works by other researchers. However, there are limitations to this method. For example, since not all academic search engines were used, there could be some past literature that was left out. The next section presents findings of the study.

5. Findings

The study’s findings reveal that in ushering democracy after the apartheid the White skilled labours in South Africa migrated to Australia, Britain and Canada because they were uncertain about the first Black government

[21]

. This created skilled gap shortage in the economy since indigenous South Africans were denied education and skills training during the apartheid. As a result, migration politics of cooperation was adopted through visa relaxation requirements into the country to build the economy

[33]

. This attracted immigrants from all walks of life to contribute to South Africa’s economic growth and development

[33]

After some years of immigrants’ arrival, the South Africa’s economy declines, service delivery declines and unemployment rate was over 30%. The youth are the hardest hit so far as South Africa’s unemployment his concerned

[13]

. Right-wing politicians and prominent personnel’s in South Africa started to blame immigrants through anti-immigrant sentiments for the South Africa’s predicaments

[27]

. Government representatives expressed that immigrants overburden facilities and they are holding the country in ransom

[27]

. These anti-immigrant sentiments were ‘bought’ by the masses. Some indigenous began to point fingers to immigrants as causes of their woes

[41]

. Immigrants are accused of ‘stealing the jobs’ of the indigenous. This leads to vigilantism groups formation such as Put South Africa First and Operation Dulula promoting anti-immigration sentiments

[8]

. In some cases, road blocks, work and home raids are carried out by officials to arrest immigrants without valid documents in the country

[14]

. These undocumented immigrants are deported into their COOs.

Hatred of stranger termed xenophobia is paramount among the migration coercion approaches adopted in South Africa

[10]

. This resulted to loss of lives and properties in 2008, 2015 and 2019. Many immigrants were internally displaced and some left South Africa to save their lives

[11]

. From the foregoing, I argue that migration politics of coercion employs by South Africans are due to hatred to immigrants. Because South Africa’s economy performs better than other nations on the continent, and there are social benefits to the SA citizens than the SSA nations; yet immigrants live in harmony with SSA citizens without xenophobic attacks apart from South Africa.

Overall, the paper concludes that South Africa adopted migration politics of cooperation which attracted immigrants across the world to build the economy because of White skilled workers migrated to other nations. However, the economy and service delivery decline, and high unemployment rates triggered formation of villainism groups, rights-wing politicians and prominent personnel’s sentiments and xenophobic tendencies serve as migration coercion.

6. Conclusion and Recommendations

The paper explored South Africa’s migration politics shifts from cooperation to coercion. Migration cooperation made authorities to relax the visas requirement for immigrants to enter the country and contribute to economic growth and development. Because of the White skilled labours migrated due to uncertainty to other nations during the new democratic dispensation. Migrants arrival was extended with Ubuntu; however, it was short-lived. Economic declines which leads to rise in unemployment rates, decline in service delivery affects the youth mostly triggered formation of vigilantism groups where migrants were chased away not to access the public facilities. The right-wing politicians and prominent personnel’s in South Africa’s anti-immigrant sentiments were ‘bought’ by some citizens. This leads to the blame game of immigrants for taking the jobs of indigenous. Hence, xenophobic attacks on immigrants which leads to loss of lives and properties. Many immigrants left the country to save their lives. Overall, the paper argues that despite South Africa inherited poverty, inequality and unemployment from the apartheid government, this is nothing compared to SSA nations. South Africans enjoy social benefits and the economy is the best on African continent. The attacks on immigrants is due to hatred rather than economic issues. Because other SSA nations with ailing economy live in harmony with immigrants. The paper therefore recommends that there should be conducive environment to negotiate between abject compassion and administrative logic versus being less-human, since immigrants are considered as less-persons. Right-wing politicians and prominent personnel’s in South Africa should be educated to be circumspect about their utterances; since whatever they say are ‘bought’ by the masses. Administrative processes should be improved to proceed urgently and address pockets of xenophobic tendencies not to spread across South Africa to save lives and properties. South Africans need mass education about immigrants that; they are also human beings who deserve human rights and dignity everyone needs irrespective of status. I therefore recommend that, future researches should explore factors that drive shift from migration cooperation to migration coercion, and potential strategies for mitigating negative consequences of migration cooperation shift to migration coercion.

Abbreviations

SA	South Africa
SSA	Sub-Sahara Africa
COO	Country of Origin
COD	Country of Destination
MEC	Member of Executive Council
MTBPS	Medium Term Budget Policy Statement
LR	Literature Review

Author Contributions

Lawrence Vorvornator is the sole author. The author read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

No funding is received for writing of this manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Vorvornator, L. (2025). Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants. Humanities and Social Sciences, 13(4), 373-381. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20

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Vorvornator, L. Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2025, 13(4), 373-381. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20

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Vorvornator L. Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants. Humanit Soc Sci. 2025;13(4):373-381. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20,
author = {Lawrence Vorvornator},
title = {Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants
},
journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
volume = {13},
number = {4},
pages = {373-381},
doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20251304.20},
abstract = {The study explores South Africa’s (SA’s), migration politics of cooperation which allows easy cross-border for immigrants to enter but later shifted to migration coercion practices. The study is relevant because of right-wing politicians, vigilantism groups and prominent personnel’s calls on SA’s government to deport immigrants. This study is triggered by sporadic xenophobic attacks on immigrants by locals which resulted to loss of lives and properties. Grounded in migration diplomacy of cooperation and coercion theory, the study adopts a literature review also known as a ‘meta study’ to explore SA’s residence immigrants. The study’s findings reveal that White skilled labours’ migration after apartheid due to first Black government’s uncertainty made SA’s authority relaxed visa requirements to attract skilled immigrants to contribute to economic development. Immigrants arrival was short-lived. Economic contractions resulted to high unemployment rates and service delivery declines affect the youth mostly lead to foreign policy shifts from migration cooperation to coercion; which triggers vigilantism groups formation where citizens chased away immigrants not to access public facilities. Right-wing politicians and prominent personnel’s in South Africa’s anti-immigrant sentiments were ‘bought’ by some citizens. This leads to immigrants’ accusation for ‘stealing’ jobs from indigenous. Many immigrants left the country to save their lives. Overall, the paper argues that despite SA’s apartheid legacy of poverty and inequality, it is nothing compared to Sub-Sahara Africa nations. South Africans enjoy social benefits and the economy is rated best on the continent. Xenophobic attacks on immigrants is due to hatred rather than economic issues. Because other SSA nations with ailing economy live in harmony with immigrants. The paper therefore recommends massive education to South Africans that immigrants are also human beings who deserve human rights and dignity everyone deserves irrespective of status. Right wing leaders should be educated to be circumspect about their utterances. The paper therefore recommends that future research should explore factors that drive migration cooperation shift to migration coercion.},
year = {2025}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants

AU - Lawrence Vorvornator
Y1 - 2025/07/30
PY - 2025
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20
DO - 10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20
T2 - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP - 373
EP - 381
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2330-8184
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20
AB - The study explores South Africa’s (SA’s), migration politics of cooperation which allows easy cross-border for immigrants to enter but later shifted to migration coercion practices. The study is relevant because of right-wing politicians, vigilantism groups and prominent personnel’s calls on SA’s government to deport immigrants. This study is triggered by sporadic xenophobic attacks on immigrants by locals which resulted to loss of lives and properties. Grounded in migration diplomacy of cooperation and coercion theory, the study adopts a literature review also known as a ‘meta study’ to explore SA’s residence immigrants. The study’s findings reveal that White skilled labours’ migration after apartheid due to first Black government’s uncertainty made SA’s authority relaxed visa requirements to attract skilled immigrants to contribute to economic development. Immigrants arrival was short-lived. Economic contractions resulted to high unemployment rates and service delivery declines affect the youth mostly lead to foreign policy shifts from migration cooperation to coercion; which triggers vigilantism groups formation where citizens chased away immigrants not to access public facilities. Right-wing politicians and prominent personnel’s in South Africa’s anti-immigrant sentiments were ‘bought’ by some citizens. This leads to immigrants’ accusation for ‘stealing’ jobs from indigenous. Many immigrants left the country to save their lives. Overall, the paper argues that despite SA’s apartheid legacy of poverty and inequality, it is nothing compared to Sub-Sahara Africa nations. South Africans enjoy social benefits and the economy is rated best on the continent. Xenophobic attacks on immigrants is due to hatred rather than economic issues. Because other SSA nations with ailing economy live in harmony with immigrants. The paper therefore recommends massive education to South Africans that immigrants are also human beings who deserve human rights and dignity everyone deserves irrespective of status. Right wing leaders should be educated to be circumspect about their utterances. The paper therefore recommends that future research should explore factors that drive migration cooperation shift to migration coercion.
VL - 13
IS - 4
ER -

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Lawrence Vorvornator

Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Zululand, Kwadlangezwa, South Africa

Research Fields: Global South Migration, Immigrants Entrepreneurship, Migration Studies, Tourism, Sustainable Entrepreneurship

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http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4475-6665

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Vorvornator, L. (2025). Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants. Humanities and Social Sciences, 13(4), 373-381. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20

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Vorvornator, L. Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2025, 13(4), 373-381. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20

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Vorvornator L. Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants. Humanit Soc Sci. 2025;13(4):373-381. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20251304.20

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T1 - Migration Politics Shifts from Cooperation to Coercion: Exploring South Africa Residence Immigrants

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