Institutionalisation of immigration through integration and mainstreaming can foster social cohesion in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa has grappled with challenges relating to immigration governance for more than a decade in the post-apartheid era. Most policy debates focus on how South Africa's immigration policies should facilitate regional integration, given the country's role economically and politically. The immigration question remains one of the issues on the policy agenda with intergroup hostility, and violence between African immigrants and South Africans is a serious concern. This policy brief scrutinises the immigration policies in terms of how they could be effective in preventing violence by anticipating it. The brief proposes policy interventions related to intergovernmental relations, social integration of immigrants and mainstreaming of immigration issues in public services, to enhance their transparency and ethical conduct as well as self-governance by communities.