Changes in public attitudes and behaviour towards international migrants in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

A recent report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) (2021) has detailed the economic contributions made by informal foreign-owned businesses in the City of Johannesburg. The study established that these businesses improved affordable access to goods and services for local communities. The IOM report acknowledged the positive impact these enterprises had on value chains in the Gauteng province. In other words, international migrants working in the informal economy are a boon to South African markets and contribute to economic growth. The IOM report concluded that foreign-owned businesses would be of even greater benefit to the province if they were further integrated into the economy and provided with developmental support. But the positive contributions of international migrants in this sector are consistently undermined by xenophobia. South Africa has experienced successive outbreaks of mass anti-immigrant hate crime in the last few decades, a phenomenon that seems to disproportionately impact informal migrant workers.