David McDonald
Truth or fiction every impoverished person on the African continent is desperately trying to get into South Africa to find work or commit crimes, and current border operations are simply unable to cope with this growing human tide?
Unfortunately, this alarming scenario is all too easy to believe given the nature of police reports and press coverage of cross- border migration over the past few years. But it is not at all clear whether this is an accurate description of what is taking place.
In fact, recent national surveys in Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe by the Southern African Migration Project paint a very different picture of the current cross-border migration situation.
Based on these surveys and other research by the migration project, it would appear that both the number of people trying to get into South Africa and the way that people enter the country are being misrepresented in the media. Three points from the surveys are of particular interest in this regard.
* First, not everyone wants in to South Africa. An overwhelming number of the people interviewed identified their home country as a better place to raise a family than South Africa, with access to basic resources like land, water and housing being the most important reasons.
Levels of crime and safety were also seen to be much better at home. Even South Africas much vaunted democratic reforms would appear to carry little weight with people in the region as more than two- thirds of the respondents said that they find peace, freedom and democracy to be as good, or better, in their home country.
Not surprisingly, job opportunities were deemed far better in South Africa than at home, as were opportunities for buying and selling goods. But this perception of job opportunities does not necessarily translate into a flood of migration.
Only 13% of those interviewed said that it was very likely that they would go to live in South Africa for a short period of time (up to two years) and only 6% said that it was very likely that they would move to South Africa permanently.
Taking into account that an even smaller percentage of these respondents would actually make the move, the number of people wanting to live in South Africa is much smaller than we have been led to believe.
* Second, it is important to note that international borders are taken seriously by people in the region. Contrary to popular opinion in South Africa, people from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe do not simply expect the South African government to throw open the doors to whoever wants to enter the country.
With the notable exception of Lesotho where 41% of those interviewed think the two countries should join under one government more than three-quarters of the respondents feel that the South African government should restrict the number of people allowed into the country and should be able to deport those who commit crimes and/or are in the country without proper documentation.
Most of these people would also like to see policies in place which make it easier for people to move from one country to another. Many question the legitimacy of borders that were created during the colonial and apartheid era, but they do not advocate a radical dismantling of current border systems.
* Finally, it is also important to note that movement across the South African border is not nearly as corrupt or chaotic as one might expect from press coverage.
As a case in point, of the 40% of respondents who said that they had been to South Africa, 49% crossed the border by car or minibus, 22% by bus, 14% by train and 4% by plane or other formal modes of transportation.
Of the remaining 8% that crossed the border on foot most of these took a bus or minibus to the border, went through customs on foot, and then took another bus or minibus to their destination in South Africa. In other words, there are relatively few people sneaking into the country under fences or swimming across rivers.
Moreover, 89% of these respondents had official passports from their home country before entering South Africa and 72% had the appropriate South African visa.
Admittedly, this means that a significant number of people are still crossing the border without proper documentation, but once again the figures are not nearly as high as one would suspect from anecdotal reports in the press. (The fact that the majority of respondents without proper visas were from Zimbabwe is partly a product of the fact that it is so difficult and time-consuming to get a visa for South Africa in that country.)
In conclusion then, the movement of people across the South African border from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe would appear to be much more formal and regulated than previously thought, and the potential to manage cross-border migration in the future may not be as difficult as one might have anticipated.
This is not to suggest there are no problems on the South African border or that effective cross-border migration is going to be a simple task. Anything but.
It is essential, however, that South African policy-makers and the South African public at large be exposed to a more balanced and more informed debate on this important policy topic.