South Africa’s current immigration laws generally allow for free movement and are in line with international standards, but experts say the government’s plans to tighten controls at borders with neighbouring countries will entrench perceptions that it is taking a more inward-looking, nationalist route.
South African scholars say the government has been steadily introducing restrictive immigration policies, which it argues are necessary to thwart security threats. But, according to Jo Vearey, director at the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand, this is not supported by facts on the ground.
