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Labour Migration Trends and Policies in Southern Africa

Literature › Works

Jonathan Crush; Vincent Williams (2010). Labour Migration Trends and Policies in Southern Africa. SAMP Policy Brief No. 23. Southern African Migration Programme (SAMP).
Type report
Scope Post-1994 South African economy
Method synthesis review
Period studied 1990–2008
Regions Southern Africa (SADC), South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Malawi
Themes mining migrant labour, transition post apartheid, demography urbanisation, methods data sources, labour markets wages
Citation key crush2010

Argument

The brief argues that since 1990 labour migration in SADC has become more voluminous, dynamic and complex. Contract migration to the South African gold mines has declined, and irregular, informal, female and skilled migration has grown. After 1994 South Africa's policy was restrictive and increasingly unilateral, and it shifted toward skills import after the 2002 Immigration Act. Regional multilateral instruments, notably the SADC Facilitation of Movement Protocol, largely affirm existing practice and are weak on enforcement. The case rests on official statistics, TEBA mine data and SAMP survey data, with policy review and recommendations.

Evidence and method

Statistics South Africa tourism and migration reports, Department of Home Affairs annual reports, TEBA mine labour data, UN migrant stock data, SAMP surveys (MARS 2004/2005 covering 30,000 migrants in five countries; Potential Skills Base Survey 2002), Clemens's health-professional emigration database, Botswana Central Statistical Office data, legal and policy texts (Immigration Act 2002, SADC protocols, bilateral treaties), and secondary literature.

Findings

  • Migrant mine employment collapsed between the 1987 strike and 2001, hitting rural source areas hard. (p. 10)

    At the time of the 1987 Mineworkers' Strike, 477,000 migrant workers were employed on the mines. By 2001, the figure was down to only 207,000

  • Sub-contracting in the 1990s reversed union gains and worsened conditions, with vulnerable foreign workers hired. (p. 9)

    Trade union gains for migrants in the mining industry in the 1980s were rolled back in the 1990s through sub-contracting.

  • Mozambique was largely spared the 1990s mine job losses, and the foreign share of the workforce rose. (p. 10)

    The proportion of non-local miners rose from around 40% in the mid-1980s to nearly 60% in 1997.

  • Since 2000 a rising gold price has revived mine hiring, but the new workers are overwhelmingly South African. (p. 11)

    The proportion of foreign miners has recently fallen from a peak of 59% in 1997 to only 38% in 2006.

  • The ANC government's attempt to end migrancy through a permanent-residence offer largely failed. (p. 9)

    only 50% of eligible miners accepted the offer (51,504 in total) and very few of those “opted out” of the system

  • Legal entry into South Africa grew massively, but few entrants are declared labour migrants. (p. 6)

    The total number of legal entrants into South Africa increased from 1 million in 1990 to 5.1 million in 1996 and over 9 million in 2008

  • Post-apartheid immigration policy sharply reduced legal immigration, and policy later turned toward skills. (p. 13)

    In 1974, there were 50,000 immigrants to South Africa; in 1999 there were less than 4,000.

  • Mining remains the dominant employer of SADC labour migrants, with a growing informal sector. (p. 31)

    Mining remains the largest employer of labour migrants from these countries (49.5%)

  • The old bilateral mine labour treaties have never been revised and were used almost exclusively by the mining industry. (p. 54)

    The bilateral agreements were last renewed in the 1960s (with Mozambique) and the 1970s. The treaties, which have never been modified or rescinded

  • South Africa has deported large numbers of irregular migrants since 1994. (p. 21)

    South Africa, for example, has deported over 1.5 million migrants to neighbouring countries since 1994 (with Mozambique and Zimbabwe making up 90% of the total).

  • The 2002 Immigration Act is described as a break from apartheid-era control, but it favours temporary, skills-focused entry. (p. 51)

    represents a significant break from the control-oriented mindset of the past;