South Africa’s Migration Debate has Historical Roots

South Africa’s recent anti-migrant tensions have deep historical roots, according to historians examining the country’s long relationship with migration and nationalism. Recent violence and pressure against foreign Africans have led to arguments that migrants are responsible for crime, unemployment, and strained public services. Yet the historical record is more complicated. Since the African National Congress was founded in 1912, some members have periodically pushed anti-migrant policies, while others have promoted solidarity among Black workers across borders. For instance, the ANC government deported more than 157,000 people in its first year in power, showing that restrictive migration policy did not begin with today’s protest movements. However, the historical record also offers a counter-narrative—migrant labor leaders helped build South Africa’s labor movement, and cross-border solidarity strengthened anti-apartheid unions in the 1980s. That dual legacy suggests today’s xenophobic surge, while it is rooted in a century of precedent, is not South Africa’s only possible trajectory.

debt management, and investment conditions.