A Socio-cultural Analysis of African Immigration to South Africa

Abstract

Since the advent of a democratic South Africa in 1994, it has become a new destination for African immigrants, thus adding to the increasing trend of South-South migration globally. African immigration to South Africa has increased not only through the regular immigration of skilled professionals and other economic migrants, but also through refugees fleeing from conflict areas in the continent. This article utilizes the ideology of Makwerekwere as a theoretical framework for explaining non-belonging in South Africa within which African immigrants are imagined and treated as despicable ‘others’. It also gains useful insights from a survey of 92 South Africans and African immigrants in KwaZulu-Natal. Some of its findings show that African immigrants in South Africa have stimulated interest and fostered knowledge of other African cultures amongst South Africans and Africans living in South Africa.