Challenges of socio-economic mobility for international migrants in South Africa

ABSTRACT Migration is reputed to have development prospects for the sending and host countries as well as migrants. Therefore, an effective migration governance system must be put in place to achieve this triple-win developmental aspiration. This paper, however, argues that when they migrate, migrants have their own subjective well-being in mind, and not some common national development objectives. The other developmental outcomes depend on this self-interestedness of migrants. As such, the institutional provisions for migration governance must be put in place to achieve migrant well-being, as a precondition for positive macro-developmental prospects for both the receiving and sending countries. The paper explored this objective in South Africa. The Migration Governance Framework (MiGoF) and the subjective well-being framework proposed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) were used to assess the assumptions of this objective. Reviewing literature of surveys conducted with immigrants in three cities (Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg), it was found that while South Africa has one of the most mature and developed migration governance infrastructure, it has not been sufficiently translated into realising migrant well-being. Despite all the attractive pull factors and opportunities, most immigrants in South Africa live in socio-economic misery and political uncertainty.