Protectionism and national migration policy in South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorAkokpari, John Kwabenaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBoynton, Elspeth Whitneyen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-06-09T11:09:31Z
dc.date.available2016-06-09T11:09:31Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn the past two decades, South Africa has become the "new migration hub" in Africa. The country has witnessed the dramatic rise of people flowing into its borders post-apartheid from the continent and beyond. However, in response to the large influx of migrants (legal and illegal), South Africa has adopted protectionist and nationalistic migration policies, emphasizing border control, rather than migration facilitation or migrant protection. Despite South Africa's post-apartheid commitments to human rights, democracy, and Pan-Africanism, the restrictive nature of these laws has led to the mistreatment and neglect of refugee and asylum seekers, the unlawful detention and deportation of legal in-migrants, and the failure to address societal xenophobia. These policies have also contributed to a severe skills shortage in South Africa, impeding the growth of the South African economy, while also thwarting SADC's ability to govern migration cooperatively in the region. In light of the most recent migration reforms implemented in 2014, instigating more protectionism, this thesis examines and seeks to explain why South Africa has adopted and continues to maintain these policies post-apartheid despite their negative implications and lack of congruence with South Africa's new national identity. The international relations theories of constructivism and neoclassical realism (NCR) are used to understand and explain South Africa's decision to maintain a protectionist migration agenda. Ultimately, the thesis argues that South Africa's reasons for adopting a protectionist migration agenda are numerous and exist at all levels of analysis. These reasons include (1) South Africa's formation of an exclusionary national identity post-apartheid, (2) the persistence of mass legal and illegal in-migration to the country, (3) the institutionalized perception of migration as a threat to national and social security by South African policy-makers/media/community leaders, and (4) the failure of the state to provide adequate social service delivery, impacting the implementation of more liberal policies in the new millennium.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationBoynton, E. W. (2015). <i>Protectionism and national migration policy in South Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19953en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationBoynton, Elspeth Whitney. <i>"Protectionism and national migration policy in South Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19953en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBoynton, E. 2015. Protectionism and national migration policy in South Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Boynton, Elspeth Whitney AB - In the past two decades, South Africa has become the "new migration hub" in Africa. The country has witnessed the dramatic rise of people flowing into its borders post-apartheid from the continent and beyond. However, in response to the large influx of migrants (legal and illegal), South Africa has adopted protectionist and nationalistic migration policies, emphasizing border control, rather than migration facilitation or migrant protection. Despite South Africa's post-apartheid commitments to human rights, democracy, and Pan-Africanism, the restrictive nature of these laws has led to the mistreatment and neglect of refugee and asylum seekers, the unlawful detention and deportation of legal in-migrants, and the failure to address societal xenophobia. These policies have also contributed to a severe skills shortage in South Africa, impeding the growth of the South African economy, while also thwarting SADC's ability to govern migration cooperatively in the region. In light of the most recent migration reforms implemented in 2014, instigating more protectionism, this thesis examines and seeks to explain why South Africa has adopted and continues to maintain these policies post-apartheid despite their negative implications and lack of congruence with South Africa's new national identity. The international relations theories of constructivism and neoclassical realism (NCR) are used to understand and explain South Africa's decision to maintain a protectionist migration agenda. Ultimately, the thesis argues that South Africa's reasons for adopting a protectionist migration agenda are numerous and exist at all levels of analysis. These reasons include (1) South Africa's formation of an exclusionary national identity post-apartheid, (2) the persistence of mass legal and illegal in-migration to the country, (3) the institutionalized perception of migration as a threat to national and social security by South African policy-makers/media/community leaders, and (4) the failure of the state to provide adequate social service delivery, impacting the implementation of more liberal policies in the new millennium. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Protectionism and national migration policy in South Africa TI - Protectionism and national migration policy in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19953 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/19953
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationBoynton EW. Protectionism and national migration policy in South Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19953en_ZA
dc.language.isoEngen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Political Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherInternational Relationsen_ZA
dc.titleProtectionism and national migration policy in South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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