Migrants aren't to blame for SA’s economic crisis

SOUTH Africa is in the midst of its most significant anti-immigrant mobilisation in years.

- JUSTIN VISAGIE AND RUTH CASTEL-BRANCO

The emergence of the March and March movement, calls for the mass deportation of undocumented migrants by June 30, growing anti-immigrant violence, and the repatriation of foreign nationals by several African governments have pushed immigration to the centre of national debate.

The anti-immigrant protest movement argues that it is responding to rising unemployment, deteriorating public services and growing insecurity.

The question is not whether these grievances have merit. They do. It’s whether immigrants are, in fact, responsible for them.

This article draws from research by the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. It examines the drivers and consequences of inequality. It focuses on the world of work, public spending, production and ownership, technological change and innovation, and the effects of climate change. Immigration is not irrelevant to the multiple and overlapping crises facing South Africans. But it’s not their primary cause.

Joblessness and informality

Few issues illustrate this more clearly than employment.

South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. More than four in every 10 working-age adults who want work are unable to find (this includes discouraged work seekers). The scale of this crisis understandably creates pressure to identify a cause and demand action.

Many South Africans have concluded that immigrants are taking jobs away from local workers. Our analysis of public opinion data shows that as many as 70% of South Africans believe that immigrants take jobs from people born in the country.

But public perceptions do not always align with reality.