“Two Steps Forward, One Step Back”: Zimbabwean Migration and South Africa’s Regularising Programme (the ZDP)
Vusilizwe Thebe ()
Additional contact information
Vusilizwe Thebe: University of Pretoria
Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2017, vol. 18, issue 2, No 12, 613-622
Abstract:
Abstract South Africa’s announcement and implementation of a legalising amnesty under the Zimbabwe Documentation Project (ZDP) in 2010 was lauded as a step away from the laissez-faire approach to Zimbabwean immigration. The amnesty, granting migrants stay, work, study and business operation rights in the country on 4-year permits, was clouded by uncertainties and exclusions and implementation hassles. This article explores this legalising amnesty in relation to trends in Zimbabwean immigration over the years, noting in particular the complexity and fluidity in migration patterns. The article highlights these complexities and how they expose the limitations of any ad hoc and short-term approach to managing complex immigration flows. It argues that such an approach fails to recognise differences in migration trends over time and space, sources of migration and migrant’s strategies, and, more importantly, that these factors result in different migrants with differing needs. As way of conclusion, the article suggests that any progressive immigration strategy on Zimbabwean immigration should not only build on the “Temporary Immigration Exemption Status for Zimbabweans” of 2009 and embrace ideals of diversity, inclusivity and openness but also draw upon existing efforts at regional cooperation and integration.
Keywords: Immigration policy; Migrants; South Africa; ZDP; Zimbabwe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-016-0495-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:joimai:v:18:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s12134-016-0495-8
Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... tudies/journal/12134
DOI: 10.1007/s12134-016-0495-8
Access Statistics for this article
Journal of International Migration and Integration is currently edited by Lori Wilkinson
More articles in Journal of International Migration and Integration from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().