Beyond Border Enforcement: Governance Challenges in Addressing Irregular Migration in South Africa

Irregular migration remains one of the most contested governance issues in South Africa. As the region’s largest and most diversified economy, South Africa continues to attract migrants from neighbouring states and the wider African continent. Some migrants enter through lawful channels, while others enter without authorisation, overstay valid permits, use fraudulent documents, or remain in administrative limbo due to weak permit application systems. This paper examines the current challenges associated with irregular migration in South Africa through a narrative literature-based review of selected thirty-two studies on migration governance, border control, xenophobia, public perceptions, migrant rights, informal economies, policing and public service access. The analysis is anchored in a multi-perspective theoretical framework that combines explanations centred on migrants, on host-society populations and on the state, and it situates South Africa’s domestic response within the country’s position as the regional hegemon and an emerging middle power in Southern Africa. The review shows that irregular migration in South Africa is not merely a border-security problem. It is also shaped by colonial border legacies, regional economic inequality, South Africa’s asymmetric regional position and foreign policy choices, weak state capacity in sending countries, corruption, poor documentation systems, limited legal pathways for low-skilled migrants, employer exploitation, xenophobic mobilisation and uneven policy implementation. The literature further shows that public anxieties around unemployment, crime, education, healthcare and housing are often attached to undocumented migrants, even where empirical evidence remains mixed or contested. The article argues that the South African government’s current response is increasingly securitised, visible in deportation operations and strengthened border management. However, a purely enforcement-led approach is unlikely to resolve the problem. The article concludes that South Africa requires an integrated model combining lawful enforcement, anti-corruption measures, regional diplomacy, labour-market regulation, migrant rights protection, local government participation and serious attention to leadership failures in countries of origin and a more assertive, rule-based regional diplomacy through SADC that reflects South Africa’s responsibilities as the region’s leading power. Comparison with the United States shows that these governance dilemmas are not unique to South Africa, although they take a distinctive form in a South–South, constitutionally constrained setting.