IRREGULAR MIGRATION, CROSS BORDER CRIME AND THE SECURITIZATION THEORY: A SOUTH AFRICAN REFLECTION
Keywords:
Migration, Development, Society
Abstract
This paper attempted to examine the narratives and debates around Undocumented migration, cross border crime and the securitization and militarization of South Africa’s borders. Adopting a systematic review of literature, this paper attempted to add to the growing literature around this highly politicized issue. This paper revealed that Undocumented migration and cross border crime are not serious issues that pose a threat to the country's socio-economic development let alone its national security. The drive to securitize these issues has been driven by politicians who seek voters and who use migrants as political scapegoats. This paper contends that rather than investing millions on border securitization and militarization, such monies will be well spent on health, education, social welfare and infrastructure development. Finally, this paper argues that unilateral approaches to border security are bound to fail because the factors driving Undocumented migration and cross border crime are multifaceted and beyond South Africa's control. Hence regional cooperation becomes key. Securitization and militarization approaches don’t stop migration and border crime, rather migrants and crime syndicates always find ways to go around such approaches.
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References
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Seidman, G. (2001). Guerrillas in their midst: Armed struggle in the South African anti-apartheid movement. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 6(2), 111-127.
Shaw, M. (1998), Organised and cross‐border crime in post‐apartheid South Africa. South African Journal of International Affairs, 6(1), pp.111-117.
Shelley, F.M. & Metz, R. 2017. Geography of Trafficking: From Drug Smuggling to Modern-day Slavery. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barabara
Shelley, L. I. (1995). Transnational organized crime: an imminent threat to the nation-state?. Journal of international affairs, 463-489.
Sibiya, N. (2017, March 17). Turning tide against cross-border crime. Polity. http://www.polity.org.za/article/turning-tide-against-cross-border-crime-2017-03-15.
Stapleton, T. (2014). Bush tracking and warfare in late twentieth-century east and southern Africa. Historia, 59(2), 229-251.
Steinberg, J. (2005). An overview of South African border control: 1994-2004. Institute for Security Studies Papers, 2005 (103), pp.16-16.
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Tella, O. (2016). Understanding xenophobia in South Africa: The individual, the state and the international system. Insight on Africa, 8(2), 142-158.
Van der Watt, M. (2018, February 20). The nature and future of human trafficking in South Africa. https://sascenarios2030.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Marcel_van_de_Walt1.pdf
Waller, L. (2006). Irregular migration to South Africa during the first ten years of democracy (SAMP Migration Policy Brief 19). Cape Town: Southern African Migration Programme.
Baldwin, D. (1997). The concept of security. Review of international studies, 23(1), pp.5-26.
Belling, A. (2020, November 20). Unemployment for black South Africans is worse today than before 1994. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-11-12-unemployment-for-black-south-africans-is-worse-today-than-before-1994/#:~:text=South%20Africans%2C%20particularly%20black%20working,of%202020%20figure%20of%2030.1%25.
Best, R.A. (2010). Securing America’s Borders: The Role of the Intelligence Community. Diane Publishing. Collingdale
Brand, D. (2018, September 18). South Africa is paying a heavy price for dysfunctional local government. https://theconversation.com/south-africa-is-paying-a-heavy-price-for-dysfunctional-local-government-102295
Calhoun Jr, W. R. (1986). Parameters, Journal of the US Army War College, Volume 16, Number 2, Summer 1986. Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Carrapico, H. (2014). Analysing the European Union's responses to organized crime through different securitization lenses. European Security, 23(4), 601-617.
Clifford, C. (2020, November, 20). 15-million ‘undocumented foreigners’ in South Africa? Herman Mashaba wrong again. https://www.polity.org.za/article/15-million-undocumented-foreigners-in-south-africa-herman-mashaba-wrong-again-2020-11-20
DefenceWeb. (2020, March 13). Border Management Authority projected to cost over R10 billion a year. https://www.defenceweb.co.za/security/border-security/border-management-authority-projected-to-cost-over-r10-billion-a-year/
Eramus, G. (2020, February 12). New Border Management for South Africa amidst unresolved systemic Issues. https://www.tralac.org/news/article/14393
Esterhuyse, A. (2019, N.d). South African Border Protection: An Historical and Theoretical Perspective. http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/milscience/sigla/Documents/Borders%202019/South%20African%20Border%20Protection.pdf
Farny, E. (2016, January, 16). Implications of the Securitization of Migration. E-International Relations. https://www.e-ir.info/2016/01/29/implications-of-the-securitisation-of-migration/
Hefti, C., & Staehelin-Witt, E. (2002). Economic sanctions against South Africa and the importance of Switzerland. Schweizerischer Nationalfonds. Bern
Heleta, S. Ekambaram, S & Barnwell, G. (2018, July 23). White paper highlights Gigaba’s antipoor & anti-African approach.
https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2018-07-23-white-paper-highlights-gigabas-antipoor-and-anti-african-approach/
Hennop, E., Jefferson, C., & McLean, A. (2001, August 01). The Challenge to control South Africa's borders and borderline. Institute for security studies. https://issafrica.org/research/monographs/monograph-57-the-challenge-to-control-south-africas-borders-and-borderline-ettienne-hennop-clare-jefferson-and-andrew-mclean
Hübschle, A. (2010, June, 17). Organised crime in Southern Africa First annual review. https://media.africaportal.org/documents/OrgCrimeReviewDec2010.pdf
Humphreys, J., & Smith, M. L. (2014). The ‘rhinofication’ of South African security. International Affairs, 90(4), 795-818.
Klaaren, J., & Ramji, J. (2001). Inside illegality: migration policing in South Africa after apartheid. Africa today, 35-47.
Landau, B. (2015, May 11). Political rhetoric & institutions fuel xenophobic violence in South Africa. https://www.washingtonpost.com.
Lennep, T. (2020, March 11). Update on the impending border management authority. https://hsf.org.za/publications/hsf-briefs/update-on-the-impending-border-management-authority
Madia, T & Somdyala, K. (2019, September 04). This is not xenophobia, thugs are taking chances', says Magashule on Gauteng unrest. https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/magashule-on-gauteng-violence-this-is-not-xenophobia-thugs-are-taking-chances-20190904.
Maharaj, B. (2002, n.d). Post-Apartheid Metro Boundaries: Conflicts, Contestations and Compromises in Durban. In Rencontres scientifiques franco-Sud-Africaines de l'innovation territoriale (p. 22). https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00749571/document
Maliti, S. (2018, July 28). SA's 'porous' borders, corruption make it easy for traffickers. https://www.iol.co.za/.
McMichael, M. (2012, June 20), The re-militarisation of South Africa’s borders. Available at https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/re-militarisation-of-south-africas-borders/. accessed 13 October 2019.
Mohamed, S & Bryne, I. (2020, February 11). Our broken and unequal education system needs to be fixed now. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-02-11-our-broken-and-unequal-education-system-needs-to-be-fixed-now/
Moyo, I. (2020, September 20). Why South Africa’s new plan to fortify its borders won’t stop irregular migration. https://theconversation.com/why-south-africas-new-plan-to-fortify-its-borders-wont-stop-irregular-migration-145072
Parliamentary Monitoring Group. (2019, October 22). Impact of illegal migration on cities: input from Joburg & Ekurhuleni Mayors, SALGA & Minister. https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/29125/
Plaut, M. (2018, October, 18). Apartheid, guns and money: book lifts the lid on Cold War secrets. https://theconversation.com/apartheid-guns-and-money-book-lifts-the-lid-on-cold-war-secrets-105226
Scoot, K. (2019, May 19). South Africa is the world's most unequal country. 25 years of freedom have failed to bridge the divide. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/07/africa/south-africa-elections-inequality-intl/index.html#:~:text=In%20South%20Africa%2C%20the%20divide,is%20visible%20from%20the%20sky.&text=Previously%20disadvantaged%20South%20Africans%20hold,inequality%20in%20South%20Africa%20found.
Seidman, G. (2001). Guerrillas in their midst: Armed struggle in the South African anti-apartheid movement. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 6(2), 111-127.
Shaw, M. (1998), Organised and cross‐border crime in post‐apartheid South Africa. South African Journal of International Affairs, 6(1), pp.111-117.
Shelley, F.M. & Metz, R. 2017. Geography of Trafficking: From Drug Smuggling to Modern-day Slavery. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barabara
Shelley, L. I. (1995). Transnational organized crime: an imminent threat to the nation-state?. Journal of international affairs, 463-489.
Sibiya, N. (2017, March 17). Turning tide against cross-border crime. Polity. http://www.polity.org.za/article/turning-tide-against-cross-border-crime-2017-03-15.
Stapleton, T. (2014). Bush tracking and warfare in late twentieth-century east and southern Africa. Historia, 59(2), 229-251.
Steinberg, J. (2005). An overview of South African border control: 1994-2004. Institute for Security Studies Papers, 2005 (103), pp.16-16.
Taylor, D. (2012, December 12). Migrants Suffer Under Weight of South Africa's Refugee System. https://www.voanews.com/africa/migrants-suffer-under-weight-south-africas-refugee-system.
Tella, O. (2016). Understanding xenophobia in South Africa: The individual, the state and the international system. Insight on Africa, 8(2), 142-158.
Van der Watt, M. (2018, February 20). The nature and future of human trafficking in South Africa. https://sascenarios2030.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Marcel_van_de_Walt1.pdf
Waller, L. (2006). Irregular migration to South Africa during the first ten years of democracy (SAMP Migration Policy Brief 19). Cape Town: Southern African Migration Programme.
Published
2021-02-28
How to Cite
Mlambo, V. H. (2021). IRREGULAR MIGRATION, CROSS BORDER CRIME AND THE SECURITIZATION THEORY: A SOUTH AFRICAN REFLECTION . Journal of Social Political Sciences, 2(1), 12-29. https://doi.org/10.52166/jsps.v2i1.40
Section
Articles
Copyright (c) 2021 Victor H Mlambo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
