A Mixed Reception

The monograph compares the literature and experiences of Mozambican and Congolese refugees in South Africa. Mozambican refugees in the 1980s were primarily rural peasants who faced a lack of formal refugee status under the apartheid government. In contrast, Congolese migrants are largely urban, educated middle-class individuals arriving in a constitutional democracy with legal protections. Despite these differences, the author identifies a continuity of xenophobia and a gap between formal legal rights and the actual social treatment of forced migrants in South Africa.

• The migration of Mozambicans to South Africa in the 1980s was primarily composed of the rural peasantry fleeing civil war, whereas migration from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since the early 1990s has been dominated by young, well-educated, urban middle-class individuals.
• Mozambican refugees in the late apartheid era lacked formal refugee status and lived in a 'juridical twilight zone' in Gazankulu and KaNgwane, facing potential arrest and deportation. Conversely, Congolese migrants arriving from the late 1990s entered a constitutional democracy where the 1998 Refugee Act granted them rights similar to citizens, including the right to work, study, and self-settle.
• Despite the legal improvements for refugees in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there is a persistent gap between formal law and social practice, characterized by an 'extraordinarily potent xenophobia' and the de facto 'illegal' status of many migrants due to the actions of employers, neighbors, and state officials.

APA

Steinberg, J. (2005). A Mixed Reception. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/01-jun-2005-monograph-no-117-a-mixed-reception-mozambican-and-congolese-refugees-in-south-africa-jonny-steinberg/introduction

Chicago

Steinberg, Jonny. A Mixed Reception. Institute for Security Studies, 2005. https://issafrica.org/01-jun-2005-monograph-no-117-a-mixed-reception-mozambican-and-congolese-refugees-in-south-africa-jonny-steinberg/introduction.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Steinberg |first1=Jonny |title=A Mixed Reception |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=1 June 2005 |url=https://issafrica.org/01-jun-2005-monograph-no-117-a-mixed-reception-mozambican-and-congolese-refugees-in-south-africa-jonny-steinberg/introduction |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{steinberg2005mixed, author = {Steinberg, Jonny}, title = {{A Mixed Reception}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2005}, month = jun, url = {https://issafrica.org/01-jun-2005-monograph-no-117-a-mixed-reception-mozambican-and-congolese-refugees-in-south-africa-jonny-steinberg/introduction}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }