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This research paper examines the experiences of Mozambican refugees who fled the civil war (1979–1992) and settled in South Africa, primarily in the former homelands of Gazankulu and KaNgwane. It analyzes the complex interplay of ethnic solidarity, systemic exploitation in the labor market, and the failure of repatriation and regularization programs to fully integrate these populations into South African society.

This report examines the flight, reception, and long-term integration of Mozambican refugees in South Africa following the Mozambican civil war (1979–1992). It details the role of ethnic solidarity in the Gazankulu homeland, the creation of a precarious underclass in the agricultural labour markets of the lowveld, and the failures of the UNHCR repatriation programme. The author argues that despite various amnesties and a 2004 Constitutional Court ruling granting access to social grants, many former refugees remain de facto undocumented and socially marginalized due to structural economic dependence on cheap labour and deep-seated xenophobia.