Emigration to South Africa's mines

Abstract

This article examines temporary labor migration from Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, and South Africa to the mines of South Africa. International migration to these South African mines has implications both in the short and long term for both the home countries and for South Africa. The author finds that emigration reduces domestic crop production in the short run, but promotes crop productivity and cattle accumulation through reinvestment of mine earnings in the long run. The conflicting interests of the mines and the sending countries' employers has resulted in new government policies, including forced labor, quotas for emigration, and compulsory population relocation.