Some critics have pointed to South Africa's restrictive migration policy as
one of the areas most deficient in overturning apartheid legacies. Yet it
is not a lack of democratic process that forestalls change-witness open par
liamentary debate, an array of think-tanks and researchers providing input
into the policy-making process, and the mobilisation of diverse grassroots
voices. Rather, a new non-racial xenophobia creates a potent barrier to ref
orm. Therefore, advocates of migrants' rights and opponents of violence sho
uld utilise regional and international points of leverage to their fullest
potential if postapartheid South Africa is to fulfill its democratic promis
e.