South African policies have historically emphasized employment as the reason for immigration. In post-apartheid South Africa, stories about how “immigrants take away our jobs” abound in the mass media, yet few empirical studies have been undertaken to examine the validity of this claim. This study looks at the relationship between migration status, nativity and labor force outcomes in the post-apartheid labor market. Our results suggest that migrants are more likely to participate in the labor force and to be gainfully employed than the indigenous population. Foreign migrants enjoy the highest labor force participation rates and employment rates in South Africa. South African-born internal migrants also have significantly higher labor force outcomes than do nonmigrants.
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