During the apartheid years, official South African policy on migrants (of all types) was based on a racially biased ethic of differential welcome. Prospective European migrants were evaluated on a consistently more favourable level by officialdom than were their African counterparts. Since 1991, legislation regarding migration has been encapsulated in the Aliens Control;: Act. According to Koch this is ‘possibly the most draconian apartheid law left over in the statute book’(cited in Reitzes and Landsberg 1995). Application of the Act, by admission of the Director General of Home Affairs, is arbitrary and subjective-further weakening the Act’s moral legitimacy.

Recent increases in asylum applicants have forced authorities to recognise the need for a separate policy on refugees-distinguishing them in law and in common language from ‘illegal immigrants’ with which they are inevitably confused. The South African Refugee Act 1994 (Working Draft) has recently been enacted, and made public. On a positive note, the draft Act aims to specify policy objectives for forced migrants, providing directives for processing and treatment of refugees and legislative backup for those deserving special consideration.