South Africans are split on whether immigrants should share in our welfare: what they believe and why

South Africa’s vast social safety net meets a small immigrant population. Yet big, unresolved questions and debates remain. Who should qualify, and on what terms, when budgets are tight and inequality is extreme? A new HSRC study digs beneath the rhetoric to understand why so many people favour “citizens first”, by examining the roles of political ideology, social trust and anti-immigrant sentiment.