This book studies in depth some key aspects of South Africa’s migration experience. Chapter One consists of a study of the country’s historical experience of migration and, in particular, analyses the changes in official attitudes throughout the twentieth century, indicating the roots of contemporary ideas and dilemmas. Chapters Two, Three and Four complement this analysis of the South African State’s capacity to reform and manage the South African migration situation by looking at three often neglected dimensions in the understanding of migration in a development context: the first explores the question of skilled labour, a crucial question given the unbalanced structure of the South African labour market; the second examines undocumented migration to South Africa and the challenges it raises to both State and non-State actors; finally, the impact of migration on local government in South African cities is envisaged with a specific emphasis on the importance of local government responses, failures to levy such a response, and subsequent implications for urban planning, service delivery, health, security, and political accountability. The Annexes discuss the highly contested figures on South African migration and raise methodological issues pertaining to their calculation. They also provide a set of updated statistics and a chronology of South African migration developments in the regional and international context between 1990 and 2006.