A 2002 survey by the Southern African Migration Project showed that almost 25% of adult Zimbabweans' parents or grandparents had worked in South Africa at some point in their lives.

Immigrant labour at this time was much more preferable to the apartheid government of South Africa as it was much cheaper to hire workers from Zimbabwe and other neighbouring countries.

Some whites decided that South Africa was a more secure environment for their investments as they did not trust the new black government that was preaching socialist idealist theories at the time of independence.

[4] However, this has not served to limit the number of immigrants; Zimbabwean migration to South Africa since 2000 has been described as the "largest concentrated flow" in the country's history.

[5] Migrants also now include professionals like teachers, doctors, nurses and engineers who have applied to stay in the country legally through visa applications in critical skills areas.

[8] Zimbabwean immigration has been accompanied the ups and downs suffered by the country in recent decades in terms of political and economic instability.

However, Zimbabweans still face significant challenges in South Africa, with working class and poorer migrants disproportionately suffering from discrimination and xenophobic violence.

Most educated workers who can afford to, now believe it is better to emigrate to other countries such as the United Kingdom; Australia; Canada; New Zealand and Ireland, which offer greater economic opportunities, less discrimination and crime than remain in South Africa.