Book

Mean Streets, Migration, Xenophobia and Informality in South Africa

Against the backdrop of ongoing hostility towards migrant entrepreneurs in the corridors of power and on the streets of major cities, the partners in the Growing Informal Cities Project convened a policy workshop on migrant entrepreneurship in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in February 2014 in Cape Town. The primary objective of the workshop was to examine the role of migrant entrepreneurs in the regional urban informal economy, to test the myths and stereotypes around migrant economic activity with hard evidence, and to initiate a conversation about the positive contribution that migrant entrepreneurs make to South Africa. This volume includes a selection of papers presented at the workshop. The book focuses on the South African informal economy and the role of informal migrant entrepreneurship in South Africa.