People cross their countries’ borders to enter new destinations or transit to other countries, irrespective of whether they have legal documents or use legal ports of entry. Borders are crossed as part of daily life to explore welfare, economic, and social opportunities (trade, employment, business, education, health services, and social relationships and networks) and to pursue human security away from repressive authorities on one's own continent and beyond. As Schönwald, Spellerberg and Weber (2022) state in the context of cross-border cooperation, a combination of economic, political, and social factors, including games and marriage drive people to venture into border crossing. But beyond mobility between cross-border areas, people cross borders to reach countries that are perceived to show potential in economic growth, prioritize human rights culture, and social security protections that are non-discriminatory or exclusionary. South Africa attracted diverse groups of immigrants at the dawn of democracy.
Human Sciences Research Council (Fri,) studied this question.