The Impact Of Rural-Urban Migration

Introduction

Rural-urban migration has many benefits for rural and urban areas, but it may also cause problems in factors such as population control, economy and infrastructure. Governments usually set up policies and laws to control these migrational flows, these policies can include acts such as prohibition of immigrants to the deportation of current residents. According to Fouberg et al. (2006:108), an example of legal restrictions taken by a government is what is known today as the White Australia Policy which started in the early 1900’s, where the Australian government prohibited all non-white immigration and also deported the South Pacific Islanders who worked on Australia’s large sugar plantations. The South African government’s migration

Kok and Collinson (2006:15) explain that the early underlying mechanism for this risk was that migrants where more likely to practise unsafe sex with multiple partners and that later studies revealed that this can in turn affect the community of origin and the community of destination. In a study conducted on the correlation and impact of migration on HIV transmission in South Africa, clear evidence showed that migrant males where far more prevalent to contract HIV and that higher rates of HIV were found among women of rural origin (Lurie et al., 2003:155). HIV has become an epidemic in South Africa that shows little to no signs of deceleration. According to Lurie et al. (2003:156), it is very unlikely that the transmission of HIV in South Africa will be substantially reduced, unless ways can be found to solve the combined problems and effects of HIV and Migration. Therefore, the conjecture can be made that a clear migration policy may aid in the prevention of

According to Kok and Collinson (2006:16), various policy options exist as a universally applicable policy response has yet to be found. Given that there are many different types of existing migration policies, South Africa can benefit greatly from a mixture of these policies. The government can establish migration controls by the scheduled allowance of temporary rural migrants and the limitation of permanent migrants to a certain amount. Pacione (2009:495) explains that implementing methods to control the population movement is extremely difficult, therefore extra enforcement measures must be taken to ensure effectivity. Failure in the compliance of the population control policies could result in the eviction of migrants. In addition to these controls, migratory flow should be redirected towards smaller cities, by developing and treating these areas as an individual resource or hub. With the successful redirection away from the larger metropolitan centres, urban and economic growth can continue in these centres without causing a loss in finances due to low-income housing. Rural resources and development may be stimulated by certain processes in order to deter rural residents from migrating, however measures should be taken to secure the current pace and scale of urban development. Rural development can also benefit greatly in