Indigenous grassroots migration labels: Resistance language to migration influx in South Africa

Nomatter Sande ORCID iD 

Issue: Vol. 7 No.9 2026 Article 1 pp.2481 – 2494
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2026791Published online 22nd October 2026

© 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Though migration policy sometimes gives institutional labels (e.g., ‘refugee,’ ‘migrant’) top priority while marginalising grassroots terminology developed by local groups, South Africa is still a key destination for intra-African movement. This study analysed the socio-political consequences of young South Africans using indigenous grassroots labels as opposition to migratory inflow using the rational choice cost-benefit (RCCB) theoretical framework. The study indicates via desktop research that these labels, often negative and degrading, represent a coping strategy against perceived resource rivalry and cultural dangers. However, such colloquial names avoid international protection levels, therefore aggravating migrants’ vulnerability and restricting their access to rights. The paper’s main question is how indigenous grassroots labels can capture conflicts between institutionalised government shortcomings and informal resistance by exposing a paradox: young agency, albeit founded on justified complaints, increases exclusion when institutional structures abandon accountability. The results highlight the conflict between systematic governance shortcomings and unofficial resistance tactics, therefore supporting inclusive policies that address both young people’s complaints and migrant protection. This study makes a significant contribution to connecting migration theory with real-world governance by showing how institutional labels and grassroots opposition words make migrants in South Africa even more vulnerable. It gives practical decolonial alternatives like participatory dialogues, economic reforms, and anti-xenophobia media literacy to break down discriminatory labelling, put migrant agency at the centre, and change necropolitical institutions into systems of universal rights and solidarity.

Keywords: Indigenous grassroots migration labels, migration, rational choice cost-benefit (RCCB) theory, South Africa, young people.

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Nomatter Sande (PhD) is a Research Fellow at the Research Institute for Theology and Religion (RITR), South Africa. His interests include religion, migration, transnationalism, disability studies and gender.

Sande, Nomatter. “Indigenous Grassroots Migration Labels: Resistance Language to Migration Influx in South Africa.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 7, no.9 (2026): 2481 – 2494. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2026791

© 2026 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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