It suggests that female migrants who come to South Africa to trade and shop should be encouraged as they make a positive contribution to the economy. The report says allowing women freer temporary access to South Africa will encourage the exchange of goods, services and ideas, factors that drive development. Female migration to South Africa could help reduce inequalities in the region and empower women to become agents of development. It concludes that men and women migrate to South Africa for very different reasons.
Men migrate primarily to work while women migrate for social, economic and personal reasons.
These include the buying of food, medicine, clothing and school supplies, the selling of handicrafts and to visit friends and relatives working in South Africa. Very few women come to work or to seek work. The report also challenges the common stereotype of the migrant as an unskilled, illiterate, irresponsible, young single male. Research indicates that female migrants tend to be older, married, and better educated than their male counterparts. They make more frequent and shorter visits than men, and many travel to visit male family members.