The outbreak of violence against non-nationals revealed that South Africa needs to strengthen its social cohesion policies as part of its nation building. The change to a democratic government opened up opportunities for South Africa to forge partnerships with other African countries. In addition, political and economic instability in some African countries forced their citizens to migrate to neighbouring countries. The result has been that South Africa has become one of the preferred receiving countries. As a result it has been experiencing a high number of non-nationals migrating to the country. This therefore calls for the South African Government to develop policies and mechanisms to deal with this challenge. As shown by the recommendations of the SAHRC, social cohesion is critical in dealing with this challenge. Therefore, the social development sector has a crucial role to play in ensuring that social cohesion policies and mechanisms are strengthened.