Refugees in South Africa reside mainly in urban areas, though some move directly to townships and rural settlements, as there are no refugee camps in the country.

The RET programmes in South Africa were designed to integrate adolescent refugees into local secondary schools through enhance language, literacy and computer skills. Local youth were also invited to attend the workshops and laboratories provided, thus helping to build social cohesion. The programmes targeted youth that were in the past unable to attend school, therefore finding themselves semi-literate or illiterate at a critical time in their lives. The skills provided by the RET enabled them to then have the confidence and ability to find themselves employment or continued education, giving them the chance to help themselves and therefore their families, both during their displacement and afterwards on repatriation or rehabilitation elsewhere.