Osas puts what little he has into ascertaining the papers that will permit him to enter South Africa from his homeland of Nigeria, only to learn that life has dealt him another harsh blow. With no other prospects, he befriends a fellow countryman, a known criminal. Chamai, a Canadina-Zimbabwean has come to South Africa to further his education, but when his financial resources dry up, he turns to sex work to make enough money to eat.

In The Strangers of Braamfontein, Onyeka Nwelue pits the aspirations of those always striving for more against the realities of the immigrant experience.