Xenophobic encounters: sociological perspectives on the experience of migration in South Africa

Abstract

With migration currently dominating global political and economic debates as more migrants and refugees flee wars in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and other unstable countries this paper presents part of ethnographic data collected through field worka with migrants in Johannesburg as part of a contribution towards understanding the complexity of this phenomenon. The data was collected over a period of three months and drawn from focus group discussions, interviews with key informants and self-administered questionnaires. These findings confirm that migrants in Johannesburg live in ‘fear’ and even ‘ashamed’ they were living in a City with such high levels of migrant hostility, citing unjust economic practices from corrupt public officials and lack of protection in the face of violence, dislocation and rejection in a culturally diverse society around Johannesburg. Although the migrants indicated that they felt welcome with the UPCSA congregations, there was enough evidence to conclude that the congregations are not competent and do not have a strategy to minister to the now predominantly migrant congregations. The paper argues that understanding these realities was helpful in sketching the details for emerging sociological themes that emerged in relation to lived social experiences of migrants with regards to engagement with society, Recognition and Human Dignity, Shame and Vulnerability, Competition and Compassion fatigue.