Migrants In South Africa Research Articles

The comforts of home: a historical study of family well-being among Chinese migrants in South Africa

ABSTRACT Since the turn of the millennium, the rapid development of China-Africa relations has facilitated large-scale migration between African countries and China. By reviewing the complex history of Chinese migration in South Africa – the most popular destination for Chinese migrating to the continent, this article highlights the changing and evolving forms of family among Chinese migrants in Africa. This article utilizes data from historical documents, personal memoirs, first-hand fieldwork, as well as secondary research. It argues that the changing forms of Chinese migrant families in South Africa have been shaped at different points in time by the capitalist economy, apartheid policies, and the internal dynamics of the Chinese diasporic communities. The new forms of familial arrangements have been critical in fight for social inclusion and security among Chinese migrants in South Africa.

“I Went Back to my Old School”

By examining a case study of skilled African migrants in South Africa, this paper focuses on a neglected geographical area within the international scholarship on migration. Contextualized in the wider scholarship on the personal life experiences of migrants, the current research focuses on the role of personal and social memory as a neglected dimension of the migration experience. Various studies explore memory in relation to migrants’ attempts at preserving cultural identity and fostering home atmosphere in the host country, but this paper draws attention to memory in the homeland context, i.e. the activation of memories through specific performativity during temporary return visits. Many migrants on home visits not only spend time with family, but also return to significant places, most notably—as was found in this research—to their former school, a place associated with memories of childhood and the pre-migration past. The research is based on interviews with 40 participants from different countries across Africa. Drawing on theoretical concepts from the field of Memory Studies, notably the link between memory and place, the research analyses why migrants return to their old school, how the visit precipitates memories and affects their sense of identity. The study found that the multisensory engagement with the material and social environment of the school, a microcosm of their “homeworld,” associated with deep-seated embodied memories is experienced in affirmative and empowering ways, suggesting that it feeds psychological needs and contributes to a sense of identity continuity in the face of migration-related change and challenges.

XENOPHOBIA AND CITIZENSHIP IN MEG VANDERMERWE’S ZEBRA CROSSING

Purpose of the study: In the past two decades several researchers have explored the concern of xenophobia in South African fiction. Studies sought to determine the reasons behind the prevalence of xenophobic violence in South Africa. Previous research on xenophobia claims that xenophobic violence is prevalent in the state is, in fact, due to economic and social reasons only. Yet, this article aims to correct the misconception of the Rainbow Nation that South Africa was supposed to have been achieved after 1994. 
 Methodology: The text Zebra Crossing (2013) by the South African novelist Meg Vandermerwe is under the focus. The concept of Michael Neocosmos of Citizenship from the postcolonial theory is applied to the selected text. A close reading of the text and qualitative research is the method of my analysis. The article will focus on the acts of violence reflected in the text in an attempt to find the reasons behind such acts. Neocosmos' valid conceptualization about the outbreaks of xenophobia in South Africa in the post-apartheid is applied to the selected text.
 Main Findings: the article will conclude that the notion of the rainbow nation in South Africa is no more than a dream due to the outbreaks of xenophobia and the ongoing violence against foreigners. It will also prove that the continuous xenophobic violence in South Africa is not because of social or economic reasons only yet, there is a political discourse that engenders and triggers the natives to be more xenophobic. Thus, the state politics of exclusion, indigeneity, and citizenship are the stimuli for citizens to be more aggressive and violent against foreigners.
 Applications of this study: the study will add new insight to the domain of English literature generally and the South African literature specifically. The study will be valuable in immigration literature as it deals with the plights of migrants in South Africa and their suffering from xenophobic violence. The study is located in the postcolonial approach.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: the study offers new insight towards xenophobia in South Africa. The concept applied in the study has not been explored so far in the selected text. Previous research claimed that xenophobia in South Africa is due to economic and social reasons but did not focus on the legacies of postcolonialism nor the new political system. The study is original and new as it discusses an ongoing and worldwide phenomenon utilizing a new concept.

The Seductive Nature of Participatory Research: Reflecting on More than a Decade of Work with Marginalized Migrants in South Africa

In this paper, we explore the seductive nature of a participatory approach to research with marginalized migrant populations in South Africa. We outline the opportunities offered by such an approach while at the same time emphasizing the need for caution by showing how the ambitions of participatory research can sometimes be (mis)applied as a panacea for all of the tensions inherent in knowledge-production processes, including those associated with the extractive nature of research. We do this by drawing on our experiences in the development, implementation, and utilization of arts-based research undertaken in collaboration with international and domestic migrants in South Africa as part of the MoVE (method.visual.explore) project based at the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), Wits University. Established in 2013, MoVE explores the idea of ‘participatory’ migration research. We reflect on how we were initially seduced by the idea of participation and show how we are working to strengthen our research praxis through continuously interrogating and reconfiguring our understanding of the opportunities—and limitations—associated with a participatory approach to research.

Nervous Conditions on the Limpopo: Gendered Insecurities, Livelihoods, and Zimbabwean Migrants in Northern South Africa

This paper examines some of the gendered insecurities informing some of the livelihood practices of Zimbabwean migrants in northern South Africa from 2004-2011, the period in which I carried out almost annual ethnographic research in this region. Situating these practices within wider policy shifts and changing migration patterns at the national and local scales, this paper shows the importance of attending to gendered dependencies and insecurities when analysing migrant livelihoods in southern Africa. These include those found within humanitarian organizations targeting Zimbabwean migrants in their programs and policies in the border area. These gendered insecurities, which are woven into the fabric of travel, work and accommodation for these migrant Zimbabwean women in northern South Africa, should be examined in struggles for social justice. By drawing on the lens of social critique to engender a wider sense of the social justice needs for Zimbabwean women migrants in South Africa, this essay aims to broaden the focus of activism on women migrants to also attend to gendered insecurities in their everyday economic and shelter-seeking activities.

Building Belonging through Art with Young Migrants Living in Care in South Africa

As young people with migration experiences build their lives in new contexts, their connectedness to who they are, to other people, to place and to culture underpin whether and how a sense of belonging is built in their lives. Belonging as a concept matters in young lives as it is underpinned by feelings of acceptance, inclusion and self determination. The realization of belonging can have important implications for young people's wellbeing and development. This paper shares the barriers to belonging for young migrants in South Africa, and how the pain of past experiences, and the exclusions they are navigating in the present constrain their sense of agency, impacting self worth and relationship formation. We share how a child and youth care center in Cape Town specializing in supporting young migrants and young people with experiences of trauma, innovated with a group of young women through participatory arts-based methods towards building belonging. We found that layering multiple arts methods can support young people to connect to their cultural roots and personal relationships, re-build trust, reimagine their identities as part of a collective and challenge power relations around gender, nationality and generation. We found that building belonging should be seen as a continuous learning process, that builds young people's reflective capacities to understand self and others and to make sense of the interaction between past, present and future. In turn, belonging provides an important conceptual tool for youth-led, context-specific approaches to working with young migrants, including on youth transitions.

Differences in Mental Health among Migrants and Non-migrants in South Africa: Evidence from the National Income Dynamics Study

The literature associates migration with poor mental health outcomes. Despite extensive empirical research in other countries, there is a paucity of research examining the mental health consequences of migration in South Africa, and the factors that compound the relationship between the two variables. The study objective was to evaluate the differences in the mental health status of internal migrants and that of non-migrants in South Africa with a special focus on depressive symptoms. The study considered the influence of various vulnerability and sociodemographic factors such as gender, age, educational attainment, race, income group, marital status and province of residence. Mental health disorders are already considered the largest contributor to the global disease burden. Hence, understanding the nature of the relationship between migration and mental health is critical for public health prevention efforts. To make the determination, the study applied descriptive analysis and logistic modelling based on the South African National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) panel datasets of 2008, 2010, 2014/15 and 2017. Descriptive statistics were employed to derive the frequency distribution of sociodemographic characteristics and migration factors. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the associations between depression, migration and sociodemographic factors.

The pain of migrants in a strange land

This article analyses the different assumptions about migrants in South Africa, coupled with levels of abuses and marginalisation of black African immigrants, which seem to be a source of depression and emotional pain for them in their strange land. Previous studies did reveal that African migrants face rejection, xenophobic attacks, abuses, marginalisation and socio-economic exclusion through rowdy practices of public officials and perceived institutionalised prejudice in South Africa. However, White Western and Indian-origin migrants are perceived to be better treated with dignity and respect in the same host country. This article investigates the argument that emotional pain suffered by the abused and traumatised Nigerian and other African immigrants could be responsible for the deviant behaviour of some of them in South Africa. Moreover, this article also scrutinises the notion people have that xenophobia in South Africa is Afrophobia. Most South African citizens are of the perception that all African immigrants are criminals, harbingers of disease and drug dealers, whose presence in their country is responsible for all their woes. On the other hand, Nigerian migrants are of the notion that they are the most hated at community and individual levels in South Africa. However, if appropriate social coalition policies are formulated and adopted by the government and all stakeholders, it can be of assistance in tackling the issues concerning citizens’ suspicions, migrant abuses, marginalisation and social exclusion, which seem to be hampering the co-existence of citizens and African migrants in South Africa. We should bear in mind that almost all of us in South Africa are from somewhere or the other, as clearly explained in sahistory.org.za. The whites and Indian migrants, whom I call ‘earlier alien settlers’, are from Europe and Asia, respectively. I call black Bantus from Great lakes in Central Africa, ‘earlier alien settlers’, whereas the Khoikhoi who originated in the northern area of Botswana as the ‘earlier dwellers’, while Nigerians and Ghanaians from West Africa, Zimbabweans, Malawians, etc., are called the ‘new alien settlers’. Do the ‘earlier alien settlers’ have the right to deprive the ‘earlier dwellers’ and the other ‘new alien settlers’ the right to have their space and settle in a democratic South Africa? Finally, an instructive pastoral care methodology is proposed in this article for traumatised migrants to be appropriately cared for and provided with wholesome wellness.

Economic or climate migrants? Human security experiences of Nigerian migrants in South Africa

Economic or climate migrants? Human security experiences of Nigerian migrants in South Africa

The personal is political: a feminist reflection on a journey into participatory arts-based research with sex worker migrants in South Africa

ABSTRACTThis article offers a personal reflection of my journey into participatory arts-based research with sex work migrants in South Africa. It begins by sharing some background information of how my own experience as a migrant woman, and my layered (sometimes conflicted) identities, have continued to shape and influence much of my scholarly work, including my commitment to engaging in research that supports (or at least tries to support) social justice. Through this article, I offer an example of how the ‘personal is political’ is entwined in feminist values of research and engagement. Those who experience the issues under investigation must be considered equal partners in research processes. Collaborative forms of knowledge production can support social justice, particularly if efforts strive to shift the centre from which knowledge is traditionally generated and disseminated.

Push and Pull Factors of International Migration: Evidence from Migrants in South Africa

Push and Pull Factors of International Migration: Evidence from Migrants in South Africa

The food we eat here weakens us’: Food practices and health beliefs among congolese forced migrants in South Africa – a case study of Yeoville in Johannesburg

The food we eat here weakens us’: Food practices and health beliefs among congolese forced migrants in South Africa – a case study of Yeoville in Johannesburg

On Borders and the Liminality of Undocumented Zimbabwean Migrants in South Africa

The historical continuities of the Zimbabwe–South Africa crossborder migrations provide a context in which such movements have continued, despite securitized borders, in post-apartheid South Africa. Based on a qualitative study of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in three places; namely, the Beitbridge border, South African border town of Musina and the city of Johannesburg, between December 2014 and March 2015, I argue that, securitizing the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe leads to human smuggling, which places smuggled migrants in liminality and marginality, which in turn militates against the goal of free human mobility in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

South African physician emigration, return migration, and shared migration, 1991–2017: a registry-based analysis

Abstract Background Physician emigration—the so-called brain drain—is a topic of great concern to health workforce planners. South Africa has a high number of physician emigrants, yet there are few registry-based studies that have analysed whether these physicians remain abroad permanently. In this study, we aimed to use a registry-based approach to analyse return migration and shared migration in South African physicians. Methods We extracted information from registry records about South African trained physicians who had registered in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, or the UK (ACNUU nations) between 1991 and 2017. We used an attrition-based model to identify non-retiree dropouts from UK, New Zealand, and US registries and cross-referenced with a South African physician registry to determine return migration from these countries. Return migration counts in Canada were derived from secondary data from Canadian Medical Association surveys. Physicians who had active simultaneous registration in South Africa and one other nation were counted as shared migrants. Findings As of December, 2017, there were 11 224 South African trained physicians actively registered to practise in ACNUU nations, around a third (30·2%) fewer than the peak of 16 095 in 2003. Of these, 3596 (32·0%) held dual active registration (shared migration) in an ACNUU nation and South Africa. In 2017, 5008 physicians met criteria for return migration—that is, 30·1% of all non-retired South African physicians with a history of practising medicine in ACNUU countries. There has been a five-fold drop in emigration rates from South Africa between 1991 and 2017 (from 1·8% to 0·3% per year; UK −88·9%, non-UK −74·2%), negatively correlated with a substantial rise in GDP per capita growth within South Africa in time-adjusted models (–0·36% per $100 increase [p=0·01; 95% CI −0·089 to −0·632]). We noted a temporary increase in return migration between 1995 and 2009 and a simultaneous sustained increase in shared migration. Interpretation A registry-based approach allows simultaneous assessment of physician emigration, return migration, and shared migration. Our findings of decreasing rates of emigration and increasing return and shared migration rates suggest a mobility transition in medical migration in South Africa. Funding World Bank.

‘Skeptics’ and ‘believers’: anti-trafficking, sex work, and migrant rights activism in South Africa

ABSTRACTVery little is known about activism, as it relates to the issue of migration in South Africa. Yet, migration policy and migration governance are increasingly becoming important to states like South Africa, which, 22 years into democracy, finds itself being home to the second highest number of migrants in Africa. This paper fills this gap by exploring multi-level policies and advocacy experiences of activists working on migration in a post-colonial context of South Africa through the lens of key contestations around the trafficking discourse in South Africa from 2005 to 2018.

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

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.

Church as Hostile, Host or Home: Perspectives on the Experiences of African Migrants in South Africa

Church as Hostile, Host or Home: Perspectives on the Experiences of African Migrants in South Africa

SWS Distinguished Feminist Lecture: Feminist Politcal Economy in a Globalized World: African Women Migrants in South Africa and the United States

Based on research conducted over the past two decades, this lecture examines how the feminist political economy perspective can aid us in understanding the experiences of two populations of African women: Zimbabwean women cross-border traders in South Africa and African immigrant women in the northeastern United States. Feminist political economy compels us to explore the impact of the current phase of globalization as well as the roles of intersectionality and agency in the lives of African women. This research stems from fieldwork conducted in Harare and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, as well as in metropolitan Boston and Philadelphia. Despite the many challenges that African migrant women face in these different venues, they continue to demonstrate much creativity and resilience and, in the process, they contribute to community development.

Accessing ART in Malawi while living in South Africa – a thematic analysis of qualitative data from undocumented Malawian migrants

ABSTRACTThe majority of international migrants from Malawi to South Africa are undocumented, and some of them are on ART. This study explored how these migrants manage to access ART. Qualitative data were collected using open-ended questions in semi-structured interviews. 23 returned undocumented Malawian migrants from South Africa participated in the study. Also, key informant discussions were held with three health workers. Data collection took place in April and May 2015 at a rural village of Namwera in Mangochi district in southern Malawi. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and translated into English for thematic analysis. The guardians collected ART from health facilities in Malawi on behalf of the migrants. The guardians sent ART through truck and bus drivers to the migrants in South Africa. The migrants shared their ART. Others bought ART from the ‘street pharmacies’. Others accessed ART from South African health facilities through the help of their South African friends. There are risks to dispensing ART to the migrants who do not themselves present at health facilities. There is value to more regular contacts between clients and health service system that is compromised by alternative strategies. It is better to deliver ART services in South Africa to the undocumented migrants.

Bamboo Shoots: Asian Migration, Trade and Business Networks in South Africa

Interconnected business and trade routes, or “bamboo networks” have long been recognised as engines of growth in Asia. However, as Asian migration expands to Africa, what are their impact? This paper examines the links between trade flows and Taiwanese migration in South Africa from 1975 to 1995. Constructing a bilateral trade series from novel declassified migration and trade data, two aspects of the change in trade are quantified: Firstly, how did international trade change during sanctions, vis-a-vis South Africa and its largest OECD trading partners? Secondly, using migration data, I examine the extent to which the 1975 immigration of Taiwanese investors to South Africa could have increased and diversified trade between the two countries through their investment. Three years after the lifting of sanctions, the share of South African exports to Taiwan was both greater, but importantly more diversified in the sectors in which migrants invested. Using archival accounts, I discuss the possible processes through which these changes to trade could have occurred. Known as the migrant-trade effect, the results suggest that Taiwanese entrepreneurs increased trade by forming business networks and supply chains linking them to Asian markets.