African Studies Commons^™

No. 87: Mythologies Of Mixed Migration And The Southern Route, Jonathan Crush, Zack Ahmed

Southern African Migration Programme

In Africa, various international organizations have promoted “mixed migration” as a new governance challenge requiring innovative policy responses. The narrative, which has been repurposed from discussions on African migration to Europe to include intra-African movements, positions migration flows as primarily irregular, organized and driven by smugglers, and requiring tight control by states. This report shows that textual and cartographic representations of the so-called Southern Route are a form of cartopolitics, constructing migration as a permanent flow of irregular migrants from a singular origin toward a common destination. By portraying migration as solely a function of smuggling and coercion, the Southern …

No. 86: Pandemic Remittance Shocks And Resilience In The South Africa-Zimbabwe Migration Corridor, Jonathan Crush, Godfrey Tawodzera

Southern African Migration Programme

This report sets out to test the conflicting global and local narratives about the impact of COVID-19 on remittance flows in the South Africa-Zimbabwe migration corridor. Remittance pessimism vanished during the second year of the pandemic as data indicated that remittances had not suffered the predicted collapse. Given survey findings, including the survey reported on here, about the depressed earning and remitting capacity and behaviour of migrants during the pandemic, there was no obvious explanation as to why remittances had not plunged in 2020. In search of a resolution to this pandemic paradox of stable or increased migrant remittances and …

No. 85: Pandemic Food Precarity, Crisis-Living And Translocality: Zimbabwean Migrant Households In South Africa During Covid-19, Sujata Ramachandran, Jonathan Crush, Godfrey Tawodzera, Elizabeth Opiyo Onyango

Southern African Migration Programme

COVID-19 has been a great disrupter of international migration and a social and economic disaster for migrants. The findings in this report come from a household survey conducted by SAMP in mid-2021 in the South African cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg. The report argues that years of crisis-living in a hyperinflationary environment in Zimbabwe left many households in a pre-pandemic state of food insecurity and vulnerable to the pandemic shock. At the same time, the COVID-19 crisis reduced the ability of Zimbabwean migrant households in South Africa to assist family back in Zimbabwe. As well as contributing to greater …

No. 84: Small-Town Xenophobia And Migrant Anxieties In South Africa’S Limpopo Province, Godfrey Tawodzera, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

South Africa’s major cities are regularly wracked by large-scale xenophobic violence directed at migrants and refugees from other countries. Informal-sector businesses and their migrant owners and employees are particularly vulnerable targets during these attacks. Migrant-owned businesses are also frequently targeted in smallerscale looting and destruction of property. There is now a large literature on the characteristics and causes of xenophobic violence and attitudes in South Africa, based on quantitative and qualitative research in the country’s major metropolitan areas. One of the consequences of big-city xenophobia has been a search for alternative markets and safer spaces by migrants, including relocating to …

No. 83: Between Burden And Benefit: Migrant Remittances, Social Protection And Sustainable Development, Sujata Ramachandran, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

As the role of migrant remittances for poverty reduction, economic growth and sustainable development in sending countries gains increasing attention, this report reviews the evidence for the linkages between remittances and the social welfare of receiving households, communities and countries, as well as remitters themselves. In low and middle-income countries, where national social security systems have been underdeveloped, monetary and other assistance by family and community members have long constituted an important form of non-state social welfare. Rooted in social relationships and networks of family, kinship connections and social community, individual remittances offer informal mechanisms of social protection. The report …

No. 82: Deadly Denial: Xenophobia Governance And The Global Compact For Migration In South Africa, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

The UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration commits signatories “to eliminate all forms of discrimination, condemn and counter expressions, acts and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, violence, xenophobia and related intolerance against all migrants in conformity with international human rights law.” This commitment puts the onus on signatory governments, including South Africa, to deal with the threat that increasingly accompanies global mobility: rising xenophobia in countries of migrant destination. The global migration and development agenda puts great emphasis on the positive development impacts of migration. This report argues that, in South Africa, two decades of xenophobia governance …

No. 81: Rethinking The South African Medical Brain Drain Narrative, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

Concerns about the negative impact of the “brain drain” of health professionals from Africa have led to a dominant narrative in which those who migrate are a permanent, and costly, loss to the country of origin and a permanent, and valuable, gain for the country of destination. South Africa is often seen as an archetypal African medical brain drain story. This report finds that, while the traditional permanent-exodus model has a powerful hold and shapes policy responses, it does not adequately capture all forms of migration by South African doctors. Noting that a significant number of physicians have taken up …

No. 80: Problematizing The Foreign Shop: Justifications For Restricting The Migrant Spaza Sector In South Africa, Vanya Gastrow

Southern African Migration Programme

Small businesses owned by international migrants and refugees are often the target of xenophobic hostility and attack in South Africa. This report examines the problematization of migrant-owned businesses in South Africa, and the regulatory efforts aimed at curtailing their economic activities. In so doing, it sheds light on the complex ways in which xenophobic fears are generated and manifested in the country’s social, legal and political orders. Efforts to curb migrant spaza shops in South Africa have included informal trade agreements at local levels, fining migrant shops, and legislation that prohibits asylum seekers from operating businesses in the country. Several …

No. 78: Comparing Refugees And South Africans In The Urban Informal Sector, Jonathan Crush, Godfrey Tawodzera, Cameron Mccordic, Sujata Ramachandran

Southern African Migration Programme

This report compares the business operations of over 2,000 South Africans and refugees in the urban informal economy and systematically dispels some of the myths that have grown up around their activities. First, the report takes issue with the perception that South Africans are inexperienced and unmotivated participants in the informal economy. Many have years of experience and have successfully grown their businesses. Second, it contests the view that refugees enjoy a competitive advantage because they come to South Africa with inherent talent and already honed skills. On the contrary, over 80% of those surveyed had no prior informal sector …

No. 77: Living With Xenophobia: Zimbabwean Informal Enterprise In South Africa, Jonathan Crush, Godfrey Tawodzera, Abel Chikanda, Daniel Tevara

Southern African Migration Programme

South Africa’s crisis of xenophobia is defined by the discrimination and intolerance to which migrants are exposed on a daily basis. A major target of the country’s extreme xenophobia – defined as a heightened form of xenophobia in which hostility and opposition to those perceived as outsiders and foreigners is expressed through violent acts – is the businesses run by migrants and refugees in the informal sector. Attitudinal surveys clearly show that South Africans differentiate migrants by national origin and that Zimbabweans are amongst the most disliked. Zimbabweans are certainly not the only small-business owners to have become victims of …

No. 76: Refugee Entrepreneurial Economies In Urban South Africa, Jonathan Crush, Godfrey Tawodzera, Cameron Mccordic, Sujata Ramachandran

Southern African Migration Programme

More than 60% of the world’s refugees now live in urban areas, according to the UNHCR. The social and economic impacts of refugee movements are therefore increasingly being felt in the towns and cities of host nations. The notion of “refugee economies” has been adopted to highlight the strong involvement of refugees in the many overlapping processes of production, consumption, exchange and entrepreneurship. As urban refugees increasingly become the norm in the urbanizing Global South, more research on the specifically urban economic impacts of protracted refugee situations is therefore urgently needed. Identifying the economic advantages and benefits associated with the …

No. 74: Informal Entrepreneurship And Cross-Border Trade Between Zimbabwe And South Africa, Abel Chikanda, Godfrey Tawodzera

Southern African Migration Programme

Informal cross-border trading in Zimbabwe has become more than a survivalist strategy and should be seen as an important pillar of the country's economy. This report, part of SAMP’s Growing Informal Cities series, seeks to provide a current picture of informal cross-border trading in Zimbabwe and provides detailed insights into the activities of traders from the capital, Harare, who travel regularly to Johannesburg, South Africa, as part of their business. The traders make a monthly profit that far exceeds the salaries of most Zimbabweans in formal employment. Furthermore, many traders have been able to grow their businesses to such an …

No. 75: Competition Or Co-Operation? South African And Migrant Entrepreneurs In Johannesburg, Sally Pederby

Southern African Migration Programme

International migrant business owners in South Africa’s informal sector are, and have been for many years, the target of xenophobic attacks. This has led to public debates about their role in the South African economy and competition with their South African counterparts, with allegations including that they force the closure of South African businesses, harbour ‘trade secrets’ that give them the edge, and dominate the sector. As a result, at national government level there has been increasing interest in curtailing the rights of international migrants, particularly asylum seekers and refugees, to run informal enterprises.

This report explores the experiences of …

No. 79: Rendering South Africa Undesirable: A Critique Of Refugee And Informal Sector Policy, Jonathan Crush, Caroline Skinner, Manal Stulgaitis

Southern African Migration Programme

To understand the policy environment within which refugees establish and operate their enterprises in South Africa’s informal sector, this report brings together two streams of policy analysis. The first concerns the changing refugee policies and the erosion of the progressive approach that characterized the immediate post-apartheid period. The second concerns the informal sector policy, which oscillates between tolerance and attempted destruction at national and municipal levels. While there have been longstanding tensions between foreign and South African informal sector operators, an overtly anti-foreign migrant sentiment has increasingly been expressed in official policy and practice. This report describes the strategies being …

No. 73: Informal Entrepreneurship And Cross-Border Trade In Maputo, Mozambique, Inês Raimundo, Abel Chikanda

Southern African Migration Programme

Cross-border trading is an essential part of Mozambique’s informal economy, with the traders playing a key role in supplying commodities that are in scarce supply nationwide. This report presents the results of a SAMP survey of informal entrepreneurs connected to cross-border trade between Johannesburg and Maputo. The study sought to enhance the evidence base on the links between migration and informal entrepreneurship in Southern African cities and to examine the implications for municipal, national and regional policy. In Mozambique, cross-border trading is primarily done by women with men mainly involved in the sale of the products brought back from South …

No. 72: Food Remittances: Migration And Food Security In Africa, Jonathan Crush, Mary Caesar

Southern African Migration Programme

By drawing attention to the importance of food remittances for urban and rural food security and identifying the current knowledge gaps, this report contributes to the study of the relationship between migration and food security and creates a platform for the design of a new research agenda. Across Africa, there is considerable evidence of a massive informal trade in food, including staples, fresh and processed products. While most cross-border trade in foodstuffs is a result of commercial transactions by small-scale traders who buy in one country and sell in another, an unknown proportion is actually food remittances on their way …

No. 71: International Migrants In Johannesburg’S Informal Economy, Sally Pederby

Southern African Migration Programme

This report provides a rich view of the activities of migrant entrepreneurs in the informal economy of Johannesburg. It is hoped that the information will facilitate understanding of the informal sector and its potential, and not just in the context of migrant entrepreneurs. The informal economy plays a significant role in the entrepreneurial landscape of the City of Johannesburg and is patronized by most of the city’s residents. The research presented here challenges commonly held opinions about migrant entrepreneurs in the City of Johannesburg and shows that they do not dominate the informal economy, which remains largely in the hands …

No. 30: Zimbabwe’S Exodus To Australia, David Lucas, Barbara Edgar

Southern African Migration Programme

This paper focuses on emigration of Zimbabwe-born migrants to Australia, partly because Australia is largely omitted from the important text, Zimbabwe’s Exodus even though it has become an important destination, and partly because the data is better for Australia, and for New Zealand, than for other major destination countries. This profile discusses the characteristics of persons born in Zimbabwe and of Zimbabwean ancestry, by undertaking primary analysis of the 2011 Australian Census using the TableBuilder software of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, together with the settlement reporting facility of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).

No. 69: Calibrating Informal Cross-Border Trade In Southern Africa, Sally Peberdy, Jonathan Crush, Daniel Tevara, Eugene Campbell, Inês Raimundo, Maxton Tsoka, Nomsa Zindela, Godfrey Tawodzera, Ndeyapo Nickanor, Chileshe Mulenga, Thuso Green, Ntombi Msibi

Southern African Migration Programme

Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) is a significant feature of regional trade and international mobility in Southern Africa. The exact number of participants and economic importance of this trade is unknown because no official statistics are collected. Despite its obvious presence at every border post throughout the SADC region, ICBT remains largely invisible to policy-makers. Indeed, in government circles it is more often associated with smuggling, tax evasion and illegality than with innovation, enterprise and job creation. On the research side, there is a growing body of case study evidence that ICBT plays a critical role in poverty alleviation, food security …

No. 68: Entrepreneurship And Inclusive Growth In South Africa, Zimbabwe And Mozambique, Jonathan Crush, Caroline Skinner, Abel Chikanda

Southern African Migration Programme

While increasing attention is being paid to the drivers and forms of entrepreneurship in informal economies, much less of this policy and research focus is directed at understanding the links between mobility and informality. This report examines the current state of knowledge about this relationship with particular reference to three countries (Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe) and four cities (Cape Town, Harare, Johannesburg and Maputo), identifying major themes, knowledge gaps, research questions and policy implications. In many African cities, informal enterprises are operated by internal and international migrants. The extent and nature of mobile entrepreneurship and the opportunities and challenges …

No. 70: International Migrants And Refugees In Cape Town’S Informal Economy, Godfrey Tawodzera, Abel Chikanda, Jonathan Crush, Robertson Tengeh

Southern African Migration Programme

This report is the most comprehensive study yet of the contribution of migrant and refugee entrepreneurs to Cape Town’s local economy. The survey of over 500 entrepreneurs engaged in trade, services and manufacturing in different areas of the city dispels some of the more prevalent myths that often attach to the activities of migrants. The vast majority are not “illegal foreigners”, but have a legal right to be in South Africa and to run a business. Most are highly motivated individuals who enter the informal economy to earn revenue to support themselves, their families, and because they have a strong …

No. 29: Zimbabwe’S Return Migrants – Before & After Challenges, David Mandiyanike

Southern African Migration Programme

Various countries in the developing world have implemented policies and incentives to encourage the participation of their respective diasporas in development. The ‘best case’ countries include the Philippines, India, Mexico, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya and Ghana, and there seems to be a positive correlation between reforms meant to facilitate diaspora participation and the level of actual participation. The reforms and policies not only contribute to the diaspora maintaining social and psychological links with their home countries but also serve as vehicles for promoting remittances and investments. However, diaspora participation in the (re)development of the country of origin can never be …

No. 65: Brain Drain And Regain: The Migration Behaviour Of South African Medical Professionals, Jonathan Crush, Abel Chikanda, Ivy Bourgeault, Ronald Labonté, Gail Tomblin Murphy

Southern African Migration Programme

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has experienced a significant outflow of health professionals. The out-migration of health professionals from the country is part of a broader global trend of health professional migration from the Global South to the Global North. In the health sector, this “brain drain” has led to a significant decline in the quality of care in affected countries. The costs of health professional migration for countries of origin are usually measured in terms of lost investment in training and the gaps in medical care left by their departure. One recent study, for example, estimated that …

No. 67: Migrant Entrepreneurship, Collective Violence And Xenophobia In South Africa, Jonathan Crush, Sujata Ramachandran

Southern African Migration Programme

The remarkable growth of informal migrant entrepreneurship in South Africa since 1990 would have been much lauded had it not been for the striking detail that the actors in question are seen as “foreigners” or “outsiders”. As such, they are uniformly viewed as undesirable and disadvantaging poor South African citizens. The growing presence of migrants in the informal sector has created various tensions in South Africa, including in government circles, ignoring the fact that in the free market economy of South Africa, immigrants and refugees, like citizens and commercial enterprises, would otherwise enjoy the freedom to establish, operate and expand …

No. 66: Xenophobic Violence In South Africa: Denialism, Minimalism, Realism, Jonathan Crush, Sujata Ramachandran

Southern African Migration Programme

Violent xenophobia has become a regular feature of South African life. Everyday animosity frequently spills over into violence against individual migrants and refugees and their economic enterprises. Some of these incidents reach the scrutiny of the media and officialdom, but most remain invisible and unremarked. The fact that most of the violence occurs in marginal urban locations of informal settlements, townships and inner-city suburbs in South Africa has prompted intense debate over the nomenclature and identification of the underlying causes. Explanations for the large-scale anti-migrant violence that swept the country in May 2008, and continues in more isolated and sporadic …

No. 64: Soft Targets: Xenophobia, Public Violence And Changing Attitudes To Migrants In South Africa After May 2008, Jonathan Crush, Sujata Ramachandran, Wade Pendleton

Southern African Migration Programme

No abstract provided.

No. 27: Migration And Development In Contemporary Mauritius, David Lincoln

Southern African Migration Programme

Mauritius is a society descended of involuntary and voluntary migrants. After two-and-a-half centuries of settlement as a plantation colony and by the time of its independence from colonial rule in 1968 the island nation’s population had grown to seemingly insupportable levels. But having faced the afflictions of overpopulation, social division and economic despair (and sizeable emigration) at the dawn of its independence, it took just a decade and-a-half for despondency to fade and for Mauritius to begin resembling a tropical idyll of sorts. Though poverty persisted as the small island successfully transformed its economy from colonial plantation to mostly industrial …

No. 60: Linking Migration, Food Security And Development, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

Two issues have recently risen to the top of the international development agenda: (a) Food Security; and (b) Migration and Development. Each has its own global agency champions, international gatherings, national line ministries and body of research. Global and regional discussions about the relationship between migration and development cover a broad range of policy issues including remittance flows, the brain drain, the role of diasporas and return migration. Strikingly absent from these discussions is any systematic discussion of the relationship between population migration and food security. If the global migration and development debate sidelines food security, the current international food …

No. 59: The Third Wave: Mixed Migration From Zimbabwe To South Africa, Jonathan Crush, Abel Chikanda, Godfrey Tawodzera

Southern African Migration Programme

Migration from Zimbabwe to South Africa has been extremely well-documented by researchers. In this paper, we suggest that there is a need to periodize these migration flows in order to understand how and why they have changed over time, not simply in terms of the volume of migration but the changing drivers of migration and the shifting nature of the migrant stream. Few previous studies have taken a longitudinal approach to Zimbabwean migration, primarily because most research takes place at one point in time. SAMP is in the fortunate position of having a large database at its disposal which allows …

No. 58: The Disengagement Of The South African Medical Diaspora, Jonathan Crush, Abel Chikanda

Southern African Migration Programme

Conventional wisdom holds that the ‘brain drain’ of health professionals from Africa is deeply damaging to the continent. Recently, a group of North American and European neo-liberal economists has challenged this conventional wisdom, variously arguing that the negative impacts are highly exaggerated and the compensating benefits many. The benefits include various forms of “diaspora engagement” in which those who have left then engage through sending remittances, direct investment, knowledge and skills transfer, return migration and involvement in diaspora associations. A previous SAMP study of Zimbabwean physicians outside the country provided clear evidence for the “diaspora engagement” hypothesis (see No 56 …