AFRICAN CONTINENTAL MIGRANTS IN THE CITY
7.2. COMPARING CONTINENTAL AFRICAN MIGRATION STRATEGIES
Continental African migrants do not see themselves as simply one kind of immigrant.
Their arrival at a border post is often simplified to satisfy the one-dimensional criterion for the purposes of entry (business, study, work, tourist, asylum seeker, refugee). Many continental African migrants are here as economic refugees because of the economic circumstances in their respective countries, often exacerbated by political instability. In other words their situation is a complex intertwining of political, economic and sometimes personal reasons for leaving their countries of origin and fleeing thousands of kilometres to the southern tip of Africa. Thus many Senegalese migrants said that they are political asylum seekers because of their oppositional role in politics to the previous regime in their home country, but also they cannot fmd work. Asylum seekers may claim to be victims of their political activities, but they also seek refuge from the constraints of a less than robust economy. Others such as the Malawians are forthright in their reasons for coming to South Africa: they come to seek work. What are the options for livelihood generation by foreign migrants in South Africa? Often denied access to jobs that they have been trained for in their countries of origin such as teachers, medical personnel, engineers, economists, and technicians of various kinds, most have turned to working for themselves in the informal sector as street traders, car guards, street hair salons, tailors and security guards. This is not to deny that many migrants come to the country without any apparent skills at all, such as some of the Malawians. Unskilled or barely skilled migrants are vulnerable to unscrupulous employers, who make them work under onerous conditions illegally.
The range of occupations listed above is not a menu of options. Often the choice of livelihood depends, at least in the initial stages of their stay, on the country of origin, what networks of friends and relatives that they connect with in South Africa, and how long they are prepared to persevere in fmding the kind of work they are comfortable with, or prepared to do. Thus one finds that many of the street traders are Senegalese and Somalis, whereas the Congolese, Burundians and Rwandese tend towards being car guards on the streets of Durban and security guards for homes, offices, factories and
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various institutions. Some of them run street hair salons, and engage in tailoring, as do some of the Ghanaians and Cameroonians. Malawians, because of the longer ties that they have with South Africa tend to be able to connect with a well-established network of their own nationals. These networks provide them with advice on employment opportunities, or access to South African employers mainly in various retailing, tailoring, dressmaking and clothing manufacturing sectors. Some Malawians have subsequently branched out to work on their own, and create employment.
Although asylum seekers and refugees are generally grateful to be accepted into the country, it has been a difficult experience for the first few of them to find accommodation and establish a means of livelihood. Given the paucity of State assistance, they have had to rely on a number of strategies to finding accommodation, various means of survival and employment or self-employment. These strategies are:
1. Identifying their own countrymen, as in the case of francophones - French speaking immigrants, such as the Congolese.
2. Arriving with an address of a friend or relative, which many do, particularly the Congolese, Senegalese and Malawians.
3. Locking into an established network, good examples being the Senegalese and Malawians.
4. Finding their way to church sponsored-refugee centres, such as the Jesuit Refugee Services. This service is for all refugees, but particularly those affected by the genocide and continuing conflict in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa (Congo, Burundi, Rwanda), and in East Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan).
Malawians to my knowledge do not use these services.
5. In the case of Muslims immigrants such as the Malawians from the Mangochi district (where the Yao Muslims predominate), connecting and seeking assistance from Islamic charitable organizations or mosques has been a major consideration in starting to develop a new life. This also applies to some extent to the early Somali arrivals.
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Using one or a combination of these strategies to settle the pnmary requisites of accommodation and their visa conditions (usually with the assistance of one or more of the above mentioned groups, friends or institutions), they are now in a position to seek employment or to become self-employed. It is at this point that the ability to exercise their economic right to employment becomes severely limited. Unable to fmd employment (as formal employees) because of legal constraints and prevailing prejudices in the host society many of the migrants resort to one or more broad strategic options.
One option is the refugee centre, a church-funded project based in the Durban Ecumenical Centre. Those who have sought assistance from organizations such as the Jesuit Refugee Services JRS) and the Japanese Voluntary Committee (NC) have been mainly, though not exclusively, people from Central Africa, particularly Congolese, Rwandans, and Burundians. Others such as Ethiopians, and Somalis have also sought their assistance. No doubt the traumatic experience of their war-torn countries, their flight to safety, and their lack of resources means continued reliance on these welfare organizations. Whereas in the past the Red Cross provided financial assistance, the services provided by the JRS and the NC have been structured so as to encourage refugees to engage in self-help projects. Training, seed money and advice is provided to encourage them to undertake projects that will lead to establishing their own means of livelihood. However, in the interim some level of fmancial assistance is provided for accommodation and the nutritional and educational requirements of children. The NC is an application-based educational fund for adults who want to obtain diplomas and other advanced certification to be able to enter the local job market with marketable skills, and provide for their own livelihoods in the medium to long term. Those refugees and migrants who make use of the refugee centre have been organised into a group called the Refugee Forum, which ostensibly has representation from every national group in Durban. However groups like the Senegalese and Malawians (and even some Congolese) have never heard of, or if they have, can claim only some vague knowledge of the Refugee Forum.
The Senegalese and the Malawians illustrate very different options for survival. Virtually from the moment they arrive, they rely on their own networks and entrepreneurial
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experience to fend for themselves. While the Senegalese (and the Congolese) have opted to live and work in the city centre, the high cost of living in the city centre meant that many Malawians exercised the option of moving their residence (and in some cases their enterprises) out of the city centre to the margins of the Durban Metro region such as in Mariannhill. (For an account of the Senegalese, see Vawda, 2000: 113-115.) This chapter shall focus on the Malawians rather than any other group of foreign immigrants.
Malawian migrants are not refugees, or political asylum seekers, and because of their circumstances do not openly or publicly state their immigration status.