CHAPTER 8: SOUTH AFRICANS’ TIES WITH AFRICAN MIGRANTS
8.7. Discussion of findings and conclusion
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This group favours unrestricted African migration as they posit that it not only offers various social and economic benefits for South Africa29, but could eradicate xenophobia. This is in line with Reitzes’ (2009) argument that xenophobia is a consequence of South Africa’s restrictive immigration policies, inherited from the apartheid government, which creates a national South African identity and ‘othering’ of African migrants. In other words, their argument is that unrestricted immigration policies will eventually lead to the demise of othering. However, this does not mean that African immigrants coming into South Africa would have free rein to live in the country without consideration for South African culture and ways of doing things. While this group generally favour a convergence of cultures, i.e., getting the best of two cultures, they expect open-mindedness that will allow for cosmopolitanism to thrive in their desire for a culturally integrated Africa. None of the nine respondents in this group expressed any assimilationist expectations of African immigrants dropping their culture and simply adopting or fitting into South Africa culture.
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(2005: 239) claim that the presence of reciprocity in network ties can be measured through mutual recognition of the importance of the tie by both the ego and the alter. In other words, if alters and egos do not mutually recognize the importance of their ties, as is the case here, these are asymmetric ties.
Furthermore, the chapter revealed that for most of the alters (23 out of 32), the status of the egos as African immigrants did not impact negatively on the ties. There was evidence of cultural exchanges as in the cases of Sne and Bongi. The findings show that the presence of bridging social capital within the network ties enabled them to overcome the boundaries of geographical and cultural differences to form relationships. Apart from the presence of bridging social capital, another factor was the alters’ cosmopolitan nature which led to openness towards cultural diversity. A minority (nine out of 32) of the alters expressed reservations about the egos’ country of origin. Some of the reasons for these reservations include cultural differences between the alters and egos and stereotypes about African migrants. With respect to cultural differences, the study showed that half (16 out of 32) of the alters stated that these positively impacted the relationship. This led to hospitality, assimilation and entanglement of cultures for this group, thereby creating positive relations.
However, 10 of the 32 alters stated that cultural diversity did not influence the relationship due to their belief in the universality of people which supersedes cultural fractionalisation.
Finally, a minority (six out of 32) of the alters stated that cultural differences negatively impacted on relationships because they constrained the formation of ties due to communication barriers and a lack of trust. Therefore, the study showed that for those alters that were more open to their ego’s differences, there was reciprocity and social capital which eventually led to acculturation, hybridity, hospitality and cultural entanglement. In contrast, those that were wary of cultural differences showed a minimal level of social capital and reciprocity in their various ties.
In conclusion, it is evident that there is reciprocity in the relations with alters in the egos’
networks. However, reciprocity did not exist in all the relationships. The presence of reciprocity did not deter intergroup contact. There was also evidence of symmetry and asymmetry in the relationships between South Africans and Nigerian migrants. However, there were more symmetric ties than asymmetric ones, thus confirming the existence of
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reciprocity in the ties. In cases where there was no mutuality in ties (asymmetry) such as the cases of Futhi and Nkosi, this did not mean that their egos did not benefit from the relationship. Furthermore, to some extent, there have been cultural exchanges between members of the host community and migrants which have created various entanglements across cultures. This is as a result of the frequency of interaction between these two groups, leading to the hybridisation of identities of some of the alters to the point where some, such as Desiree, felt that they have become more African than they originally thought they were.
The entanglement of identities was possible in cases where cultural differences did not deter the interaction and reciprocity of the alters and egos. In other cases, this was mediated by belief in a common humanity. Reciprocity and the symmetry of ties were not only characterized by cultural interactions and entanglements, but were visible in the provision of support to the various alters. Most of the alters stated that they gained various benefits from their egos; this shows that in these ties, social capital was present. There were also instances where cultural differences influenced the nature of the ties between them. In these cases, the ties lacked reciprocity and entanglements of identities. Apart from the usual stereotypes of African immigrants as criminals, job-stealers and disease carriers, some of the alters expressed concerns about the ethnic classification of children born of marriages between South Africans and African migrants. For example, Spa was concerned about where to place children of South African women and Nigerian or Ghanaian men and did not like the fact that these children are being raised in foreign cultures outside the Zulu cultural worldview. In the same way, some Nigerian immigrants such as Ifeanyi expressed reservations about raising their children in a culture where there is little or no regard for the sanctity of marriage.
However, those such as Shola, Toju and Osayi (Nigerian male respondents who married South African women) and their wives did not mind the hybridity (of their children) that results from cross-cultural marriage. Overall, more of the alters had reciprocal relations with egos and favoured entanglement of cultures in ways that will aid integration and development on the continent. The study also shows that intergroup contact does not always produce concord as is clear in the case of Paul who still had reservations about African migration and the diversity it brings.
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CHAPTER 9: LIVED EXPERIENCES OF SELECTED NIGERIANS AND THEIR