AFRICAN CONTINENTAL MIGRANTS IN THE CITY
6.2 FORMAL EMPLOYMENT
CHAPTER SIX
WORK, UNEMPLOYMENT AND RETURN MIGRATION
invisible from the prying eyes of the police and the Department of Home Affairs officials. However a perusal of the widespread areas in which they fmdjobs suggests that this initial observation needed to be amended. However, a closer examination of these widespread places of occupation suggests that the principle of being less visible still holds in some instances. This is indicated by the close to half of respondents not responding to the question. However, more than half did respond, and shows that Malawian migrants have found employment in the areas to the north, south and west of Durban.
trable 6.2: Places of Employment
Frequency Percent
Durban City Center 33 51
Morningside 1 2
iOverport North Durban 1 2
Verulam 2 3
Chatsworth 3 5
Clairwood South Durban 4 6
Isipingo 2 3
Hillcrest 1 2
Mariannhill 8 12
Pinetown West Durban 7 10
IShalicross 1 2
~estville 1 2
[Total 64 100
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Figure 6.1: Places of Employment
Places of employment
Durban
51%
Hillcrest
2%
Isipingo
3% Marianhill
12%
Clairwood 6%
Morningside
2%
Overport
2%
10%
Shallcross
2%
Verulam
- - - -
Chatsworth
5%
3%
Westville
2%
It is clear that most Malawian migrants work all over the city (table 6.2), but are concentrated in central Durban (51 %). They also work in a number of different parts of the city: Chatsworth, Clairwood, Isipingo in the southern part of the city, Hillcrest, Mariannhill, Pinetown, Shallcross and Westville in the west, and Overport, Morningside, and Verulam in the north. (Overport and Morningside being closer to the Durban city centre than any of the other northern suburbs.) (See pie graph, figure 6.1, above for detailed breakdown by percentage.) It should be noted that these are also areas that were formerly designated Indian or white group areas, and dominated by people of these designated racial categories. The spread of Malawian migrants is very different from
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other foreign migrants who tend to be concentrated in the city centre. It may even suggest that enclaves of Malawians are not a pronounced phenomenon as in cities of Europe or America. While enclaves often suggest dense networks of support, with a fair proportion of social capital formation among such national groupings, it would seem that this is not a significant issue. However, the qualitative evidence suggests that networks do exist and operate, but perhaps not in a dense and totally supportive and institutionalised way as in the case of the Senegalese (Vawda, 2000: 112).
[Table 6.3: Occupations
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Accountant 1 .8 .8 .8
Baker 1 .8 .8 1.7
Bricklayer 3 2.5 2.5 4.2
~ashier 1 .8 .8 5.0
Casual 1 .8 .8 5.9
Delivery 1 .8 .8 6.7
Domestic servant 2 1.7 1.7 8.4
Gardener 2 1.7 1.7 10.1
Labourer 1 .8 .8 10.9
Machine operator 6 5.0 5.0 16.0
Mechanic 3 2.5 2.5 18.5
Mechanic assist 1 .8 .8 19.3
N/a 54 45.4 45.4 64.7
Packer 1 .8 .8 65.5
Painter 1 .8 .8 66.4
Sales/marketing 1 .8 .8 67.2
Shop assistant 16 13.4 13.4 80.7
Stock clerk 1 .8 .8 81.5
Tailoring 20 16.8 16.8 98.3
Technician 2 1.7 1.7 100.0
Total 119 100.0 100.0
Furthermore there is a wide range of occupations, from accountants/book-keepers to domestic servants (see table 6.3, 'Occupations' above). This wide range of occupations
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suggests that Malawians have a wide base of skills, level of education (including the ability to speak fluent English) and experience to draw on in order to secure jobs. While this table suggests that many of the Malawians have a job, or access to a job based on their skills and experience, the issue of whether they find such jobs within relatively short spaces of time was tested. A question on how long they were unemployed was asked.
However given the sensitive nature of such information, with its implications of how they obtain jobs, under what conditions they work, and the time they spend in South Africa in relation to their visa conditions has made it difficult to obtain accurate information. Very few respondents were willing to divulge such information. Those who did answer the question seem to indicate that while it seems clear that the ability to fmd work, and being more than accommodating and compliant of employer demands ensures to a very great extent their access to jobs, it by no means guarantees 'full' employment. Not all Malawians obtain jobs. In the table 6.4, below, approximately 33% are unable to fmd work within 6 months of their arrival, and some as long two years.
Table 6.4: Length of Unemployment in SA
Frequenc~ Percen
1 month 1 11
2 months 2 22
3 months 1 11
4 months 1 11
6 months 3 33
2 years 1 11
Total 9 100·
·Percentage rounded off.
However, given the analysis in chapter 5 above of the number of migratory moves made before arrival in Durban there is a strong suggestion that most Malawians fmd jobs within 6 months to a year.
This notion is further supported by the fact that for many Malawians previous employment in Durban is not a strong feature of their work biography. For many Malawians previous employment in Durban (or South Africa) exists only on a very
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limited scale, either because they have recently arrived and have not had the opportunity to have another job, or because they are 'loyal' employees knowing that jobs are scarce and cannot easily expect to get another job as economic migrants, especially where there is high unemployment. (The caveats that apply to obtaining answers to the question of unemployment would apply in this case as well.) Table 6.5 gives the previous employment for 15 of the respondents.
trable 6.5: Previous Employment/Occupation Frequency Percent
~ccountant 1 6.6
Bricklayer 2 13.3
lCasual labourer 1 6.6
iCleaner 1 6.6
Delivery 1 6.6
Factory 1 6.6
pardener, delivery 1 6.6
Machinist 1 6.6
Mechanic 1 6.6
Painter 1 6.6
~ales clerk 2 13.3
[Sewing 1 6.6
IShop assistant 1 6.6
rrotal 15 100.0
Previous employment (table 6.5) again covers a wide spectrum of occupations, but excludes those who are self-employed. Interpretation of these figures must be cautionary, but must be seen in the context of the length of previous employment.
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rTable 6.6: Length of Previous Employment Frequency Percent
1.5 months 1 11
1.5 years 1 11
~ months 1 11
1 year 1 11
2 years 1 11
~ years 1 11
~ years 1 11
\8
years 1 11~ years 1 11
trotal 9 99
It is important to note that people have worked for as little as 1 month to as much as 9 years (table 6.6). This range gives some indication of the time and commitment of Malawians to the jobs they have either undertaken or accepted. Implicit in these lengths of employment is the fact that as foreign migrant workers they are willing to work for less than local people with all the vulnerability it implies: vulnerable to the threat of exposure to the authorities, vulnerable to threats of xenophobic attacks on their person, and to continuing earning lower wages than their South African colleagues. However this is not to suggest that they would like to continue to live in South Africa on a permanent basis. The issue of return migration is analysed in the next section.