Theses and Dissertations (African Centre for Migration and Society)

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Urban livelihoods and the risk of HIV infection: lived experiences of young migrant women in Havana informal settlements in Windhoek, Namibia
(2014-10-22) Shinana, Eveline M
Informal settlements are associated with higher prevalence of HIV. There is empirical evidence that HIV prevalence is higher in the North-Western suburbs (Katutura) of Windhoek which primarily consist of low-income housing and informal settlements. It is reported that a large proportion of young women in these suburbs who are 25 years and younger are HIV positive. This study sought to explore the linkage between urban livelihood strategies and the risk of acquiring HIV among young migrant women (aged 18 to 24) in Havana informal settlement in Katutura in Windhoek, Namibia. The study focuses on the lived experiences of internal young migrant women to explore the linkage between their livelihood strategies and the risks of acquiring HIV. A desk review was undertaken in order to analyse existing documents related to urban livelihoods and HIV from studies that have been conducted in the City of Windhoek. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions as research instruments were administered to collect primary data. Thematic analysis has been employed to analyse the data to help extract descriptive information concerning experiences of young migrant women in Katutura informal settlements and construct meanings in order to be able to understand how livelihood strategies of young internal migrant women in Havana relate to the risk of acquiring HIV. The study reveals that young migrant women in Havana informal settlement moved to Windhoek in order to have their livelihoods improved. Based on the data, income; education; employment and housing are some of the social and economic factors found to be affecting the livelihoods of the young migrant women. Furthermore, the study unveils that young migrant women engage in risky sexual behaviours such as low condom use, transactional sex and multiple concurrent partnerships as a strategy to earn livelihoods. Engaging in risky sexual behaviour such as transactional sex enhances the risk of acquiring HIV once they are exposed, as it influences their sexual decision making due to their dependency on men. The study concludes that there is a linkage between urban livelihoods and the risk of HIV infection. Therefore, exclusion of migrant communities from services as well as their limited access to sustainable livelihoods encourages young migrant women to engage in risky sexual behaviour. The findings of this study do not portray that all young women in Havana informal settlement engage in risky sexual behaviour because young migrant women are a heterogeneous group however, participants who took part in this study are a representative of all young migrant women (aged 18-24) in Havana. Therefore, their risky behaviour can be one of the major factors contributing to high prevalence of HIV among young women in Katutura. KEY WORDS: Migration, HIV, risky sexual behaviour, urbanisation, livelihoods, informal settlements, urban poverty, Havana, Katutura, Windhoek
Giving birth in a foreign land : maternal health-care experiences among Zimbabwean migrant women living in Johannesburg, South Africa.
(2014-09-11) Makandwa, Tackson
The republic of South Africa has a “health for all” policy, regardless of nationality and residence status. However, challenges still exist for non-nationals and little is known regarding migrants’ maternal healthcare experiences. This study explores the maternal healthcare experiences of migrant Zimbabwean women living in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on the lived experiences of women aged 18years and above, who engaged with the public healthcare system in Johannesburg during pregnancy and childbirth. A desk review of the literature was undertaken. The theoretical framework in this study draws from three concepts (1) the Social determinants of health framework (WHO 2010), (2) the Access to healthcare framework (McIntyre, Thiede and Brich 2009) and (3) the “three-delays (Nour 2008). Primary data was collected through the use of open-ended semi-structured interviews with a sample of 15 migrant Zimbabwean women who have been in Johannesburg for a minimum of 2 years, and have attended and given birth or are currently attending antenatal care in inner city Johannesburg. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse data since it helps to extract descriptive information concerning the experiences of Zimbabwean women in Johannesburg and to construct meaning in order to understand their perceptions and opinions about the healthcare system in the city. Although the findings indicate that documentation status is not a key issue affecting access to healthcare during pregnancy and delivery, a range of other healthcare barriers were found to dominate, including the nature of their employment, power relations, language, and discrimination(generally) among others. Language was singled out as the major challenge that runs throughout the other barriers. More interestingly the participants raised their desire of returning home or changing facilities within the Public sector or to private institutions in case of any further pregnancy. This study concludes that the bone of contention is on belongingness, deservingness and not being able to speak any local language, that runs through the public health care institutions and this impact on professionalism and discharge of duties.
Memory and violence: Displaced Zimbabwean rural communities reliving the memories of the March 2008 political violence.
(2014-08-26) Mvundura, Wellington
This thesis is premised on the argument that a distinct kind of narrative (‘truth’) about political violence, a narrative of the first-person experience, a narrative that is valued for its power to counter totalising historical narratives, is thought to reside in the subjective experience of each individual. Be that as it may, this study aimed to answer the question: What meanings do rural Zimbabweans who were internally displaced by the March 2008 state-sponsored political violence attach to this violence? In particular, the study investigated these meanings in a context where the victims remain(ed) in close proximity to the perpetrators during and after the violence. It also examined these meanings in an alleged silence by the state and local communities, and how these meanings have shaped the victims’ present socio-political identities. In order to answer the question, in-depth narrative interviews were conducted with purposively selected respondents. The study assumed a qualitative exploratory design which was underpinned by the phenomenological and constructionist theoretical approaches. It was concluded that the victims’ interpretation of the state-sponsored political violence is negotiated and mediated in the course of interaction. The personal narrative of the memory attains some latent political and redemptive value when it is interpreted in a social context. The meanings of the violence particularly assume a complex moral and ethical plane in a scenario where the perpetrator remains a permanent feature in the victim’s physical and social space, without any recourse. The complexity is imminent as the victim has to contend with the socio-psychological effects of the daily direct interface with their unpunished aggressor especially due to the communal nature of rural life. It was also concluded that the 2008 state-sponsored violence was increasingly interpreted as unfinished business by the victims. More so, it was also understood to be synonymous and complicit with silence at the communal and national level. Thus, the silence was synonymous with adaptation to power relations, cultural censorship, and liminality. In terms of identity, the victims suffer an identity crisis. They have developed personalities that have arguably, failed to internalise a sense of self as trusting and trustworthy. Last, the identification of the violence as unfinished business has also led to the reaffirmation of the victims’ spiritual identities as they have invoked bewitchment to avenge the death of their loved ones and in the process try to reconnect with them spiritually by invoking their spirits to seek revenge.
Seeking goals in the urban estuary : how a personal migrant subjectivity is reified into productive strategies and generative social effects.
(2014-07-28) O'Keefe, Peter
Using a micro-level frame of analysis, and working from in-depth interviews in Johannesburg's migrant-rich ‘urban estuaries,’ this research report considers participants’ personal, subjective, understanding of their own migrant-ness. The paper argues that theirs is a migrant subjectivity linked to the praxis of goal seeking, rather than the achievement of belonging. The goal seeking subjectivity is reified into pragmatic social strategies of network building, trust, and opportunity creation that undermine the concepts of generalized trust, communal social capital, and the host/migrant dichotomy. Personal subjectivies are rendered social. Denizens fill the social space with presentations and assessments of ‘mutual beneficence,’ and seek out demographically ambivalent networks of commonality.
Microfinance as a livelihood strategy: A case study of forced migrants in Johannesburg
(2014-06-13) Kamugi, Watetu
Microfinance as a tool for development has been used all over the world in combating poverty and improving livelihoods. It is described as the provision of savings, credit and insurance services to low income earners and the very poor in society through Microfinance Institutions (MFI). Additionally, MFI provide vocational training in various skills such as hand crafts, business and language skills. Livelihoods on the other hand constitute the ways in which people access and mobilise resources that enable them to increase their economic security thus reducing the vulnerability created and exacerbated by conflict, and how these resources help them pursue goals necessary for their survival. As a livelihoods strategy for refugees, the services of MFI have mainly been employed in camp settings, with few projects run for urban refugees. Many reasons arise for the difficulty in employing it as a livelihood strategy in urban settings, with the most common being the fluidity and mobility of urban refugees that renders them a risky group to lend money, grants or training to. This study explores the accessibility of microfinance to forced migrants and refugees living in the economic hub of Africa, Johannesburg. The findings suggest that refugees and other forced migrants receiving microfinance heard about the MFI in this particular study- Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), from their social networks of family and friends while those who had never heard about JRS or any other organization offering microfinance services were in completely different social networks and were of different nationalities from the beneficiaries. As such, the question of accessibility to microfinance is linked to availability of information through social networks. Language also proved to influence the livelihood strategies adapted by the different refugees. Refugees who could speak English and other South African languages were in employment or in trade ventures as they could communicate with host nationals. This is unlike those refugees who only spoke French and Lingala, languages not spoken by South Africans. As such, they needed language training so as to enable them to communicate. The study also found that the main problems faced by refugees in Johannesburg are lack of employment, problems with accommodation, difficulty in enrolling children in public schools and raising the required school fees and difficulties in accessing social services. The research report concludes by recommending solutions to MFI and other organizations whose mandate is to assist refugees and other forced migrants to embrace all vulnerable refugees within the MFI in an effort to make MFI available to all who require their services.
Effects of perceptions and negotiation of decision making on gender relations, masculinity and contested patriachy among immigrant-South African households in Johannesburg, South Africa
(2014-01-31) Aaca, Lisa Rebecca
The study aimed at understanding how immigrant men and South African women in heterosexual relationships perceive and negotiate gender relations arising from household decision-making; and the effects these have on notions of masculinity among couples living in Johannesburg, South Africa. In order to investigate the research question, I used qualitative descriptive approaches with a poststructuralist perspective. The study drew on Foucault’s conceptualization of power and identified eight (8) immigrant men originating from other African countries and eight (8) South African women using purposive and snowball sampling. All individuals recruited were of at least eighteen years of age and had lived with their partners for at least two years. I perceived a minimum of two years of living together as adequate for differences in culture and socialization of people in immigrant-South African relationships to manifest in the performance of gender; and to equip participants with different constructions of decision-making, gender relations and masculinity. I selected men from other African countries because of the exclusionary discourses surrounding them in South Africa. Data was collected using face-to-face in-depth semi structured interviews with open-ended questions. Data analysis was undertaken using both thematic and discourse analysis. In doing the thematic analysis, work by Braun and Clarke (2006) was drawn on while work by Parker (1994, 1997 and 2005) was focused on for the discourse analysis. The study found that immigration and difference in nationality shape the different perceptions that determine decisions on formation of immigrant-South African relationships; affect income inequalities and decisions on expenditures; as well as decisions related to children in immigrant-South African households; and that these affect gender relations and notions of masculinity. The study further found that there are contradiction between gender equality and traditionally acceptable gender roles; as well as patriarchal and anti-patriarchal socializations by immigrant men and South African women. It also found that immigrant men and South African women use similar strategies in reviving and silencing of transgressed masculinity.
Towards understanding the experiences of accessing antiretroviral treatment services among Congolese men at clinics in Yeoville, Johannesburg
(2014-01-30) Swamba, Adrien Bazolakio
Little is known about the experiences of Congolese men receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) services in the urban areas of South Africa. Johannesburg is home to many non-citizens who left their home country because of political or human rights reasons and in search of better economic opportunities in South Africa. In South Africa, adult HIV prevalence is highest in urban areas: 9% in formal urban areas and 18% in informal urban (Shisana et al., 2005). South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV infection and has the largest public sector antiretroviral programme with the health system enrolling a great number of people living with HIV for antiretroviral therapy (Boulle et al., 2008). Non-citizens have the same rights as South African citizens to access free ART services; however, challenges in access antiretroviral treatment for non-citizens have been documented (McCarthy et al., 2009). This research project explores the following question: What are the treatment experiences of Congolese men who are currently well and receiving ART services at a government and at a non-government clinic in Yeoville Johannesburg? The study involves interviewing six Congolese men receiving antiretroviral therapy services and twelve healthcare providers at a government, the primary healthcare clinic and at a non-government clinic, Nazareth HIV clinic. Understanding the experiences of Congolese men and non-citizens is valuable to contribute to the literature on the role of male health seeking behaviour, access to healthcare, and treatment experiences in Johannesburg inner city. The primary objective of this study is to explore the treatment experiences of Congolese men receiving ART services at a government and at a non-government clinic in Yeoville. The study takes a qualitative approach and collects data in the Yeoville clinic (a government primary healthcare clinic) and in Nazareth House HIV clinic (a non-governmental clinic) in the Yeoville suburb of Johannesburg inner-city. Findings from this research reveal different treatment experiences with respect to access - opening and closing hours, documentation, services available; other factors - including support networks, secrecy and stigma; and, survivalist livelihoods that affect access dimensions of Congolese men on ART at the two clinics. Recommendations are made on access dimensions: Extending opening and closing hours of the clinic, giving the training to frontline healthcare providers on the rights of migrants on access to healthcare services including antiretroviral therapy services, and extending number of staff members. On other factors: Providing soup kitchen, shelters and extended campaigns on HIV related services to non-citizen patients on antiretroviral therapy services at the clinic, are ways to solve some challenges face by beneficiaries who access to antiretroviral therapy in both government clinic and non-government clinic in Yeoville, Johannesburg.
Managing the final journey home: exploring perceptions, experiences and responses to death among Congolese migrants in Johannesburg
(2014-01-22) Kwigomba, Darius
The study explores perceptions and responses of Congolese migrants when they experience the death of other migrants. The study takes an ethnographic qualitative approach and gathers data from three Congolese ethnic groups living in Johannesburg. This is done by observing and participating in their funeral ceremonies as well as interviewing community members. The primary objective of this study is to understand the cultural changes migrants experience as a result of migration by exploring social, economic and cultural challenges migrants encounter when experiencing death of a fellow migrant. Findings of this study indicate migrants strive to observe their home culture in the hosting country. Marginalisation is the acculturation strategy that explains their ways of dealing with death in South Africa. Results further indicate migrants’ perceptions of experiences and ways of dealing with death out of their places of origin are negatively annotated. This is due to difficulties in recreating elements of their own culture as well as the absence of people who are traditionally responsible for dealing with death among the migrant community. Lastly some causes of death, such as HIV/AIDS, are highly stigmatized. This study contributes to the scarce literature existent on the topic of perceptions and responses to death among migrants.
Treatment experiences of HIV positive temporary cross-border migrants in Johannesburg : access, treatment continuity and support networks.
(2013-10-03) Hwati, Roseline
As the economic hub of South Africa, Johannesburg attracts cross-border migrants in search of improved livelihoods; over half the population of some of its inner-city suburbs are made up of cross border migrants. Globally as well as locally, foreigners have been blamed for the spread of diseases such as HIV. As a result, they have suffered challenges in accessing public healthcare, particularly antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV. Studies have shown that despite these challenges - foreigners experienced better ART outcomes than nationals. There is a need to explore the ways in which cross border migrants use to access and to stay on treatment, given the wide-range of challenges that they face during their stay in Johannesburg. Semi-structured interviews with five nurses and ten cross-border migrants currently receiving ART, along with non-participant observations, were used to collect data from two public clinics in inner-city Johannesburg. Analysis suggests that the family network in the country of origin remains critical, as cross border migrants are not disclosing their status in the city in which they live, but do so to their families in their countries of origin. Data shows that when it comes to accessing and staying on treatment, cross-border migrants go to the clinic every month as do nationals; ask for more treatment from nurses when going home temporarily; eat healthily; but hide when taking medication, and negotiate confidentiality and trust within their families in countries of origin. Some are found to access treatment in their countries of origin while staying in Johannesburg. Despite the lack of social networks in the inner city, this data suggests that cross-border migrants are successful in accessing and continuing with ART. There is need for future research to look at social networks for internal migrants, so as to compare results.
Authority, trust and accountability : regulation of pharmaceutical drug trade practices in Yeoville.
(2013-09-27) Cossa, Ema Euclesia
The increase in use and distribution of pharmaceuticals on a global scale has caused pharmaceuticals to play an integral role in the notions of quality of health. This study is concerned with how Western medication is transacted and interpreted in explicit and implicit contrast to the other context. I observe the commercial trade of medicines, specifically the effects of regulation of pharmaceutical drug trade in a suburb of Johannesburg (Yeoville) a low income area where many migrant groups have found long and short term refuge. A Policing and Mobility Project (Hornberger & Cossa 2010) centred on tracing paths of medication and the level of policing thereof in Johannesburg revealed that clandestine sale of medication occurs in the suburb’s local market. This prompted a comparison between the formal and informal pharmaceutical trade spaces. Simon (a pharmacist) and Teresa (a former nurse turned market trader) sell pharmaceutical drugs in seemingly contrasting contexts. Despite their expertise in health care, Simon and Teresa were flung to opposite ends of the trade spectrum by regulation. In the weeks I spent with Teresa and Simon it became abundantly clear that the spaces which had been initially presented as the opposite of one another may have had a few layers of common ground. At first it seems as though only regulation has the ability to produce authority, trust and accountability. But later it becomes evident that such aspects can be reproduced through manipulation of everyday practices. Roger Cotterrell’s (1999) interpretation of Emile Durkheim’s view of the law as a ‘Social Fact’ (1999:9), demonstrates how the collective experience of regulation (an aspect of the law) affects the individual. But De Certeau (1984) claims that the same individual can tacitly undermine this collective experience (the dominant form) through everyday practices. The findings suggest that the assumed roles of regulated and unregulated pharmaceutical trading spaces are not as static as they appear. The study concluded that authority, trust and accountability can be reproduced outside of regulation. And secondly thus the formal and informal trade of pharmaceuticals in Yeoville have more in common than perceived since both Simon and Teresa, had authority in health, their customer’s trust and loyalty and were accountable within the trade.
"At your own risk" : narratives of Zimbabwean migrant sex workers in Hillbrow and discourses of vulnerability, agency, and power.
(2013-09-27) Schuler, Greta
This study explores the self-representations of cross-border migrant, female sex workers in Johannesburg and compares these representations to those created by public discourses around cross-border migration, sex work, and gender. With a focus on issues of agency, vulnerability, and power, the study questions the impact of prevalent representations of these women by others on their individual self-representations. The participatory approach of this study builds on previous participatory research projects with migrant sex workers in Johannesburg and employs creative writing as a methodology to generate narratives and thus adds to literature about alternative methodologies for reaching currently marginalised and under-researched groups. Organisations such as Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) and Sisonke Sex Worker Movement have worked with sex workers to generate digital stories for advocacy; however, academic research employing storytelling as a methodology has not been done with migrant sex workers in South Africa. While existing evidence indicates that cross-border migrant, female sex workers are often marginalised by state and non-state actors professing to assist them, this study emphasizes the voices of the women themselves. Over the course of three months, I conducted creative writing workshops with five female Zimbabwean sex workers in Hillbrow, Johannesburg; the women generated stories in these workshops that became the basis for one-on-one unstructured interviews. I compared the self-representations that emerged from this process with the representations of migrant sex workers that I determined from a desk review of the websites of organisations that contribute to trafficking and sex work discourses in South Africa. With the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill close to becoming law in South Africa and the prevalent assumption that systemic trafficking problems are related to the sex industry and irregular migration, developing a better understanding of migrants involved in sex work in South Africa is particularly important. Furthermore, a national focus on reducing and even preventing immigration—and the stigma attached to migrants—adds urgency to the elucidation of the lives of migrants. This study investigates how female Zimbabwean sex workers in Johannesburg—often positioned as vulnerable and sometimes misidentified as trafficked—see themselves in a country increasingly concerned with issues of (anti-)immigration and (anti-)trafficking. Furthermore, sex work is criminalized in South Africa and social mores attach stigma to prostitution. Contrary to assumptions that all sex workers are forced into the industry or foreign sex workers trafficked into the country, the participants in this study spoke of active choices in their lives—including choices about their livelihood and their movement—and describe their vulnerabilities and strengths. Perhaps the most striking similarity between participants was the women’s acknowledgement of the dangers they face and the decisions they make, weighing risks and gains. This recognition of agency ran through the six key themes that I generated through thematic analysis: Conflicting Representations of Sex Work, Stigma and Double Existence, Health and Safety, Importance of Independence, Morality of Remittances, and Mobility. Throughout the analysis, I argue that the participants in the study present themselves as aware of the dangers they face and calculating the risks. The participants responded enthusiastically to the creative writing methodology—through their stories, discussions, and interviews, they portrayed a complex, at times ambiguous, portrait of migrant sex workers in South Africa. While recognizing their double vulnerability—as illegally engaging in sex work and, often, illegally residing in South Africa, they also emphasized their strength and agency.
The impact of informal social networks on integration - a case study of migrant learners at Jules High School in central Johannesburg.
(2013-03-19) Hoehne, Dalia
In the absence of governmental programs which facilitate and support integration, this study looks at strategies that migrants, and in particular migrant children themselves, develop and the experience they have of the process of integration into the South African host society. Thereby, this study assesses the role that informal social networks play for migrant learners at inner-city schools in Johannesburg with regards to their integration into the school environment in particular and into the broader host society in general. Following a case study approach, I primarily focused on the school, namely Jules High School, as an environment where such networks exist since the school environment is considered as a place where social contacts and interactions with the host population necessarily occur that can be vital in support of integration. In order to explore the role of informal social networks for migrant learners, quantitative interviews with 98 Jules High School students (survey) were conducted, complemented by a focus group discussion as well as qualitative interviews with three key informants.
The socio-economic integration of Congolese migrants in Johannesburg : 'a gendered analysis.
(2013-02-18) Mugisho, Aline M.
This qualitative study conducted in South Africa, explores the socio-economic integration of Congolese migrants living in Johannesburg. Drawing on respondents own subjective experiences, this study investigates the way Congolese perceive and explain socio-economic integration and the role that gender-roles play in this understanding. Participants were identified using purposive sampling as well as snowballing techniques and narratives of ten Congolese women and men were employed in data collection using semi structured interview guide. Data for this study was analysed using a combination of content, narrative and discourse analysis. Analysis of the data revealed that loss of status played a major role on Congolese men’s and women’s feelings and perceptions of socio-economic integration. Loss of status was increased by migration through intersections of unequal power relations, access to services, and broader related migration issues. Findings also reveal that participants drew on specific migration related discourses including poverty, access to services (institutional), legal status, socio-economic status, socio-cultural status and xenophobia to explain their perceptions and feelings regarding socio-economic integration in South Africa. Further analysis indicates that being socially and economically integrated is not simply defined by having jobs, the right to access services, associating with South Africans but having the lifestyle that one had in the country of origin prior to migration. This includes feeling respected and finally having the same economic and social power as the locals. Among discourses drawn on, participants also used the discourse on traditional practices to justify their unwillingness to integrate into the South African community. The unwillingness to integrate also arises from what respondents described as the reversal of gender roles, and culture showing how these can be a barrier to socio-economic integration.
The adoption and ratification of the African Union's Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa: an analysis of the dicourse of states and the international humanitarian aid community
(2012-10-17) Johnson, Hilton William Eric
The phenomenon of internal displacement dwarfs the refugee crisis world-wide. Forced migration, and more specifically internal displacement, looms as one of the largest and most poorly understood humanitarian challenges currently facing states and the international humanitarian aid community in Africa. This research project aims to increase our understanding of internal displacement by factoring in the discourse of states and the international humanitarian aid community as a key contributing factor to our conceptualization of this phenomenon in Africa. Discourse analysis may demonstrate various “sites of struggle” as important messages and ideas from the various actors compete. The well-established notion of discourse framing and containing the responses of certain actors and institutions is at the heart of this research project. The international humanitarian aid community and Africa states have been described in various documents related to the 2009 Kampala Convention as playing leading roles in the provision of protection and assistance to internally displacedConvention as its discursive locus, analyzing selected texts (documents) that are related to the production, adoption and ratification processes of the Convention. This research report will include diachronic and synchronic analyses of the ID discourse, in the form of documents, for the purpose of exploring the key messages and ideas, which will then be contextualized with the incorporation of academic literature and information related to the phenomenon of internal and forced displacement in Africa. This research report will attempt to demonstrate the various ways in which the limits of the internal displacement discourse are constructed and negotiated by states and the international humanitarian aid community, in order for us gain a better understanding of the role that is played by this growing platform for international deliberation. persons. This paper uses the Kampala
Exploring the psychological needs of cross-border unaccompanied minors in Johannesburg: how cross-border unaccompanied minors are challenging psychosocial programmes
(2012-08-24) Johnston, Libby
Background: This research investigates the psychosocial needs of cross-border unaccompanied minors (UAMs) within urban Johannesburg, a city that attracts nearly half of all the cross-border migrant population in South Africa (Landau and Gindrey, 2008). The focus of the research is dual; firstly, it explores what the prime psychosocial needs of UAMs are by eliciting them from the UAMs themselves via participatory research workshops. South Africa, by law, has an obligation to all UAMs to provide for them. By ascertaining these needs, this study reveals discrepancies between existing psychosocial programmes designed and provided by the government or service providers and the needs of the UAM. Secondly, the research examines how UAMs are trying to satisfy their psychosocial needs. Identifying the psychosocial needs of UAMs and their coping mechanisms gives us a better understanding of the nature of the issues UAMs face, as well as their subjective perception of and priority they place on those issues. This can consequently contribute (a) to providing constructive suggestions on designing psychosocial programmes by governmental, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), and non-profit organisations (NPOs) and (b) valuable input to further research on livelihood-seeking UAMs, a group that is currently under-represented in cross-border UAM studies, unlike asylum seeking or refugee UAMs. Aims: The aim of this study is to understand the psychosocial needs of UAMs and how they are meeting those needs in Johannesburg. This will provide insights on the nature of the psychosocial needs of UAMs that will ultimately be helpful both to government agencies as well as NGOs and NPOs responsible for programme planning, legislation, and execution of policies regarding cross-border UAMs. Finally, the study aims to draw attention to livelihood-seeking UAMs and to encourage further research on this particular group of UAMs. Therefore my research question is: what are the psychosocial needs of cross-border UAMs in Johannesburg? Methods: In this study, a qualitative research approach is used with the aim of uncovering the psychosocial needs of cross-border UAMs. This was done by using participatory action research and a visual methodology. The data was elicited via two participatory workshops, the first with 36 cross-border minors participants and the second with 12 cross-border UAM participants. This was followed by a series of group discussions after the workshops. Afterwards, a comparison between the participants’ visual inputs with their narratives and responses allowed me to extrapolate their psychosocial needs and ways in which they meet those needs. Adding to the study, 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with service providers from various organisations, both non-governmental and governmental. Finally, the data was compiled from both the cross-border UAM s and service providers to answer the research question and objectives. Conclusion: This research identifies and discusses the following psychosocial needs of crossborder UAMs: family, a care-giver, documentation, fitting-in with their South African peers, security, schooling, better life quality (economic and social advancement), counselling, and playing. The four themes in bold text represent psychosocial needs, which continue to be unmet or unfulfilled by service providers current responses. Although the basic (ontological) needs of cross-border UAMs seem to be met (i.e., food, housing, clothing), psychosocial needs - those needed for emotional well-being - are undermined because service providers do not see them as fundamental as basic needs. One conclusion from my study is that NGOs can better cater to UAMs’ psychosocial needs due to their flexible infrastructure that can accommodate personalisation and prompt redesigning of programmes offered, in contradistinction to the recalcitrant governmental infrastructure. Currently service providers, such as governmental departments, NGOs and NPOs use the law (such as the Children’s Act (2008)), regulations or psychosocial programmes to aid cross-border UAMs, but these laws and programmes are manufactured for either homogenous groups or very specific groups such as refugees and asylum seekers. However, there are persisting gaps in the services available. These gaps are due to the varied nature of psychosocial needs that each ‘child’ has to meet, which is also contingent on their own background and personality. Under the Children’s Act (2008), minors are categorised as a homogeneous group and therefore individual needs are overlooked. Organisations both governmental and non-governmental have tried to incorporate child friendly practices, although in most of the interviews it was mentioned that policy, such as the Children’s Act (2008), is not necessarily ‘child’ or ‘family’ friendly. Overall this research indicates that NGOs and NPOs are well-equipped to cater to the psychosocial needs of UAMs, such as school, family reunification and basic needs. Certain psychosocial needs, however, such as ‘fitting-in’, are still unmet. In these cases, UAMs resort to catering to their own needs (lke living on the street in selfappointed families), relying on service providers for emotional support and/or basic needs.
The claim for urban space and the problem of exclusion: the perception of outsiders' rights by communities affected by xenophobic violence in contemporary South Africa
(2012-08-21) Ogunyemi, Samson
This research is located in the broader body of literature and activity that have sought to comprehend the xenophobic violence of 2008 in South Africa and the persistence of this phenomenon, especially in poor locales of the main urban areas. The primary objective is to explore the perceptions that South Africans have of the rights of those people designated as outsiders and/or foreigners who live in areas that have experienced xenophobic violence targeting foreigners as well as people of South African minority ethnic groups. This study attempts to unpack the discourse of insider versus outsider rights within South African communities in relation to South Africa’s recent history - the xenophobic violence of 2008. Notably, it examines the challenge brought about by the crushing of space and time as an effect of globalization and how this has contributed to the process of multi-culturalism and multi-ethnicity that local communities are largely unprepared to cope with. This study contributes to the understanding of “otherness” as a key issue to design and implement better policies and practices that are necessary to promote the social and spatial inclusion of international migrants in Africa and the world. The empirics of this study give credence to the view that migrants’ rights operate at the rhetorical level, largely due to the lack of political will to translate them into actual benefits. The study specifically looks at two communities affected by xenophobic violence - Tembisa and Alexandra. Focusing on South Africans, the study draws on information gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews and group discussions carried out from July through October 2011. The findings are examined through thematic content analysis.
Making meaning amidst xenophobia: how Apolistic Zionist Churches make sense of outsiders, scarcity, and entitlement in Alexandra Township, South Africa
(2012-02-28) Hartman, Becca
Reports from the May 2008 surge of ‘xenophobic’ violence in Johannesburg’s Alexandra Township and across the country name the causes of the attacks as: poor service delivery and high unemployment; a sense of entitlement and chauvinistic nativism; increasingly pervasive and publicly accepted anti-foreigner sentiments alongside a practice of vigilante justice; and the absence or agendas of local leadership. Drawing on these reports’ findings this dissertation firstly names the conceptual foundations that describe the causes and overlap with political and religious rhetoric: entitlement and work; outsider and insider; and scarcity and abundance. The role of leadership is utilised for its structural, as well as existing conceptual implications. Secondly, this research uses analysis of discourses of the above named concepts, observed in two meaning-making institutions located in and near Alexandra Township’s, where the 2008 surge began. These case studies are one majority Zulu and one majority Xhosa Apostolic Zionist Churches, and are based on one month of ethnographic research in each church and semi-structured interviews with approximately one third of both churches’ members and leaders, commonly using translation. Finally, this dissertation argues that the particularities of these churches position them as unique pockets of passive resistance to the xenophobic mobilisations that have and continue to engage many of South Africa’s Township residents, through a savvy assessment of needs and strategies; these reflect both the historic moment from which such churches emerged in South Africa and members’ current experiences as urban labour migrants. Ultimately, this research aims to provide insight into the role of one particular type of meaning-making and action-shaping institution, in areas where traditional political engagement often does not operate.
Gaining an understanding of Umnyama from the Zionist churches: a case study of Zimbabwean migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa
(2012-01-20) Zulu, Melekias
When migrants move, they move with their religious beliefs and practices. What happens to those religious beliefs and practices in the country of migration? Is there change or continuity in religious affiliation? While much of the literature on Zimbabweans is largely focused on their reasons for migration, the policies, laws and difficulties they encounter in South Africa; this study examines how Zimbabwean migrants use religion in the host country. This study investigates if and how migration affects Zimbabwean migrants’ religious beliefs and practices. This study explores how Zionist churches respond to the existential needs of migrants and their worldviews; specifically looking at the responses offered to metaphysical challenges like umnyama (misfortune) of Zimbabwean migrants in Johannesburg.
(Un)Rest in peace : the agents of human remains repatriation and the lives of living migrants : a study of agency, process and effect in repatriating bodies from South Africa and the U.S.A.
(2011-11-10) Wheeler, Brittany Lauren
Migration, as a field of study and a phenomenon greatly impacting society, primarily concerns itself with the living. When migrants die outside their native territory or nation, the economic, social, physical and spiritual concerns that normally influence the management of death may be expanded to add an imperative that precedes even burial or other funeral arrangements: the decision of whether to return a body to its place of origin. This process can be simple and straightforward, but it can also be culturally complicated and illuminate issues and realities far beyond the breadth of the repatriation process alone. This study enters the discussion at the juncture of death and decision-making about repatriation, and does so by assessing two distinct systems of human remains repatriation and their involved agents, applying their lessons to a wider discussion of agency, repatriation and the situation of living migrants. The first system follows the repatriation of Native American bodies from museums in the United States, and the second follows the repatriation of African foreign nationals repatriating bodies from Johannesburg, South Africa. These disparate cases introduce differing concepts of who a migrant is and what migration involves, but they also provide a lens through which to consider whether more universal themes in agency, process and migrant experience can be found, linking the dead to the living through the process of repatriation.
Perceptual factors and Nigerian immigrants in Johannesburg: a study of the role of Nigerian-South African intermarriages in social integration
(2011-09-22) Oluwafemi, Adeagbo
This study seeks to understand how the general assumptions, perceptions, and representations of Nigerian immigrants shape marriages between Nigerian men and South African women in Johannesburg. It looks at the impact of prejudice on marriages between Nigerian men and South African women in an environment of generalized xenophobia and anti-Nigerian sentiments. This study looks into the private lives of intermarried couples, how they negotiate everyday discriminations and prejudices and the impact the usual general violent attacks and media reports bring upon their marriage. The major purpose of this study is to look at the impact of xenophobia and discrimination against Nigerian-South African marriages in Johannesburg. The study finds that despite the discriminations and prejudices directed against Nigerian immigrants in Johannesburg, Nigerian-South African couples often adopt love and humour to negotiate such discriminations. Also, the role of religion, particularly, the church in preaching and promoting love and unity among intermarried couples in this study is also significant. Further, this study finds that despite different contacts between Nigerian immigrants and South Africans through intermarriages, Nigerian husbands are subjected to close scrutiny to prove their innocence or confirm their guilt. Accordingly, the levels of integration differ among couples. Also, the study finds that this contact between Nigerian immigrants and South Africans is changing the perceptions and pre-conceived generalizations that all Nigerians are bad. The study is based on data gathered from a 4-month ethnographic fieldwork (August-November 2010) among Nigerian immigrants, South Africans and others (non-South Africans) in Johannesburg, South Africa. The data was collected through interviews of Nigerian immigrants, Nigerian husbands and their South African wives, friends and families. I interviewed 15 couples (Nigerian-South African couples), of both young and old marriages. The study uses Alba and Nee’s (2003) ‘intermarriage and assimilation theory’ which was originally applied in America to show the importance of intermarriage as the major indicator of integration. The context was quite different from South African context due to South Africa’s unique history and concept of marriage as well as the importance of other factors like employment, legal status etc as indicators of integration. Although this theory also works in the South African context by promoting more personal contacts between Nigerian immigrants and South Africans (particularly black South Africans), the continuous scrutiny of identity and integrity of Nigerian husbands make its operation different from where it was originally applied. Therefore, there were no absolutes in applying this theory in a South African context because intermarriage does not depict integration since other factors like employment and legal status play important roles in the integration process

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