ETD Collection

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Exploring perceptions on racism and xenophobia at the University of the Witwatersrand
    (2018) Ntshiqa, Mzubanzi Given
    The purpose of this research is to explore the differences in perception on racism and xenophobia between male and female students at the Wits School of Governance. Literature has shown that there were incidents of racism and xenophobia at the University of the Witwatersrand. The following research questions were answered, that is – (i.) ‘To what extent are the differences in perception on racism between male and female students at the Wits School of Governance?’ and, (ii.) ‘To what extent are the differences in perception on xenophobia between male and female students at the Wits School of Governance?’ The two hypotheses were tested, that is(i.) ‘There are significant differences in perception on racism between male and female students at the Wits School of Governance’, and (ii.) ‘There are significant differences in perception on xenophobia between male and female students at the Wits School of Governance’. This research sought to bring the racism and xenophobia incidents to the attention of the Members of Parliament (MPs) and civil servants who happened to be students at the Wits School of Governance (WSG) as a way of influencing policy by bringing awareness, ensure understanding of the issue and its importance, and generate concern for racism and xenophobia. The WSG was chosen as the physical context for this research. This research employed the quantitative research strategy, the case research study design, the purposive sampling technique and an on-line questionnaire to draw data. This research found that there was no significant difference in perception on racism between male and female students at the Wits School of Governance, but there was a significant difference in perception on xenophobia between male and female students at the Wits School of Governance.
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    Exploring negotiations of space and safety by international African students in South African higher education
    (2019) Hoxobes, Gezina
    This study employed a phenomenological analysis to explore the negotiations of space and safety by international African students in South African higher education. Issues of how international African students enhance their safety, what identity consequences these safety enhancements have and how the sense of community amongst international African students influences their psychological wellbeing were of pertinence to this study. This study included international African students from the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Pretoria, totalling 13 participants. It was found that international African students: employ diverse mechanisms to enhance their safety; have inhibitions to self-expression and enablers to identity expression in enhancing their safety; have a poor sense of community; experience feelings of happiness, sadness and loneliness as well as indifference and; have encountered xenophobia in diverse forms. These findings contribute to the scant body of knowledge about the experiences of international African students within the South African context and so encourages further research in this area.
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    A narrative exploration of migrants to South Africa and how they navigate the changing immigration landscape
    (2016) Read, Brigitte Renate
    Economic migrants to South Africa face a hostile reception; periodic displays of widespread xenophobia have highlighted the myths and stereotypes that still abound about foreigners - that they are job-stealers, criminals and a threat to our nation’s well-being. The Department of Home Affairs recently brought in new immigration laws that raise the barriers to entry and participation in the South African economy and society. Yet a back door has been left wide open for economic migrants, often unskilled and with no other options, to enter South Africa, live and work. For six consecutive years South Africa was the number one destination for asylum seekers globally and the influx has caused the refugee determination process to become clogged and corrupt, leaving genuine refugees vulnerable and hundreds of thousands of foreigners in an unhappy limbo. The accompanying narrative long form journalism piece highlights some of the fault lines in the government’s uncoordinated and inconsistent migration policy. Overall the project seeks to personalize some of the key challenges and contentious issues faced by migrants to South Africa. It aims to puts a human face to a bureaucratic process by accessing the stories of marginalized migrants, giving them a voice to articulate their experiences in South Africa. The accompanying method document outlines some of the academic research underpinning the study.
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    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.
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    Access to health care among Somali forced migrants in Johannesburg
    (2007-02-23T14:21:22Z) Pursell, Irene
    Objective: To identify and investigate barriers faced by Somali forced migrants when accessing health care in Johannesburg. In particular, the study seeks to compare perceptions of health personnel and migrants as to the nature of such access constraints. Design and Methods: The study made use of semi-structured and in-depth interviews with a snowball sample of health personnel and migrants. Ten health personnel were interviewed and twenty migrants (ten male and ten female). Results: Constraints of language and xenophobia were identified by both health personnel and forced migrant interviewed. Constraints related to the shortage of resources and the poor functioning of the referral system are experienced by all users of the public health system, irrespective of their nationality. No mention was made of traditional or allopathic medicine. Conclusions: There exists a gap between the access to health care guaranteed in the Refugees Act and practices at facility level. There are many similarities across interviews in the constraints identified by migrants and some agreement in the constraints identified by migrants and health personnel. These results confirm that migrants experience a fairly severe level of constraint when attempting to utilize formal health care services in Johannesburg.
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    An exploration into educators' perceptions and attitudes towards immigrant learners
    (2007-02-13T13:25:49Z) Sikhakhane, Lynette Matshepo
    The main purpose of the study described in this report was to explore educators’ perceptions and their attitudes towards immigrant learners in their school and how those impact on them, at work and in their social lives. This study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. Questionnaires were used as research instruments in this study and semi-structured interviews were also carried out with individual educators. The sample of the study constituted thirteen educators from a school in Gauteng. The school was chosen because of its situation and because it is a co-educational school in an area with many immigrants. Educators’ comments suggest that they are not adequately trained or prepared to deal with immigrants in their classroom. They perceived that they were not sufficiently equipped or informed with the policy of inclusion to accommodate immigrant learners. Further areas of concern expressed by educators include an inability to overcome the language barrier when dealing with the learners from outside South Africa, and a generalised lack of support by employers and superiors. From the results of this study, one can deduce that in general educators perceive immigrant learners as an additional burden to deal with in a classroom situation, which impacts negatively on their work performance.
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    The development of ethnic minorities: A case study of west Africans in South Africa
    (2006-11-16T09:55:06Z) Petkou, Chamba Lawrence
    This thesis is a study of how West Africa immigrants experience immigration into South Africa, and how they are affected by their new context. Based on interview schedule (survey), in-depth interviews, observations (direct and indirect), primary and secondary sources, some 112 Cameroonians and Nigerians (72 Cameroonians and 40 Nigerians) were studied between May 2001 and December 2003. The study revealed that, xenophobia, discrimination, and the South African affirmative action, make it difficult for West African immigrants to achieve their goals in the country. From an overall perspective, these immigrants are not allowed to work or study; they suffer harassment, social exclusion and gross human rights abuses in the country. While the majority of these immigrants have actually abandoned their home countries for South Africa, various reasons account for their immigration into South Africa. A study of the factors influencing West African immigration into South Africa, found that, although several factors account for West African immigration into South Africa, the factors are interlinked to one another, and not independent in themselves. I showed that, although push and pull factors, such as political, economic, socio-cultural factors, communication and technological advances, proximity, precedence and tradition of migration influence West African immigration into South Africa, the role of family pride, usually ignored in most migration studies is fast becoming an emerging push factor of migration in the West African sub-region. In South Africa, West African immigrants interact with the general public, as well as some government institutions most notably, the Department of Home Affairs. An examination of past and current immigration policy, the Department of Home Affairs, and the general public found that although immigrants enter South Africa with the hope of improving their lives, and those of family members back home, they are socially excluded; suffer from serious human rights abuses, discrimination and xenophobic hostility. The Aliens Control Act of 1991, the new Refugee Act of 1998, negative attitude of some officials, interpreters and the general public, a simultaneous increase in the iii number of immigrants with unemployment, lack of socialization between South Africans and West Africans, apartheid isolation and indoctrination of South Africans, and the role of the media have all contributed to the high levels of discrimination and xenophobic hostility West Africans experience in South Africa. I have termed this fear and dislike of West Africans, and the resultant negative reactions by South Africans ‘Westaphobia’. The study saw West African immigrants as socially excluded in South African. An examination why, revealed the factors and the reasons as another facet of discrimination and xenophobia. It was found that, immigrants adapt in various ways to resist discrimination and xenophobia, and in the course of adapting, modify their personal identities, giving rise to multiple identities. Such hybridities were evident in immigrants dressing, dancing and hairstyles, expressive gestures, having more South African friends, changing legal status, joining, forming and organizing social functions. Despite experiences of discrimination, xenophobia and exclusion, the study found that immigrants implement certain strategies to ensure their survival in South Africa. In the midst of these problems, some immigrants still manage to succeed in their businesses and other under takings. Immigrants’ high concentration in Hillbrow with its commercial and locational advantages, initial capital through immigrants’ networks, the use of family labor, are all added advantages. The study also found that through small business activities, and the trading of ethnic goods, immigrants are able to survive and send remittances back home. At the same time, trading in and consuming ethnic goods help strengthened immigrants self-identification, unify and link them to their roots. Further revelations saw some of the immigrants as transmigrants, who develop hybrid identities, and live their lives across boundaries. In this way, they are able to succeed despite their status as the undesirables in South Africa. Others are pushed to the wall, and are forced to transgress various margins of the law, to ensure their survival, resist discrimination and xenophobic hostility in South Africa. For some, transgressing margins of the law is the fastest means of amassing wealth to be able to live a better live in South Africa, and still take care of family members in their home countries.