FEMALE LABOUR MIGRATION IN JOHANNESBURG AND THE ABSENCE OF AFRICAN WOMEN IN HOUSEHOLDS A report on a study project presented to The Department of Social Work School of Human and Community Development Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of Social Work by NKOSINOKWAZI MNCUBE December, 2016 i DECLARATION 1.I know that plagiarism means taking and using the ideas, writings, works or inventions of another as if they were one’s own. I know that plagiarism not only includes verbatim copying, but also the extensive use of another person’s ideas without proper acknowledgment (which includes the proper use of quotation marks). I know that plagiarism covers this sort of use of material found in textual sources and from the Internet. 2.I acknowledge and understand that plagiarism is wrong. 3.I understand that my research report must be accurately referenced. I have followed the rules and conventions concerning referencing, citation and the use of quotations as set out in the Departmental Guide. 4.This report is my own work, I acknowledge that copying someone else’s assignment, or part of it, is wrong, and that submitting identical work to others constitutes a form of plagiarism. 5.I have not allowed anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as their own. Nkosinokwazi Mncube (751026) Signature ___________ __ Date____ /______/______ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the following people who have helped to make this research possible: a) To my research supervisor Motlalepule Nathane-Taulela whose kind and encouraging words motivated me and inspired throughout the process. Your guidance and expertise was invaluable to my research and it was a privilege to work alongside you. b) To my family, friends and colleagues thank you for all the support and encouragement throughout the year, it really helped. c) To the Biltina Unisex salon who me the opportunity to interview their female worker. And to the female migrant workers who gave their time and shared their stories and experiences of female labour migration, it was an honour meeting each of you. iii ABSTRACT The participation of women in formal labour has been on the increase globally. Women constitute approximately 45 percent of the South African labour according to the World Bank. With limited employment opportunities in rural areas in Africa, there are high numbers of women migrating to urban areas in South Africa to seek employment opportunities. Consequently, this means that there is absence of women in the home and they leave their children in the care of relatives; this is particularly in cases of women in lower income groups who cannot afford alternative child care facilities in the cities. As a result, the number of women that are absent in their households due to work purposes is increasing. This study was qualitative in nature and it employed a case study design. Data was collected through face to face interview and semi-structured interview schedule was used in the study. The participants in the study were women who are from rural households and have left children with relatives of family member to come and work in the informal sector in Johannesburg.. This study is important to the social work profession in that the problem of female migration affects the family function and particularly children. It was hoped that the findings of this study would help understand how rural households function in the absence of mother. Keywords African women absence, female labour migration, households; informal sector iv Contents CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND RATIONALE OF STUDY ..................................... 1 1.2 CONTEXTUALISATION IN SOUTH AFRICAN ARENA ...................................................... 2 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION ............................................................................................................ 3 1.4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ....................................................................................................... 3 1.5 CHAPTER OUTLINE ................................................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................................... 5 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 PARENTING AND EMPLOYMENT ......................................................................................... 5 2.3 FEMALE LABOUR MIGRATION ............................................................................................ 6 2.4 WOMEN IN INFORMAL SECTOR ........................................................................................... 7 2.5 POVERTY AND FEMALE MIGRATION ................................................................................. 9 2.6 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY: FEMINIST THEORY .......................... 9 CHAPTER THREE: ............................................................................................................................ 12 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 12 3.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 12 3.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ............................................................................ 12 3.3.1 PRIMARY AIM .................................................................................................................... 12 3.3.2 SECONDARY OBJECTIVES .............................................................................................. 12 3.4 RESEARCH APPROACH ........................................................................................................ 13 3.5 RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................................... 13 3.6 POPULATION AND SAMPLE ................................................................................................ 14 3.6.1 RESEARCH SETTING ........................................................................................................ 14 3.6.2 POPULATION .................................................................................................................... 14 3.6.3 SAMPLE .............................................................................................................................. 14 3.7 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION ........................................................................................ 15 3.8 DATA COLLECTION .............................................................................................................. 16 3.9 DATA ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................... 16 3.10 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................................. 17 3.10.1 PERMISSION AND INFORMED CONSENT ................................................................... 17 v 3.10.2 CONFIDENTIALITY ......................................................................................................... 17 3.10.3 PARTICIPANTS’ CONSIDERATION AND RESPECT .................................................... 17 3.11 LIMITATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 18 3.11.1 LANGUAGE ...................................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER FOUR: .............................................................................................................................. 19 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ................................................................................. 19 4.2 EXPERIENCES OF CHILD REARING IN THE WOMEN'S CONTEXT .............................. 19 4.3 SUPPORT SYSTEMS ............................................................................................................... 23 4.4 REASONS BEHIND MIGRATION ......................................................................................... 26 4.4.1 UNEMPLOYMENT ............................................................................................................. 26 4.4.2 BETTER WAGES ................................................................................................................ 27 4.4.3 CONVINCED BY OTHERS ................................................................................................ 28 4.4.4 SAFETY ............................................................................................................................... 29 4.5 JOHANNESBURG AS THE LABOUR MIGRATION DESTINATION ................................. 30 4.6 HOW BEING ABSENT FROM THEIR HOUSEHOLDS HAS IMPACTED THEIR LIVES . 31 CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................................. 34 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................. 34 5.1 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 34 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 36 vi APPENDICES Appendix A: Participant Information Sheet.......... .............................................................38 Appendix B: Consent Form.................................................................................................40 Appendix C: Consent Form (Tape Recording of Interview)........................ ......................41 Appendix D: Interview Schedule........................................................................................42 Appendix E: Permission letter from Biltina Unisex salon Ethics Approval letter vii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Women have been migrating across the world over the past 100 years. They have been migrating for work purposes, the kind of work that they were doing mostly was domestic work. Men were also migrating and they were the ones who were known mostly for migration compared to women. This is because they were known to be bread winners in families and women looking after the households. Women were not popular for migration. As they were migrating, they were facing challenges as women. This research focuses on women and their experiences regarding female labour migration. The women that this study specifically focused on were those that were African migrants, and had left their children with families or relatives back home. The study wanted to understand the experiences of these women and how they deal with their challenges. This report was done after the study had been conducted. It is based on explaining the type of approach, method, and the analysis that were used and how they were used. In doing so, it also explains the findings that were found during the study and the recommendations that the researcher recommended after finding the findings. The report is divided into five chapters, the first one being the introduction to the study, the second one being the literature review, the third being the research methodology, the fourth one being the findings and their discussion, and the fifth one being the recommendations and conclusion. This chapter is the introduction chapter where everything about the report is briefly explained. 1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND RATIONALE OF STUDY Historically labour migration has been viewed as a phenomenon characterised by the movement of men from rural areas to urban areas for employment opportunities (Batten, Baschieri & Zulu, 2009). Women migrating to cities were seen as dependents of men and very little attention has been paid on the labour migration of women (Batten, Baschieri & Zulu, 2009). Black South African women have been migrating to cities like Johannesburg 1 since the discovery of gold and the establishment of suburbs in and around Johannesburg. 1860’s, 1890’s & 1930’s are the years that most of the northern suburbs in Johannesburg were established (SAHO, 2015). This means that women started migrating 100 years ago; majority of the women were domestic workers. It is an established fact that women are responsible for multiple roles are responsible for multiple roles in the family (Goldstein &Reiboldt, 2004); therefore in the absence of the women for extended periods of time the child care and child rearing responsibility is delegated to other members of the extended families (Burnette & College, 2010). Women are absent in the lives of their children due to female migration (for work related purposes). This is a problem because they end up not being able to give their children parental presence and nurturing that they are supposed to give as mothers. They are also not fully involved in their children’s development growth. Also, women who are employed in the informal sector of the economy are more disadvantaged in that they have limited choices in terms of child rearing and child caring once they have migrated to urban areas (Indian Council of Social Science Research, 2015). Child care facilities are unaffordable and inaccessible to this group of women with limited choices women at their disposal women often have to choose the economic provider role over the child rearing and leave children in the care of extended family members (ICSSR, 2015). Even though extended families have been a safety net for many generations there is evidence to show that in some cases children might not necessarily get the best (Baum II, 2003). In some cases women leave children three months after birth to return to work and will see their infrequently (Baum II, 2003). More research has been done on the effects that mother absence does on children, but has not focused much on the women's experiences regarding the issue. According to McLoyd, Jayaratne, Ceballo, & Borquez (1994), children are psychologically and emotionally affected when their mothers leave them with relatives for work purposes. Sometimes women are absent for a long time, usually they would come back to their children after a year and only for a week. This research is important because it wants to understand issues related to female migration. Research has been done on female migration but it has not focused much on understanding the phenomenon from the women’s point of view 1.2 CONTEXTUALISATION IN SOUTH AFRICAN ARENA In SA there are women who are employed and have children to look after at the same time. They also have to run their households and this is a lot of work for them. They send their 2 children to crèches and schools or have family members to look after them whilst they are at work. Some women work in the informal sector where they are street vendors or domestic workers etc., and they are not earning enough salary to cover their expenses but only to survive. The informal sector of South Africa is over represented by women who come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds (In On Africa, 2013). Some of them are breadwinners in their families, and therefore have no choice but to work. They also face challenges at work such as being treated unequally with their male counter-parts. Women street traders face difficulties with accommodation because historically African women were barred from living in the cities except as domestic workers (IOA, 2013). But they still go to work in order for them to be able to provide for their families. 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION What are the experiences of African women who migrate to Johannesburg for employment purpose and are absent from the households for extended periods of time? 1.4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Research has not focused on the experience of women absence from the women. It has not tried to understand what the women think and feel about having to leave their children for other countries because they have to work and provide for them. Therefore, this research was unique because it solely focused on the women’s experiences about having to leave their children because of work. This research also aimed to explore and understand the experiences of women who migrate to cities and are absent in their rural household. And thereby allowing people to understand the situation that the African migrant women who are mothers find themselves under, and if possible action be taken to these women so that they can cope with their situation. 1.5 CHAPTER OUTLINE Chapter two focuses on literature review and theoretical framework. This research used a literature review that focuses on female migration and women employment. And the theoretical framework that underpinned the study was a feminist theory. Chapter three explains more about the research methodology. A qualitative research approach was done to achieve the aim of the research; semi-structured interviews were used to gather information from the participants. The semi-structured interview schedule was used as an instrument for data collection. After the data was collected, a thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data. Before the interviews, issues of confidentiality were explained to the participants. 3 The participants were migrant women from African countries who work in the informal sector in Johannesburg. The kind of job that these women are doing is hairdressing. Chapter four is about the findings of the research and their discussion. The research objectives were used to explain the findings of the study. Some of the findings were expected and some were not expected. For example, the participants left their children back home with relatives and because of that the researcher assumed that one of the findings would be that they send money home consistently, for example, on monthly basis. But that was not the case according to the findings; some women are not able to send money home for some time because they have to look after themselves whilst they are in Johannesburg and the money that they send home should be enough to last the children and the people looking after them for a long time. Chapter five explains the main findings, conclusions, and recommendations for the research. 4 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION Over the last 25 years, little has been done to incorporate gender into theories of international migration (Boyd & Grieco, 2003). Yet, it is important to understand gender in the migration context (Boyd & Grieco, 2003). For example, female labour migration is not the same as labour migration in general, the experiences that migrant women have with regard to migration are not the same as those of migrant men. Migration theory has traditionally emphasized the causes of international migration over questions of who migrates; it has often failed to adequately address gender-specific migration experiences (Boyd & Grieco, 2003). Without clear theoretical underpinnings, it becomes difficult to explain, for example, the conditions under which women migrate, or the predominance of women in certain labor flows and not in others (Boyd & Grieco, 2003). Globally, most women migrate because they seek employment, and that makes them to be absent in their households. The study that was conducted used feminist theory as a theoretical underpinning to understand female labour migration from the migrant African women who are also mothers. 2.2 PARENTING AND EMPLOYMENT There is research evidence to suggest that most Black South African women who are employed leave their children in the care of extended family members. This is due to unavailable and unaffordable child care facilities in urban areas where most women find employment....Studies found that sons of employed mothers in the middle class showed lower school performance and lower I.Q. scores during the grade school years (Hoffman, 1998). It is said that the absence of mothers due to employment encourages independence in children. In the context of SA most women are mothers and are employed at the same time, does this mean that most of the male children have lower I.Q scores in the country? This is not true in the context of SA. Therefore the researcher agrees that mother employment encourages independence in children but does not agree with the point that says sons of employed mother showed lower school performance and lower I.Q scores. The researcher believes that there are male children who have high I.Q scores yet their mothers are employed. 5 Encouraging independence and granting children autonomy may have a negative effect on boys because it increases the influence of the peer group which, for boys, is more likely to be counter to adult standards (Hoffman, 1998). It also modifies parental styles or strategies of discipline and control, or by affecting parents' perceptions and evaluations of their children (McLoyd, Jayaratne, Ceballo, & Borquez, 1994). Even though it has been found through research that children development is affected by the absent of their mothers because of employment, not much has been investigated about the women’s experiences of this. There is a need to understand what do mothers have to say about this women employment phenomenon. That is why this research intended to investigate on the mothers’ points of view about them having to leave their children because of employment in Johannesburg. Johannesburg is known as a city with available job opportunities. The other thing is that women in the workplace are treated equally with men. This result in them working shifts as, men do, and end up not getting time to spend with their children. According to research women were the most exploited workers as they were often regarded as the cheapest source of labour (Tshoaedi & Hlela, 2006). This is because women were regarded as uneducated and unskilled people; it was easy to use their labour and pay those lower wages (Tshoaedi & Hlela, 2006). Due to patriarchal beliefs that exist in society; it was believed that women were only good enough in the kitchen. Household responsibilities were seen as a private sphere and appropriate for only women whereas the public sphere, which was about paid labour, was seen as only suitable for men (Tshoaedi & Hlela 2006). All this was because of gender differences and back then they had time to look after their children. With time when things changed, women got more involved in the market place and children were left behind. Now that they are treated the same with the male counterparts at work it becomes hard for them to look after their children. This results in children being abandoned, which is why this research wanted to understand how the working mothers understand the phenomenon. 2.3 FEMALE LABOUR MIGRATION More women compared to men are migrating from one country to another (Donato, 1993).Women migrating from other countries in Africa to South African urban areas to work leave behind their relatives and friends back home. This makes it even harder for them to come with their children to South Africa because they have no one that they know who can 6 look after their children in SA. Most of them are involved in informal employment and therefore do not have means to bring their children in SA. It is said that having formal employment could give migrant women options on how they can take of their children (Muthuri, 2016).Not affording to bring their children with them has an impact on them, which is why this research wanted to understand what they have to say about this phenomenon of female migration. Migrant women are most cases the breadwinners in their families; everyone back home is dependent on the remittance they send home. Women are increasingly becoming migrant workers in order to improve the economic status of their families (Zlotnik, 1995). They are said to make up half of the global migration (Fleury, 2016). Migrant women are important economic actors and their participation in economic activity is closely related to the needs of their families, so that the choices that migrant women make regarding work cannot be understood without taking into account the situation of their families and women's roles within them (Zlotnik, 1995).Women show more stability and frequency in sending home remittances, and are more likely to remit when unexpected shocks occur, serving as a form of insurance (Feury, 2016). Migrant women’s remittances also improve the family’s well‐being, with women again directing remittances to be used for health care and education for their families (Fleury, 2016). Some studies note that remittances increase education, especially for girls (Fleury, 2016). All this shows that the situation of their families and their roles within them is taken into account when trying to understand female labour migration in research. But little or none is being said about their point of view about female labour migration, this makes research on female migration to have a gap. And this research aims to close that gap. The women that this research is going to focus on are the ones who are from different countries to come and work in Johannesburg as it called ‘a city of gold’. They are mainly in the informal sector, hence they of low socio-economic status. 2.4 WOMEN IN INFORMAL SECTOR Most women are in the informal sector because of unemployment rates in the formal sector. There is a significant overlap between being a woman, working in the informal sector, and being poor (Chen, 2000). A higher percentage of people working in the informal sector are poor relative to those in formal sector. Poverty leads them to working in the informal sector. This overlap is even greater for women than for men (Chen, 2000).Some of these women do 7 not have qualifications to be employed in the formal sector. They find themselves in a situation whereby they have to provide for their families yet they are unemployed. As it is known most women are single parents, their families depend on them for survival. They then go and work in the informal sector as there is not much qualifications needed for them to be employed. The informal sector is the primary source of employment for women in most developing countries (Bertulfo, 2011). Existing data suggest that the majority of economically active women in developing countries are engaged in the informal sector (Bertulfo, 2011). Informal workers typically lack the social protection afforded to formal paid workers, such as worker benefits and health insurance, and typically work under irregular and casual contracts (Chen, 2000). Vulnerability characterizes informal employment. Informal workers’ working environment is not protected by health and safety legislation. They do not receive overtime payment, a minimum wage, worker benefits such as paid vacation and sick leave, health insurance, unemployment insurance, maternity benefits and parental leave (Bertulfo, 2011). They have little or no formal means of managing risk, are not covered with pension benefits or access to child care (Bertulfo, 2011). They have little access to mortgage loans or scholarships to help finance housing and education (Bertulfo, 2011). They are vulnerable to various forms of exploitation by employers as they often work without written contracts. Many observers argue that women are less able than men to compete in labour, capital, and product markets because they have relatively low levels of education and skills or are less likely to own property or have market know-how (Bertulfo, 2011). Women were not supported to do more formal work in the past years (Chen, 2000). And that made them not to be involved in the corporate world but prefer to stay back and do household chores. This is one of the reasons why most women are experiencing poverty in the informal sector. Other observers argue that women’s time and mobility are constrained by social and cultural norms that assign the responsibility for social reproduction to women and discourage investment in women’s education and training (Bertulfo, 2011). Hence they do not have qualifications for the formal sector to employ them. 8 2.5 POVERTY AND FEMALE MIGRATION Poverty is the main cause of most women working in the informal sector. More than 1 billion in the world today, the great majority of whom are women, live in unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in the developing countries (Women Watch, 2010). The salary that they get in the informal sector is not enough, leading them to being poor. The conditions that women in the informal sector work under are sometimes not safe and not conducive for them to do their work. Women work under such conditions because they are poor and have no other choice. Working in the informal sector allows them to be able to face challenges in their day- to-day lives. Their work is the only thing that can help keep a family out of poverty (Murray & Ferguson, 2002). Addressing the conditions of female informal workers contributes to poverty reduction as it means improving the lives of at least half of the working population in many countries. When living and working conditions of female informal workers improve, so does their productivity, which leads to increased income, contributes to overall economic growth, and reduces poverty in the long term. Gender inequity in the informal economy will have to be taken into account in development planning. Such action will contribute to aid effectiveness. This study will not address the conditions under which these women work under, but it will give information based on their experiences. By doing so, it will make those that can help to realize that they need to help address the conditions of the informal sector. 2.6 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY: FEMINIST THEORY This research used feminist theory as a theoretical framework. This theoretical framework underpinned the study because it looks at the expectations of women by society and compares them to those of men. And this study looks at female migration whereas society expects men to be the ones who are migrating. Gender inequality is one of the social issues that the feminist theory focuses on. Men and women play different roles in families and communities. These roles are ascribed to them by society."Gender inequality is built into the organization of marriage and families, work and the economy, politics, religions, the arts and other cultural productions, and the very language we speak" (Lorber, 1997 p. 08). In all these social institutions women play roles that make 9 them look inferior whereas men play the superior roles. And this makes gender inequality to become more dominant in our society, and as a result, lead to discrimination of women. People migrate from rural areas to urban areas for better job opportunities. They work in urban areas and send money back in the rural areas to support those that are left behind. Gender differences affect the migration of women (Boyd & Grieco, 2013). According to the feminist theory, Women and men have different roles that are expected of them in the society (Boyd & Grieco, 2013). Men should engage in activities that would show their masculinity and women engage in those that would make them to be seen as feminine. As part of being masculine, men are the one that should migrate from one place to another to look for better job opportunities when women stay behind having household responsibilities (Boyd & Grieco, 2013). This is one of the things that raise patriarchal power in society. According to liberal feminism gender differences are not based in biology, and therefore that women and men are not all that different - their common humanity supersedes their procreative differentiation (Lorber, 1997). This explains why women can also migrate as men do even though migration was only expected from men in the past years. In nowadays women engage in jobs that according to societal beliefs were only meant for men. Men can train for such jobs as nursing, teaching, and secretary, and women for fields like engineering, construction, and police work (Lorber, 1997). And with a diverse pool of qualified applicants, employers can be legally mandated to hire enough different workers to achieve a reasonable balance in their workforce, and to pay them the same and also give an equal chance to advance in their careers (Lorber, 1997). All this shows that women and men are not different as it is perceived by society, and therefore, can migrate from one country to another. Women then face challenges when migrating because migration is seen as something that is suitable for men (Boyd & Grieco, 2013). For example when men migrate they leave their household with women and children to look after and hence they do not face many challenges when migrating. Whereas women have to deal with the challenges of leaving their children behind and not finding formal work in their final destination (Boyd & Grieco, 2013). Formal work is more likely to be found by men and not women in final destinations of migration; hence migrant women engage more in informal sector. In these informal sectors they also face challenges of earning lower wages as compared to men. This is because of the privileges that are given to men in patriarchal societies (Boyd & Grieco, 2013). Visible sources of gender discrimination, such as gendered job markets and inequitable wage scales, and with 10 getting women into positions of authority in the professions, government, and cultural institutions has been observed by liberal feminists (Lorber, 1997).For example men have access to better education than women. This is why this study wanted to understand the experiences of women migrating from rural households to the city of Johannesburg for job opportunities. 11 CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION The study used a qualitative method of research to gather information, and the design that was used was case study design to enable in-depth interviews with participants. The research setting was the hair industry as an informal sector in Johannesburg, the migrant women workers in this industry were the population of study. The research used purposive sampling; participants were selected by the researcher based on the clearly stated criteria that will be explained below. During data collection, semi-structured interview schedule was used to interview participants, and the data collected was analysed using thematic content analyses. This chapter is going to explain further about the research methodology that was used when the study was conducted. 3.2 MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION What are the experiences of African women who migrate to Johannesburg for employment purpose and are absent from the households for extended periods of time? 3.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 3.3.1 PRIMARY AIM • The research aimed to explore, identify and understand experiences of African women in Johannesburg who are absent from their households as a result of female labour migration as the reason of them being absent in their children’s lives. 3.3.2 SECONDARY OBJECTIVES • To explore the experiences of child rearing in the context of their absence • To identify women’s form of support system while they are in Johannesburg • To establish reasons that influenced their decision to migrate to urban areas • To understand why Johannesburg was the labour migration destination • To identify how has being absent from their household has impacted their lives 12 3.4 RESEARCH APPROACH The study used a qualitative approach. This is because the study was aiming to get more in- depth information from participants. Qualitative approach focuses on reports of experience or on data which cannot be adequately expressed numerically (Hancock, Ockleford & Windridge, 2009). The research was trying to get people’s opinion and point of view, which is why qualitative approach was suitable for this research. Information that was collected moved from broad to specific. Qualitative approach focuses on description and interpretation and might lead to development of new concepts or theory, or to an evaluation of an organisational process focuses on cause & effect - e.g. uses experiment to test (try to disprove) an hypothesis (Hancock et al, 2009).Several open-ended questions were used during the interview for exploration of attitude and perceptions of participants (McLaughlin, 2007). Interviews also focused on events that participants liked to share as part of their experiences. Meaning that was given to these events was focused on. It is only in qualitative approach that open-ended questions are used and that is why qualitative approach remained for this study. In the qualitative approach the process of research involves emerging questions and procedures, data typically collected in the participant’s setting, data analysis inductively building from particulars to general themes, and the researcher making interpretations of the meaning of the data (Creswell, 2009). 3.5 RESEARCH DESIGN In this study the type of design that was used is the case study design. This is because case study design is used when there are in-depth interviews with participants (Weiten & Hassim, 2016). And this was a case study of women from rural areas who leave their children behind to come and work in the informal sector in Johannesburg. The participants that the research focused on are a small group of women. Participants need to be a small group of people Weiten & Hassim, 2016). Female labour migration is not a phenomenon that can be studied experimentally. Case studies are important when investigating a complex phenomenon that cannot be easily studied experimentally (Weiten & Hassim, 2016). And the research focused on experiences of the participants. They involve descriptive records of individuals’ experiences and their behaviour (Weiten & Hassim, 2016). This is because the research was about understanding the experiences and opinions of women absence in rural households and female migration as a phenomenon. The participants were asked to share their experiences about the phenomenon. 13 3.6 POPULATION AND SAMPLE 3.6.1 RESEARCH SETTING The research setting is the informal sector that deals with hair dressing in Johannesburg; this sector is a large sector in the city in a way that almost every corner has a salon. People in Johannesburg, whether male or female do their hair in salons, they no longer do it themselves and hence the hair industry is in high demand. According to researchers, black women are willing to spend most of their money on hair and beauty products (Parker, 2014). There is high demand in such a way that some hair dressers are not based in salons, they work in the streets but they also have customers who come and do their hair. Most of these salons are owned by migrant men from African countries and majority of the workers in these salons are women and men from African countries. But most of the workers in these salons are migrant women from African countries. 3.6.2 POPULATION The population for the study was women who are mothers and have children in the care of their extended families in their home country; they should have also migrated from any country on the African continent to an urban area in South Africa for employment purposes. The other criterion was that women would be between 22 and 45 years. This is because women below the age of 22 might have not been able to give the information that was needed; they did not have the desired characteristics. For example, they did not have children that they left in their households. The organisation only hire people below the age of 45, those that are above this age are not available in the organization. The community that the study focused on is the Billtina unisex beauty salon in Braamfontein. Permission letter was sent to the organization and they approved. The salon was chosen as the organisation of study because it has female workers that are from other countries in Africa only. They came to work in an informal sector because in the rural areas they are coming from there are no job opportunities. Permission was obtained from the organisation manager. 3.6.3 SAMPLE The study used purposive sampling. This is because participants would be selected by the researcher based on a clearly stated criteria that is must be a woman between the ages of 22 and 45; must have migrated for labour to Johannesburg and must have been working in the city for the past three years (from 2013 until 2016) or more. Participants who have been in 14 the city for this time were considered to have more experience and could then give more in- depth information. Purposive sampling is a type of non-probability sampling in which the participants to be observed or interviewed are selected on the basis of the researcher’s judgement about which ones will be the most useful or representative (judgemental sampling) (Neuman & Dickinson, 2003). The sample size was 10 participants. The type of purposive sampling that was used in the study was convenience. The researcher decided to do the research in an organisation that was available and have the identified population of study. Convenience sampling is a method in which, for convenience sake, the study units that happen to be available at the time of data collection are selected in the sample (Hancock et al, 2009). 3.7 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION Semi-structured interviews schedule was used in the study. Qualitative researchers usually employ “semi-structured” interviews which involve a number of open ended questions based on the topic areas that the researcher wants to cover (Hancock et al, 2009). The open ended nature of the questions posed defines the topic under investigation but provides opportunities for both interviewer and interviewee to discuss some topics in more detail (Hancock et al, 2009). The researcher and the participants had formal interviews. The researcher had an ‘interview guide’ that had a set of questions (in an order) that were being asked during the interviews. The researcher was following the guide but also followed on emerging topics when she felt it was appropriate. Interviewing can, at one extreme, be structured, with questions prepared and presented to each interviewee in an identical way using a strict predetermined order (Hancock et al, 2009). The guide is not a schedule of questions and should not restrict the interview, which needs to be conducted sensitively and flexibly allowing follow up of points of interest to either interviewer or interviewee (Hancock et al, 2009). An ‘interview guide’ was used because it would help the researcher to be able to ask relevant questions and thereby get rich information from the participants. An interview schedule was also used as a research instrument. It helped the researcher to be up-to-date about the participant, time, and date of the interview. The interview schedule was pre-tested before it could be used to interview the participants. This helped the researcher to see if the questions in the interview schedule were going to be understood by the participants 15 and be able to give anticipated information. Pre-testing was done using workers (cleaners) in the University who pretended to be participants. Permission had been obtained from them. 3.8 DATA COLLECTION Individual face-to-face interviews were adopted for data collection. The interviews were relevant because the study was aiming to understand the phenomenon from the participants’ perspectives. More in depth information was needed, and each participant would have to give their own view. This is why individual face-to-face interviews were appropriate for data collection. Interviews allow for exploration of attitudes, perceptions, etc. (Creed, 2009). The main task in interviewing is to understand the meaning of what the interviewees say (Creswell, 2013).Data collection took approximately one month. The interviewer ensured that the place of interview had good environmental conditions for an interview to be conducted (Creed, 2009). To ensure reliability and validity of the data collection, there was one interviewer and same questions were asked to every participant. The interviewer avoided rewarding participants for participating because they would focus on getting rewards and end up lying in interviews. The interviews took take place in the organisation’s tea room. This is because the place was free from distractions in the organisation. The time of the interviews was 07h00-08h00 when it was still in the morning and the organisation had not started to be busy. The dates of the interviews were from the 12th until the 17th of October. These dates were suggested by the organisation’s manager because they are the days that the organisation is not busy. 3.9 DATA ANALYSIS The thematic content analysis was used to analyse the findings of the research. This analysis adheres to the naturalistic paradigm in that it assumes that there are multiple interpretations of reality and that the goal of researchers is to understand how individuals construct their own reality within their social context (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). The aim of this analysis is to make sense of the information collected and to highlight the important messages, features or findings (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). This analysis is particularly suitable when analysing documents e.g. newspaper texts, responses to open-ended questions (Hancock et al, 2009). The responses that the participants gave to the open-ended that were asked by the researcher 16 will be analysed using this type of analyses (Hancock et al, 2009). Hence the analysis was used as a way of getting close to the data and developing deeper appreciation of the content (Boyatzis, 1998). Information was categorised for purposes of classification, tabulation, and summarisation (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005).And themes were used as codes during analysis. The analysis is suitable for broader patterns in research (Boyatzis, 1998). 3.10 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 3.10.1 PERMISSION AND INFORMED CONSENT The student first asked permission to the Ethics Council for the research. Permission to conduct the study was asked from participants, the study was explained to the participants before they could decide to take part. In this way, informed consent was ensured. Deception was not used to get participants to participate in the study. 3.10.2 CONFIDENTIALITY Issues of confidentiality were also addressed before the interviews could commence. The participants were told that their names would not be mentioned in the study, false names would be used or they would remain anonymous. Some of the participants did not have permits to be in the country, and they had query about themselves being exposed. And explaining issues of confidentiality to them really helped. 3.10.3 PARTICIPANTS’ CONSIDERATION AND RESPECT Interviews were not long and this was to avoid participants’ fatigue (Creed, 2009). The interviewer only played a role of an interviewer. Participants did not get emotional and therefore none of them needed counselling after interviews. The interviewer showed respect to the participants and everyone who was involved in the study. 17 3.11 LIMITATIONS 3.11.1 LANGUAGE Language was a barrier between the interviewer and some of the interviewees as they were not mostly English speaking; and this was limiting their ability to express themselves fully. There were four participants who were not mostly English speaking, but they would try to speak in English. In cases where they would speak their own language which the interviewer did not understand they agreed with the researcher that an interpreter would help. The interpreters were the worker and the owner of the organisation because the participants said they are the ones that they trust. The participants would choose between the two. This limited the study because there would be misunderstanding between the researcher and the participants. And the interpreters were not able to interpret some of the French words in English, and then the meaning would be lost. 18 CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 INTRODUCTION A study was conducted in the Biltina Unisex salon; it was based on the experiences of African women who had migrated to Johannesburg for work purposes. All the women that were interviewed were below the age of 40 years, and none of them had over three children that were left behind in their home countries, most of them had one or two children left behind. They were from various countries in Africa but majority of them were from Congo. It was found in the findings that the most reason for all of them to come to Johannesburg was to work, which confirms that they were the required population of the study. They have experienced challenges whilst trying to make a living in Johannesburg. One of these challenges is being discriminated as foreign people. Being discriminated was not the only challenge that they faced, there were other challenges that they experienced. This chapter is going to discuss more on the experiences and challenges that these women faced as a result of female labour migration. 4.2 EXPERIENCES OF CHILD REARING IN THE WOMEN'S CONTEXT Women that are absent in their children's lives have experiences that are the results of being absent mothers. For some women these experiences are good and for some they are bad. The role of childcare is recognized as of mothers, and this affects the working life of women than that of men (Poduval & Poduval, 2009). During the study, the experiences of child rearing in the context of the women's absence were explored. This was done through asking questions during interviews. The questions were about how these women playing motherhood roles to their children even though they are absent most of the time. It was found that 8 out of 10 (80 %) women find it difficult to be mothers to their children because they are always absent in the household. The following are the challenges of child rearing in their absence. 4.2.1 LACK OF EMOTIONAL CONNECTION The children of back home do not get to bond with their parents; they do not get emotional attention from their parents. For some of the participants children refer to their caretakers back home as their mothers because that is where they get attention; the care takers are 19 always there when the children need them, thus making the children to perceive them as their mothers. When a mother is away from her baby for a long time, it causes the baby to experience the mother's absence as a devastating abandonment and feel unable to count on her (Chira, 1996) some participants mentioned that they wish that they could stay with their children as their mothers so that they can bond emotionally with them. Some did not mention anything about emotionally bonding with their children, they feel satisfied that they are providing materially for their children. Being away for a long time can also interfere with the mother's ability to be sensible toward her child (Chira, 1996). This can explain why the participants had nothing to say about emotionally bonding with their children. Or it may be that they have accepted that they cannot be with their children. Participants 1 said this about her experience of the limited emotional connection "Whenever I interact with my son he does not refer to me as mother but as sister, he always needs to be told that he must call me mother but it is not in him that I am his mother. I think it is also because I am always shouting." One of the women explained that she once tried to fetch her daughter from home so that she could live with her because she was realising that she cannot play a role of a mother properly to her child when she is away from her. The daughter came to live with her but could not stay for more than two months. The reasons behind this were that the child could not speak English, it was difficult for her to communicate with other children in Johannesburg, and this made her not to feel comfortable living with her mother in Johannesburg; she was not happy. Communication is important in every part of life, it is the only way of interaction between family, friends and co-workers (Essay Wow, 2014). The woman could also not afford school fees in Johannesburg schools because they are expensive. She realised that it was better back home because when she sends money there, it reaches her family multiplied. The child had to then go back home to live with the woman's sister. And this was a painful experience for the participant. Participant 6 explained her experience of emotional connection with her daughter " It is not good when you cannot bond with your child as a parent, it is very painful. So I tried to bring my daughter so that she could stay with me...". 20 4.2.2 DISTANCE Participants in this study reported that they do not go home often due to the cost involved in travelling back to their home countries. Women reported that they have to weigh the option between travelling home to be with their families and sending remittance home. The distance and costs of travelling forced most women choose the option of providing for their children through sending money. Consequently; on the average women travel to their home countries once every two years is 7. 4 (40 %) of the participants go after a year, 2 (20%) go after three years, 1 (10 %) goes home in every two months, and 3 (30 %) of the participants have not been home since they got to SA. Most of the participants go home after a year and that means they do not get enough time for child-rearing. According to participants, this makes their children to lose emotional connection not to know them as their mothers. One of the participants mentioned that her child calls her "mother" when he is told to do so, but most of the time he calls her "sister" because he thinks she is his sister. This is because she her child when he was still a baby, the child was one year old when she left hence the child does not know her as his mother. For most of the women who left their children when they were still babies the children did not know them as their mothers, they needed to be told that the participants are their mothers. In these cases where the children were left when they were babies, the participants' mothers had always played the child rearing role. When women leave to provide for their families, the role of a mother or care taker, falls to the other female member of the family (Chira, 1996).The participants' mothers had no problem being left with the babies because their daughters, which are the participants needed to come and find jobs in Johannesburg in order for them to provide for their families. For the participants it does not feel right not being called mothers by their children. 4.2.3 STRATEGIES OF MOTHERING ROLE 4.2.3.1Remittances Research suggests that female migrants send a higher proportion of their income back home compared to male migrants even though they earn less than their male counter parts (International Organization for Migration, 2004). This shows that even though female migrants are away as a result of labour migration, they still think and care for their families, and that is a strength that they have. All participants reported that they are active in their role as mothers to their children by supporting them financially; that is the only possible way for 21 them to ensure child rearing in their context. Women that are from far countries like Congo can only provide financial support to their children by sending remittances home. Money transfers by migrants to their relatives are recognized by governments and international organizations as important tools for reducing household poverty and enhancing local development (IOM, 2004). The money that some of the participants sent, supported the whole households back home. Not all women can send remittances consistently because of the challenges that they faced while in Johannesburg. Sometimes they find that they do not have enough money to send home, the researcher expected that the participants send money to their families back home consistently, but that was not the finding. It was found that some of the participants do not send money home consistently because sometimes they do not have it. It was also not expected that some of the participants have not been home since they migrated to Johannesburg; it was assumed that all of the participants visit their families. 4.2.3.2 Visits As mentioned above, there are those who are able to visit their children once a year or once in two months to ensure that they still play their roles as mothers in their children's lives The one participant that is able to visit her children more often is the one that is coming from a neighbouring country, Zimbabwe. It is easy for her to go home because it is not too far and not expensive as compared to countries that are far from Johannesburg. This allows her to be more involved in her children's lives compared to the other women who are from countries that are far such as Congo; she is able to send remittances and also be present for that particular time, thus ensuring financial, physical, and emotional support to her children. For most of the participants, they wish that they could visit their children more regularly, but because of their situation they cannot. 4.2.3.3 Telephone/ cell phone Research shows that most migrant women employ a variety of technologies for everyday communication, including letters, the mobile phone and the Internet, with the mobile phone being the most crucial communication device for most of them (Thomas & Lim, 2010). Another way of ensuring the role of motherhood to their children is by communicating with them and their families or relatives through telephone. Telephone and cell phone were the only way the women could use to communicate with their families back home. Mobile communications enable the migrant women to foster emotional links with their families and management of their personal matters (Thomas & Lim, 2010). 22 One woman mentioned that because she is not always there for her sons, she always call them and encourage them to speak to their grandmother whenever they need advice. But they should also speak to her as their mother when the feel that they need to speak to her. This woman ensures that her children are able to talk to her when they need to by phoning them every time she gets money for airtime. For her, this is how she ensures child rearing in the context that she finds herself in. 4.2.3.4 Material Provision Most people bring some things for their loved ones when going home to show their love and trying to pay for the time they have been absent. 7 (70 %) of the participants mentioned that when they go home they make sure that they buy things such as clothes and food in Johannesburg and take them with to their children back home. Their children and their families back home become happy when they are bought things from Johannesburg. This is part of ensuring child rearing for these women in their context. They also mentioned that they communicate with their children back home via telephone conversation. 3 (42, 8 %) of the 7 participants said they are able to call every day, when 2 (28, 5 %) of them said they call on weekends and 2 (28, 5) said they call when they have money to call because it is expensive to call them; they have to have more airtime. The remaining 30 % of all the participants are those that have not been home since they got to SA. But they also communicate with their families via cell phones. 4.3 SUPPORT SYSTEMS Another finding was that of support system; which form of support system the participants have in their context considering that they are far from their family members and relatives, they are in country where they do not know anyone. It was found that most of these women get support from their boyfriends, whom they refer to as "husbands". These boyfriends are also foreigners, they come from other countries. 4 (40 %) of the participants have boyfriends as their support system, 25 % of the four participants said their husbands support them both financially and emotionally, whereas some said they support them only financially. They mentioned that whenever they have problems they prefer sharing them with their husbands rather than friends because friends cannot be trusted; they go around telling everyone about their problems. 9 (90 %) of them said that they once experienced that; telling friends your problems and find them being discussed everywhere. 23 Even though they trust their husbands, they do not trust them hundred percent as their support systems. The reason being is that there comes a time where they fight with their husbands or get separate because of various reasons, again, they find the problems being known by other people because their husbands shout at them about these problems or go around telling people. Some of the participants do rely on friends as their support system because they trust them and they have no one else other than them. One of the women has her father who also lives and works in Johannesburg; for her, her father is her support system. Some women mentioned that they do not have any support system when they are in Johannesburg. This means that they do not have anyone who support them, they are all by themselves. When they experience difficulties they do get support or get to talk to anyone. They seem to be okay with not having any support system whilst they are in Johannesburg. But the question was how they cope with the challenges that they face if they do not talk to anyone. Most women reported that they find strength in the religious and spiritual beliefs. They trust that God will help them be able to deal with their problems. If they do not go to church they pray. This is to show that the participants choose to trust something that they cannot see and have a conversation with instead of trusting human beings that they interact with everyday. One of the reasons for the participants not to trust their associates is that they have had bad experiences with having people around the as support systems. They prefer to have their families as support systems, but now the problem is that their families are far away from them and cannot give the support that the participants need. And this is painful to the participants and makes it hard for them to cope in Johannesburg. One of the women mentioned that because she has no one in Johannesburg, she calls her mother back home whenever she feels that she needs support. She said she does this because she knows that her mother will always be there for her since she is her daughter and she will never judge her or do something that would hurt her. The participant talks to her mother over the phone and therefore it cannot be said that the participant get enough support because the mother cannot be physically present to communicate non-verbally with the participant. Participant 1 said explained she was asked about her support system in Johannesburg "...whenever I have problems I talk to my mother back home, she is the one I talk to about everything that I come across. Before, I used to have friends as my support system, but that 24 was not a good idea because friends they would tell the whole world about what you're going through. I then decided that whenever I need to talk I would call my mother and talk to her." The other participant said that she does not have any support system when she is in Johannesburg. She said that she has learnt that happens in her life is normal, it will pass like any other things that happen in life. She has taught to accept the situation as it is and focus on doing what she came to Johannesburg to do, which is to work and provide for her children back home. She is able to do this by not dwelling or thinking about bad things that happen to her but try to always think about the good things. In that way she is able to survive without a support system in the city of Johannesburg. The table below shows the kind of support that participants get from different types of support systems. SUPPORT SYSTEM FAMILY FRIENDS BOYFRIENDS PARTICIPANTS TYPE OF SUPPORT Emotional/ psychological Financial Emotional/ psychological Financial Emotional/ psychological Financial Participant 1 X X Participant 2 X Participant 3 Participant 4 X X Participant 5 X X Participant 6 Participant 7 Participant 8 X Participant 9 X Participant 10 X X Table 1: Support Systems The kinds of support systems that the participants have are not conducive for them because the kind of support that they get is only financial. Although some of the participants say they also get emotional support from their boyfriends, it is few of them. These boyfriends are also migrants yet they are able to provide financial support to the participants, they can afford to give money the women. This shows that they are of better status than their female counter- parts. This goes back to say men in the informal sector earn higher wages than women 25 because of the privileges that they are given in society (Boyd & Grieco, 2013). This makes women to be dependent on them. Some of the participants cannot take care of themselves fully because they have to send money back home to support their families; hence they sometimes depend on their boyfriends for financial support. This finding was not expected by the researcher. 4.4 REASONS BEHIND MIGRATION 4.4.1 UNEMPLOYMENT Unemployment is not an ideal situation for most people. It affects society by reducing the amount of resources available (Reference.com, 2016). For all (100 %)of the participants, the main reason for them to migrate from their home countries to South Africa is that the economic situation in their countries is not in a good state. Some explained that there are no job opportunities in their countries. One would finish school and sit at home doing nothing for years because they cannot find a job. Unemployment in an economy occurs when there are people who are both willing and able to work but do not have a job (ROM Economics, 2013). Sometimes you find that there is no one in the family that is working, they survive on small businesses such as selling fruits or vegetables. Almost 70% of people who start an informal business do so because they are unemployed and have no alternative source of income (Statistics South Africa, 2014). This means that they rely in informal businesses to survive in their home countries, and when they come to SA they also do informal work. One of the participants mentioned that in her country you find that some people stay unemployed for the rest of their lives. For people to be employed they need to have higher education qualifications and higher education is not affordable because most people are poor. And this is the reason why lot of people are poor in African countries. This is to show that the lack of job of opportunities in African countries contributes to female labour migration. 60% of the participants were not working before coming to SA. They were looking for jobs or things that they could do to make a living but they failed. They had no one who could support their families and children. One of the participants mentioned that her husband was working whilst she was still at home but he would not get paid. He would work for six months without getting paid, and during the six months period they would have to survive without money. She was also not working, and her in-laws were living with them. Children would not be able to go to school because there was no money for the school fees and sometimes they would have nothing to eat for a whole day. And that is when she decided that 26 she must leave home and come to South Africa to look for a job. She left the children with the husband and her in-laws and came to work in Johannesburg. Participant 4 explained"...and that is when I realised that I needed to do something to better the situation because we would not survive under that kind of situation. I then came to South Africa to look for a job." It was expected before the study was conducted that the participants migrate from their countries to Johannesburg because they are hunting for better job opportunities. This is because according to previous studies the cause of female migration is that women want to improve the economic-status of their families (Zlotnik, 1995). The improvement of the economic-status of their families is the main reason for the participants to migrate to Johannesburg. There were no job opportunities in their countries, and those that were available required them to have certain qualification which they do not have. Some women working in the informal sector do not have qualifications to work in the formal sector. Hence Johannesburg was the labour migration destination for the participants because it is one of the famous cities in Africa, and it is said to have better job opportunities even in the informal sector (II, 2014). 4.4.2 BETTER WAGES 40% (4 out of 10) of the participants were employed before coming to South African urban areas. The kind of employment they were involved in was also informal as the one they are currently involved in. 20 % was self-employed and 20 % were employed, the kind of work they were doing was also informal (hairdressing).Hairdressing is what the participants were doing for a living before coming to SA because it was the only job that was available for them. Formal work needed people who are educated in their countries, and all of them are not educated because of the costs for higher education. The money that they were earning or making through hairdressing was not enough for them to be able to support their families, children, and themselves. And that is how they took a decision to come and work in SA. Inadequate salaries are one of the reasons people leave their jobs to go look for other jobs. One of the participants mentioned that she went to train for make-up and fashion in her country of origin after finishing school. After completion she then practised as a make-up artist and fashion designer, but because she was living in rural areas in her country she could not make money because people were not interested in fashion and make-up. And that is when she realised that she needed to move to urban areas. Her friend told her that if she 27 moved to SA she would be able to make money with what she was doing. And that is why she then decided to come to SA urban areas. She also mentioned that she would always hear about SA from people and on TV and wonder if it is how it was portrayed to be. She became enthusiastic in knowing how things are done in SA and how the people that are living there behave or interact with one another. That also contributed to her decision to come to SA. For the participants the reason of not having required qualifications it is because education is expensive and they cannot afford it because they are poor. Being involved in the informal sector back in their countries is what made them to be poor. And now the money that they are making in the informal sector in Johannesburg will not is enough to send their children for higher education in their countries, and this will lead them being trapped in the cycle of poverty. Most of urban workers have informal jobs in Africa and majority of the employees are women and youth (African Development Bank Group, 2013). This shows that inequalities between men and women still exist in society. Women are the ones who are expected to be in the informal sector the most compared to men (Lorber, 1997). Working in the informal sector of Johannesburg allows the participants to provide for their children who are left with families and relatives in their home countries. They are able to take care of their families financially. And according to participants, that is how they ensure child- rearing in their context of being absent. Can this type of child-rearing be adequate for the child? The researcher does not agree with this as child-rearing but as providing financially for the children. This is because child-rearing involves being physically present in the child's life to be able to build a sturdy character in the child (Boehlke, 2015). Participants only got a chance to control and discipline their children when they are visiting home, which never happens for some of the participants. And that is not enough for proper child-rearing. Therefore it can be concluded that proper child-rearing is not possible for the participants, even though they try their best to play their role as mothers. This finding was expected before the study was conducted because previous studies indicated that child-rearing is difficult in employed mothers (McLoyd, Jayaratne, Ceballo & Borquez, 1994). 4.4.3 CONVINCED BY OTHERS Two of the participants said that they were convinced by people they know from their countries that lived in SA to come to SA. One participant mentioned that her husband came to SA first to look for a job, he found it and was able to support her and the children back home. As time went by, her husband advised her to also come to SA so that they could make 28 more money to be able support their children. The participant was working at a salon in her country and she was not making enough money there. She then left the children with her mother and came to SA to work. She said she has noticed the difference in terms of the money that she was making in her country and the one that she is making now in SA, the one in SA is much better. Even though her and her husband are able to take of their children through sending money to them, for her it does not feel right to be absent from home especially that his husband is also in SA. She still feels that she should be home taking care of the children and let the husband be the one who works in SA. This shows that even though the participants are able to take care of their children when they are in SA, they are still not comfortable about being absent in their households. One participant stated that her father started to work in SA when her and her siblings were still young. They were left with her mother in her country of origin when their father was working in SA. His father was the one who was taking care of the family financially. After finishing school she got pregnant and had a child. The father of her child was not supportive; she even denied being a father to the child. When the child was still young (two years old), her father advised her to come with him to SA so that she can be able to support her child. Her father explained to her that if she comes to SA things would be much better because she would also be able to help her father take care of the family and her child. Hairdressing is all she could do. She came with his father and worked as a hair dresser in SA. She is happy that she is able to work and support her child even though she cannot be physically present for her child. 4.4.4 SAFETY Some migrants migrate to SA for safety reasons. Violence that occurs in some environment is caused by political factors, and they cause people to migrate to other places as a way of protecting themselves (Thet, 2014). The other participant mentioned that in her country of origin, Congo, there was war. People were killed, there was no peace. She was living with her children as a single mother and was doing hairdressing for living, she had two children. When the killing of people was taking place, she felt that she and her children were vulnerable because there was no one who could protect them if they were to be attacked; there was no man in the house. The money that she was earning was not enough to cover all their expenses. She then decided to ask her sister who is married to look after her children as she had decided to come to SA to look for a job. Her sister agreed to look after her children. They had an agreement that she would send money to the sister so that the sister could be 29 able to take care of the children. The sister's husband is not working, the money that she sends to them also help everyone to survive. 4.5 JOHANNESBURG AS THE LABOUR MIGRATION DESTINATION For 70% of the participants Johannesburg was the labour migration destination. This is because when they heard about SA, Johannesburg was the specific place in SA that they heard of. Johannesburg is said to be known in other countries as a place where there is business. Therefore, when they were coming to SA they were coming to Johannesburg. Johannesburg is featuring as a magnet compared to its African neighbours, it has had 53,6% increase in visitors since 2009 and has therefore been listed in the top 20 fastest growing cities in the world (Initiate Immigration, 2014). And this explains why for most of the participants Johannesburg was their labour migration destination; they were attracted to the city as it seen as one of the richest cities in Africa. Figure 1: Labour migration destination The pie chart above shows that not all of the participants have Johannesburg as their labour migration destination. Some of the participants first went to other places before coming to Johannesburg. For example one of the participants said her labour migration destination was Harrismith, and she moved to Johannesburg after five months because she wanted earn better salary so that she could take care of her family back home. 30 Labour Migration Distination 10% 10% 10% Cape Town Harrismith Pretoria70% Johannesburg One of the participants her first labour migration destination was Cape Town. She said someone from her country who was travelling with her got off in Cape Town and then she also decided to go off there because she did not know SA very well. She stayed in Cape Town and got a job of hair dressing. In the place that she was staying in, there was a woman who used to come to Johannesburg to buy clothes and sell them in Cape Town. This woman told her that Johannesburg was a better place compared to Cape Town and that it is easy to make money there; things are affordable. She then decided that she wants to go to Johannesburg, she had only been in Cape Town for two months. And she found Johannesburg better than Cape Town, the salary that she is earning in Johannesburg is better than the one she was making in Cape Town. Participant 9 explained how she got to Johannesburg from Cape Town "One day morning when this woman was coming to Johannesburg to stock clothes, I asked her if I could come with her just to see Johannesburg and she agreed. I came and saw Johannesburg..., when it was time to go back to Cape Town, I told the woman that I was not going back to Cape Town... That is how I ended up staying in Johannesburg." The other participant her first labour migration destination was Pretoria. This is because her uncle lives there and he is the only person she knew in SA, so she went to stay there with him. Her uncle was maltreating her and she could not bear the treatment. She had found the friend in the area and the friend advised that they go to Johannesburg they would stay together. And that is how she ended up in Johannesburg. Participant 1 tried to explain the experience she had in Pretoria that made her to come and work in Johannesburg "The way my uncle was treating me you would swear that he was not family, I cannot even say the things he was doing to me..." Even though Johannesburg was not a labour migration destination for all the participants, it still shows that most African people perceive it as a place full of job opportunities. And this explains why lot of migrant people are found in Johannesburg. 4.6 HOW BEING ABSENT FROM THEIR HOUSEHOLDS HAS IMPACTED THEIR LIVES 4.6.1 FEELING LESS OF MOTHERS Some of the women say that they feel less of mothers because of being absent from their households and not being able to be physically present in their children's lives. They feel that 31 they have disappointed their children by giving birth to them and not be there for them. One of the women mentioned that she feels bad when she sees other children with their mothers in shops. She thinks that her child back home does not get to go shopping and be spoiled by his mother because she is not there. Being absent from their households has affected the participants adversely. Some of them feel that they have let their children down, they feel less of mothers. They feel that they never got time to bond with their children as their mothers, and that makes them to feel that they failed to be mothers to them. Therefore it can be said that the participants were affected emotionally and psychologically by their labour migration. Some participants have come to accept that they cannot be mothers to their children because they are not physically present to look after them. 4.6.2 BAD EXPERIENCES Whilst in Johannesburg trying to make a living for themselves and their families, participants have had bad experiences that left them helpless. They still continue to live in Johannesburg because they have to make money in order for them to provide for their families and children back home. The bad experiences that they have had include discrimination, xenophobia and the issue of asylums. 4.6.2.1 Discrimination 30 % of the participants mentioned that they have faced discrimination in health care settings in Johannesburg. They said they have been treated differently as patients compared to those who are South Africans by health care practitioners. They feel that their lives have been put to danger deliberately, merely because they are foreigners. One of the participants mentioned that she almost lost her baby when she to give birth to her in a hospital in Johannesburg because the nurses there did not want to attend to her. Participant 6 said this when she was asked about her experiences in Johannesburg: "When I was pregnant I went to the hospital to give birth. The nurses there did not attend to me, they told me that in South Africa when you are feeling pain you must be the one who begs them so I must wake up from my bed and come to them if I feel pain. I told the nurses that my baby was about to come, they told me to shut up. My body started to push for itself and the head of my baby started to come out, when one of the nurses realised that, she slapped me and told me that I was going to kill my baby because I am stupid." 32 One participant mentioned that even taxi ranks they also get discriminated as foreign people. The things that happen here are terrible if you are a foreigner, even in taxis you get abused, taxi drivers do not treat us well because we cannot speak the languages that are spoken in South Africa. I remember one I was not given my change back in a taxi because I could not express myself in South African languages I was only able to speak English. 4.6.2.2 Xenophobia Xenophobic attacks are also one the bad experiences that have impacted the participants have had. Some of the participants mentioned that when the xenophobic attacks begin, they always fear for their lives, sometimes they do not even go to work because of the attacks, which affect them and their families back home. Participant 3 mentioned that South African people do not like them as foreigners. "I feel that people of South Africa have a problem because every country has foreigners but they do not attack them. Even with the permit papers, they refuse to renew them for us, it shows that they really do not want us." 4.6.2.3 Asylums Not being able to have permits that allow them to stay for longer in South Africa is one of the things that have made some of the participants to have bad experiences whilst in Johannesburg. Their stay in Johannesburg is always limited because they have to always renew their permits. They face problems such as not being attended to when they go to renew their asylums in the home affairs department. They are told to come back another and the same thing happens, and this means that they remain with expired permit papers. When the police find them with expired permit papers they arrest them or make them for that. And when they try to explain to police that they have been trying to renew their papers but did not get assisted, the police do not want to hear anything from them. Participant 3 explained as follows "And when you go they will give you maybe another one month or not renew your asylum at all, then you have to keep going back to beg them to renew your paper. and they tell you that you overstayed but they are the ones that did not renew your paper. When the police come, they do not understand that, they just arrest you, they do not care about you as a foreigner, they do even listen to you when you try to explain". 33 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS Majority of the participants were unemployed in their home countries before they came to SA to look for jobs. Those that were employed they were doing informal work. They all send money to their families back home to ensure their motherhood roles. And they are also able to visit their families even though some of them are not able to. For all of them the reason for migration was poverty and lack of job opportunities in their countries. It was also found that when they are in Johannesburg they do not have much of support systems, they get support from their boyfriends and some do not have it at all. Johannesburg was the labour migration destination because it is a famous city in African countries. 5.1 CONCLUSION Much research still needs to be done about female migration in South Africa. More attention needs to be paid on the voices on female migrant to understand their experiences about female labour migration. By doing it will allow more people to understand female labour migration and treat the migrants in a rightful manner. This will also allow education of people about female labour migration and the experiences that the migrants have about female labour migration. The aim of the research was to explore, identify and understand experiences of African women in Johannesburg who are absent from their households as a result of female labour migration as the reason of them being absent in their children’s lives. The study made use of individual in-depth interviews that followed a semi-structured format to explore the experiences of the ten participants. According to the finding the female migrants who are mothers face challenges when they are working for their children in Johannesburg and they have no one who can help. They have become used to the situation and accepted their way of living. 5.1.1 PRACTICE In social work practice there should be counselling and support services specially provided for female migrants who are workers in Johannesburg such as the participants. This is because some female migrant workers do not have support systems that can help them to deal with their challenges. Such services should be offered to them to allow them to cope better with the challenges they face and thus be able to work for their families back home without 34 disruptions. Sometimes the participants find themselves having to go and live with boyfriends so that they can be guaranteed safety and security; by doing so they end up being pregnant and having other children to take care of. This makes them to have more burdens on their shoulders and thus making their life more difficult, which was not part of their plans when they came to SA. And the kind of treatment that they get from the people of SA makes everything worse. To ensure that this does not happen, social work practice must include providing shelter that will be for female migrant workers who work in the informal sector. 5.1.2 FUTURE RESEARCH It is recommended that a continued research on this area focuses on the living conditions and treatment of the population of study (female migrants) because they are the factors that make female labour migration even more difficult for the participants. The conditions that the participants live under are not pleasant. For example, one of the participants mentioned that the room she lives in is too small that even a single bed cannot fit in, she therefore spend most of the time in the work place and go to her room when it is time to sleep. This is because she can only afford to pay for such a room because most of the money she earns must be sent home. 5.1.3 EDUCATION The participants experience maltreatment in SA when they are trying to make a living. Discrimination against migrants affects them adversely; it makes them to want to go back to their home countries where they will not be able to provide for their families. Denied access to health care services, xenophobic attacks, and difficulty in renewal of asylums are what make the participants to have bad experiences of being migrant women. Therefore it is important that people get to be educated about how discrimination and xenophobia affect the female migrant workers who work in the informal sector and trying to make a living for their families. Some people do not understand the reasons that make migrants to migrate to SA, hence they discriminate against foreign people. 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About workplace gender equality. Information Publication Scheme. Zlotnik, H. (1995). Migration and the family: The female perspective. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 4(2-3), 253-271. 38 Appendix A PARTICIPANT INFORMATION Female Labour Migration in Johannesburg and the Absence of African Women in Households Good day, My name is Nkosinokwazi Mncube and I am a fourth (final) year student registered for the degree Bachelor of Social Work at the University of the Witwatersrand. As part of the requirements for the degree, I am conducting research into the experiences of women that are absent rural household as a result of female labour migration. It is hoped that this information may enhance social workers’ understanding of the experiences of women in this situation and help to improve support services for them. I therefore wish to invite you to participate in my study. Your participation is entirely voluntary and refusal to participate will not be held against you in any way. If you agree to take part, I shall arrange to interview you at a time and place that is suitable for you. The interview will last approximately one hour. You may withdraw from the study at any time and you may also refuse to answer any questions that you feel uncomfortable with answering. With your permission, the interview will be tape-recorded. No one other than my supervisor will have access to the tapes. The tapes and interview schedules will be kept for two years following any publications or for six years if no publication emanate from the study. Please be assured that your name and personal details will be kept confidential and no identifying information will be included in the final research report. The interview will take place in one of the organization’s room where it will be me, you, and the interpreter. I will be asking questions and you will be expected to answer. The interview will take approximately 30 minutes. There are no benefits associated with participating in the study. But the research will help people to understand experiences of female migrant workers who are have similar situations as you do. Should you experience discomforts or need intervention after the interview, arrangements will be made for you to get help. 39 Please feel free to ask any questions regarding the study. I shall answer them to the best of my ability. I may be contacted on cell no. 0624937876. Should you wish to receive a summary of the results of the study; an abstract will be made available on request. Thank you for taking the time to consider participating in the study. Yours sincerely 40 Appendix B CONSENT FORM FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE STUDY Female Labour Migration in Johannesburg and the Absence of African Women in Households I hereby consent to participate in the research project. The purpose and procedure of the study have been explained to me. I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I may refuse to answer any particular items or withdraw for the study at any time without any negative consequences. I understand that my responses will be kept confidential. Name of Participant: Date: Signature: Name of Researcher: Date: Signature: 41 Appendix C CONSENT FORM FOR AUDIO-TAPING OF THE INTERVIEW Female Labour Migration in Johannesburg and the Absence of African Women in Households I hereby consent to tape-recording of the interview. I understand that my confidentiality will be maintained at all times and that the tapes will be destroyed two years after any publication arising from the study or six years after completion of the study if there are no publications. Name of Participant: Date: Signature: Name of Researcher: Date: Signature: 42 Appendix D INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR PARTCIPANTS Female Labour Migration in Johannesburg and the