CAPE TOWN AND HER NEIGHBOURHOODS

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The Global Perspective

It has been predicted that the end of 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, will be a time of migration. It is the result of worldwide political and socio-economic changes and upheavals (Castles & Miller 1998:2). Today, global migration follows main trends. These include: a decline in labour migration in Europe; family reunions; countries of emigration changing to countries of immigration; economic migration to classical immigration countries; new migrations as a result of socioeconomic change; foreign labour recruitment from less developed countries by oilproducing countries; mass movements of refugee and asylum-seekers; increasing international mobility of skilled people (Castles & Miller 1998:79).

Culture

Cohen (1985:115) in reference to Boon’s Other Tribes, Other Scribes, says that cultures (the principle can also be applied to communities and individuals) orientate themselves through implicit or explicit contrast to bearers of other cultures, inadvertently emphasising what the culture is not and exaggerating themselves and the other. Furthermore, “…just as bearers of other cultures are only observable from the perspective of a culture with which it is contrasted, so also people see their own [sic] culture from the supposed vantage point at which they imagine others to view it”.

Identity

In Ethnicity in the Age of Diaspora, Radhakrishnan (2003:120) mentions that his son’s confusion over whether he is Indian or American prompted him to further investigation. He tells his son that he is in fact both Indian and American, but realises at the same time that he has touched on the multiplicity of what should be the unity of identity. This is precisely the predicament of migrants and it is compounded in the case of mobile professionals. For example, who exactly, is a Franco-African working in Cape Town? Radhakrishnan (2003:122) states emphatically that “when people move, identities, perspectives and definitions change”.

The case for “mobility”

As a term, ‘migration’ seems to provide a rather rigid framework within which to explain all types of population movement. ‘Migration’ as a term is limited in that it does not cover all types of geographical mobility and that it implies the explicit movement from A to B within a specific geographical space (De Bruijn, Van Dijk, & Foeken 2001:2; Van Dijk, Foeken & Van Til 2001:11). Mobility (from a cultural perspective) implies “a close reading of people’s own understandings of the spaces and places in which they move and the experiences these movements entail” (De Bruijn, Foeken & Van Dijk, 2001:2). This implies that “the extent to which people themselves perceive travel and movement as forms of breaking away from a social or ecological environment, from family and friends or from a specific cultural domain, needs to be investigated.

South African immigration statistics

Many non-citizens, whether they are legally in South Africa or not, are reluctant to be sampled and interviewed because they fear harassment, deportation or questioning of their legal status. They are also not that willing to supply detailed information to total strangers. The result is unrepresentative studies, based on a few direct interviews, second-hand evidence and hearsay. This in itself leads to broad conclusions and generalisations as well as stereotyping by the media, politicians and academics alike (McDonald, Mashike & Golden 1999:5).

Data from the Department of Home Affairs

The Department of Home Affairs states that the aim of its migration programme is “ to coordinate and exercise control over the admission of persons to, their residence in and their departure from the Republic” (Dept. of Home Affairs 2003:50). There are six subprogrammes in the migration programme, namely immigration permits; work permits; work seekers permits; study permits; temporary residence and permanent residence (Dept. of Home Affairs 2003:50). The Department’s Immigration Selection Board processes permanent and temporary residence applications. The Board issues permits in line with established skills needs and economic, social and cultural interests.

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

• CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 MIGRANTS: AN OVERVIEW
    • 1.1.1 The Global Perspective
    • 1.1.2 Migration to South Africa
  • 1.2 THE RESEARCH QUESTION
    • 1.2.1 Aims
    • 1.2.2 Motivation
    • 1.2.3 Hypotheses
  • 1.3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION
    • 1.3.1 Research population
    • 1.3.2 Literature study
    • 1.3.3 Fieldwork
  • 1.4 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THIS DISSERTATION
• CHAPTER 2 COMMUNITY, CULTURE, IDENTITY, PROFESSIONAL MOBILITY AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN IMMIGRATION CONTEXT
  • 2.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 2.2 COMMUNITY, CULTURE AND IDENTITY AS FEATURES OF PROFESSIONAL MOBILITY
    • 2.2.1 Introduction
    • 2.2.2 Community
    • 2.2.3 Culture
    • 2.2.4 Identity
  • 2.3 HUMAN MOVEMENT IN THE TIME OF GLOBALISATION
    • 2.3.1 The case for “Mobility”
    • 2.3.2 Typology
    • 2.3.3 Categorising the Research Participants
  • 2.4 IMMIGRATION TO SOUTH AFRICA: DEMOGRAPHICS AND LEGALITIES
    • 2.4.1 General Statistical Background
      • 2.4.1.1 Introduction
      • 2.4.1.2 South African immigration statistics
• 2.5 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER 3 PLACES OF ORIGIN AND IDENTIFICATION
  • 3.1 INTRODUCTION: PLACING ‘THERE’
  • 3.2 A CONTINENTAL AND BLACK IDENTITY
  • 3.3 IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION WITHIN THE NATION-STATE
    • 3.3.1 Kenya
    • 3.3.2 Burundi
    • 3.3.3 Benin and France
  • 3.4 HOMELAND AND HOME
    • 3.4.1 The attachment to Home and Homeland
    • 3.4.2 Homing desire and/or the desire for a Homeland
      • 3.4.2.1 The trope of family and kinship
      • 3.4.2.2 Home and the attachment to the land
      • 3.4.2.3 Food and Memory
• 3.5 A PLACE CALLED HOME
• 3.6 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER NAVIGATING AN UNFAMILIAR PLACE: SOUTH AFRICA
  • 4.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 4.2 ENCOUNTERING THE ‘HOST’ NATION
    • 4.2.1 First encounter: The legacy of Apartheid
    • 4.2.2 Second Encounter: The New South African Government
    • 4.2.3 Third Encounter: The South African People
  • 4.3 LABELS, ATTITUDES AND STEREOTYPES
    • 4.3.1 The Power of language
    • 4.3.2 The fear of losing jobs and services
    • 4.3.3 Black employment Equity
    • 4.3.4 Xenophobia
    • 4.3.5 Race
  • 4.4 MAKING SENSE OF ‘THE OTHER’
    • 4.4.1 Making sense of place
  • 4.5 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER WHEN SPACE BECOMES PLACE
  • 5.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 5.2 REALISING LOCALITY
  • 5.3 CAPE TOWN AND HER NEIGHBOURHOODS
  • 5.4 NETWORKS AND LOCALITIES
    • 5.4.1 Social networks and spaces of belonging
  • 5.5 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER CONCLUSION
• Annexure A
• Annexure B
• BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Professional Migrants in Cape Town: Identity, Culture and Community