Zimbabwe's Exodus: Crisis, Migration, Survival

Chapter Eleven. The Voices of Migrant Zimbabwean Women in South Africa

Chapter Eleven The Voices of Migrant Zimbabwean Women in South Africa Kate Lefko-Everett In 2005, the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) conducted a qualitative research project with women migrants living temporarily or permanently in South Africa (the Migrant Voices Project or MVP). Through in-depth interviews and focus groups with women migrants, MVP gathered data on various issues including migration decision-making, travel preparations, experiences while migrating, household and livelihood change, experiences of living in a foreign country, and treatment from families and communities when returning home to countries of origin. Interviews and focus groups also explored participants’ perceptions of the importance of migration for women in Southern Africa, gender-specific challenges, awareness of laws and policy, and recommendations for change. In total, 54 women migrants in the Johannesburg area participated in in-depth interviews . More than half of the women were Zimbabwean. Similarly, Zimbabwean women constituted a majority of participants in the six focus groups held in Johannesburg and Makhado, located close to the border between Zimbabwe and Limpopo Province. The in-depth interviews and focus groups conducted through MVP uncovered the stories and experiences of a group of migrant women who are far from passive victims of broader social and economic forces. Most of the Zimbabwean women participating in the study made the difficult decision to leave home in response to poverty, unemployment, ZIMBABWE’S EXODUS: CRISIS, MIGRATION, SURVIVAL 270 inflation, and food insecurity. A deeply gendered dimension of the relationship between poverty and migration emerged, in which women were caregivers, households heads, and main breadwinners for their families. Women’s migration decisions were, therefore, often tinged by a profound sense of both obligation and urgency. This raises questions about gendered productive roles within families in the SADC region, and specifically within migrant-sending households. This chapter presents the results of the MVP and attempts to convey something of the lived experience of female migrants. The identity of the migrants is not revealed. DECIDING TO MIGRATE Poverty, unemployment and economic hardship are the main migration “push factors” or female Zimbabwean migrants. They describe how bad the situation has become in Zimbabwe and cite factors such as a lack of jobs, inflation, devalued currency and the high cost of living as the main reasons behind the decision to migrate: You know, in Zimbabwe, things are very tough there due to our poor economy …in our country we’ve got lack of employment, that is what I can say, in Zimbabwe there are few jobs rather than in South Africa (Interview 25). Life at Zimbabwe is poor and jobs are scarce, and once you get that job money is scarce too. Even if you got that money, you will buy nothing with that money. So when I moved from there to South Africa, money here has value (Interview 45). In Zimbabwe it’s difficult, that’s the poorest country in the whole world. It’s difficult living in Zimbabwe because you can’t get a job nor even sell something, but you just sit there and starve to death …. If life was fine we would not be here (Focus Group 3 Participant). The situation in Zimbabwe is very bad – there are no jobs, no food, no fuel and everything like that (Interview 34). I was just there, life is hard, things have changed… Home sweet home is always the best way, but lack of basic things – that is the main problem in Zimbabwe (Interview 19). CHAPTER ELEVEN THE VOICES OF MIGRANT ZIMBABWEAN WOMEN IN SOUTH AFRICA 271 It was starting to be bad. There was a shortage of maize meal, sugar, and there was no rain…There is nothing you can buy in Zimbabwe, since the situation is bad (Interview 29). Many said they were optimistic about what they would find in South Africa after migrating: Of course they said in South Africa it is better and the food is cheap and it is easy to find food (Interview 29). I wanted to go and look for money. I first of all saw people from South Africa – they were having a lot of money and they were eating nice food, and clothes, and everything was looking so nice, that is why I decided to come to this country (Interview 34). Most migrant women also expected that they would be able to find work, or opportunities for business or trade in South Africa. One Zimbabwean woman had heard...