Zimbabwe's Exodus: Crisis, Migration, Survival

Chapter Fifteen. Transnationalism and Undocumented Migration Between Rural Zimbabwe and South Africa

chapter Fifteen Transnationalism and Undocumented Migration Between Rural Zimbabwe and South Africa France maphosa A prominent feature of current international migration trends is that migrants do not cut ties with their countries of origin but maintain close contact with both the host and the home country. The term “transnationalism” is commonly used to describe these connections while the people involved in this type of migration are referred to as “transmigrants” or collectively, “transnational communities.”1 Transnational communities maintain, build and reinforce multiple linkages between home and host countries.2 Transmigrants live their lives across international borders.3 Transnationalism involves multiple ties and interactions linking people or institutions across the borders of nation states.4 Members of transnational communities move easily between different cultures, frequently maintain homes in two countries and pursue economic, political and cultural interests that require a simultaneous presence in both. The concept of transnationalism is also applicable to migration to post-apartheid South Africa.5 However, the relationship between transnationalism and the undocumented status of many migrants has not been explored. This chapter discusses the experience of transmigrants from a high migrant-sending area in rural Zimbabwe. The type of migration taking place from this area is largely circulatory and most of it is undocumented. CHAPTER FIFTEEN TRANSNATIONALISM AND UNDOCUMENTED MIGRATION 347 Despite an intensified crackdown on undocumented migrants in the two countries, the rate of migration has been increasing over the last few years. This trend is attributable to the worsening economic situation in Zimbabwe characterised by, among other things, rising unemployment and the continued decline of the Zimbabwean dollar against currencies such as the South African rand and the Botswana pula. While these Zimbabwean migrants spend most of their time in neighbouring countries , their ability to fully integrate into the host society is severely constrained. This is not an unusual situation for undocumented migrants anywhere. Their irregular status means that they are unable to participate openly and fully in the social and economic life of the host country. Many undocumented migrants in South Africa stay out of the formal employment sector. However, the typical Zimbabwean migrant in this study is an employee and not a business person. Migrants do engage in these activities, including fruit and vegetable vending and the sale of various small items, as a way of earning a living while they are looking for jobs. These income-generating activities are microscale , unregistered and temporary. Registering a business might require the applicant to provide information such as place of residence, nature and place of employment as well as identification particulars, information which the migrants might either not have or are afraid might give away their identities. A recent study of Cameroonian migrants in Johannesburg has shown how they try to become less visible to the authorities by blending in and adopting local cultural practices .6 The degree to which they are able to integrate into local communities is, however, severely constrained by extreme xenophobia, discrimination and exploitation. Transmigration is a survival strategy to survive in an environment characterized by alienation and marginalization. Undocumented Zimbabwean migrants face similar contradictory pressures. While they adopt South African cultural practices to reduce their visibility, they are still made acutely aware of their “foreignness” by hostile South Africans and their impermanence because of the ever-present threat of being arrested and deported back to Zimbabwe. On the other hand, the migrants do maintain very strong ties with their families and communities and not simply because integration into host communities is so difficult. Most maintain close links with home through the use of modern communication technologies , remittances and investing in their home country. In other words, these migrants retain extremely strong contact with Zimbabwe but their social and economic and ZIMBABWE’S EXODUS: CRISIS, MIGRATION, SURVIVAL 348 cultural integration into host communities is severely constrained by their irregular status and by the xenophobic attitudes of local citizens. miGrAtinG From WArD sEvEn The field work for this chapter was carried out in Ward Seven of Mangwe District in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe. The Ward is located about 100 kilometres south of Plumtree, the administrative town for Mangwe District, and about 200 kilometres from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city. It is in an agro-ecological region characterised by low rainfall patterns, poor soils and persistent droughts.7 Owing to the harsh economic conditions, harvests are generally very low and income from crops is insignificant. Crops are...