A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, School of Social Sciences at the University of Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Arts in Migration and Displacement, July 2017 / This research is encouraged by the recent developments in the migration patterns of Zimbabweans in South Africa in the period 2009-2016. The absence of secure livelihoods due to the political stalemate in Zimbabwe resulted in Zimbabweans looking for a safe haven in different parts of the world. South Africa is among many other countries which has been a recipient of both undocumented and documented Zimbabweans. Most Zimbabweans in South Africa were undocumented and in 2010 the South African government made an initiative to regularise the positions of Zimbabweans living in South Africa, yet there is limited academic research on the livelihoods of regularised Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa. The rationale behind the implementation of the Zimbabwe Documentation Process (ZDP) in 2010 and the renewal of the process through issuing the Zimbabwe Special Permit (ZSP) in 2014 is noteworthy. However, this study explores the livelihood experiences of regularised Zimbabweans in Johannesburg, South Africa. The research examines the livelihood strategies, challenges, opportunities and outcomes of regularised Zimbabwean migrants. The purpose of this formative qualitative study is to investigate if the access to livelihood opportunities and outcomes among regularised Zimbabwean migrants are strongly dependant on documentation. This is an important area of study given the ongoing special dispensation for Zimbabweans in South Africa and the wider migration scholarship in the country. Based on 15 semi structured interviews with regularised Zimbabwean migrants and 1 key informant conducted in Turfontein and Florida my assertion in this study is that the reported livelihood experiences of regularised Zimbabweans highlight a complex connection between documentation and livelihoods. On one hand findings show that documentation has improved the economic and social wellbeing of regularised Zimbabwean migrant in Johannesburg and on the other hand, documentation is undermining the livelihood options of regularised Zimbabwean migrants. For individuals who are in search of secure and sustainable livelihoods, findings show that mostly regularisation is offering limited protection and temporary rights to migrants who are likely to live in South Africa for years to come. Key words: documentation, livelihood experiences, regularisation, regularised Zimbabwean migrants, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Documentation Project, and Zimbabwe Special Permit. / XL2018

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, February 2017 / This study is about the ways Gukurahundi memory is invoked by Zimbabwean migrants living in Johannesburg, South Africa. The research focused on inner city Johannesburg residents who are actively speaking about the Gukurahundi. Participants were drawn from three main migrant groups; Zimbabwe Action Movement, Mthwakazi Liberation Front and Ithemba leSizwe. Two artworks produced to document the atrocities; a film, The Tunnel, written and produced by an ‘outsider’ white South African filmmaker and music, Inkulu lendaba, written and performed by victims of the violence, were used as case studies; to answer questions about the meaning, role and appropriate form for remembering Gukurahundi in Johannesburg today. The Tunnel has enjoyed a global audience whereas Inkulu lendaba, remains within the victims’ locality. Findings of this study are drawn from participant observation of victims’ community events, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and, an analysis and comparison of the artworks and their reception by victims. One of the key findings of this study focusing on contestation over how a history is narrated is that translation plays a significant role in maintaining global inequality and continuing forms of colonialism. The memory of Gukurahundi is invoked, partially translated, in the music to critique continuing forms of colonial inequality in the ways narratives of victimhood are received by the global audience highlighting a shortcoming in the film, which translates the story of Gukurahundi for a global audience yet causing it to lose its authenticity for the victims. The music by victims narrates the experience of being a victim of Gukurahundi, a migrant in xenophobic South Africa and black in a racist global community. In this way it postures the socio-economic location of the victims in the global community as the reason for their victimhood and its lack of acknowledgement. This socio-economic location is therefore pivotal to their healing. The study contributes to literature on post conflict transition mechanisms and foregrounds the role of acknowledgement in healing however; specific forms of narration are required for healing. Furthermore the study shows the role of music in the transmission of trauma across generations, facilitating the domestication of politics into the everyday and fostering ‘safe’ political participation in repressive contexts. The thesis also presents the potential of creative methodologies in disrupting the researcher-participant relationship power dynamics by presenting research in poetic form and facilitating participant engagement with research output; Poetic transcription similarly does this by creating transparency in the meaning making process of research analysis. / XL2018

In this account of male infidelity and the migrant imaginary, I take on the idea of how it is that moral arguments can be made in support of the claim that male infidelity does not invalidate the assertion of love to one’s partner. In trying to address this issue I undertook an ethnographic study of eight middleclass Zimbabwean men living in Midrand. Using these young Zimbabwean middleclass men as an analytical category, I delve into the imagined lifestyles that they have about life in South Africa and the frustrations that they encounter in trying to realise these standards of living. I use Berlant’s (2006) concept of ‘cruel optimism’ to show how these frustrations in turn lead to a situation in which infidelity is not seen as antithetical to love.

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts (Migration and Displacement) by Coursework and Research Report, August 2017 / In Zimbabwe, the past two decades have been characterized by a growing flow of refugees into the country from other parts of the continent such as Burundi, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Somalia. Drawing from the biomedical model, prevailing discourses about mental health posit that after going through traumatic experiences in the wartorn regions of the world, refugees and asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable to developing mental health problems and are, therefore, in need of counselling and psychosocial services. This assumption has guided, and has subsequently been supported by, several studies conducted in the Global North, and there is generally a lack of local literature and research that either confirm or challenge the assumption in Southern Africa. This research was prompted by such a substantial research gap and therefore seeks to examine the perceptions of refugees regarding mental health and access to care. The study identified Tongogara Refugee Camp as the study site and targeted adult individuals aged 18 and above, residing in the camp, as well as officials from the Zimbabwean Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Christian Care, Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), clinic officials as well as faith-based leaders. The access to health care framework (McIntyre, Thiede, & Birch, 2009), was used as the basis and theoretical framework for this research to explore the various factors determining availability, affordability and acceptability. The overall methodology employed was the qualitative approach and the case study research design. Respondents were recruited through the purposive sampling method and semi-structured interviews were used for data gathering. Thematic content analysis yielded participants’ perceptions of mental health and access to care through their descriptions of pre-migration trauma and post-migration stress as the major causes of mental illness, and expressions of mental illness such as sadness, worrying, wandering aimlessly through the camp, talking too much and violence. The study sheds light on the problems of medicalizing distress and human suffering, particularly the limitations of the biomedical model of mental health treatment. Camp residents mainly rely on spirituality and social support for coping with mental health. Several issues, relating to all the dimensions of the concept of access were identified, including language barriers, temporary solution to a permanent problem, lengthy waiting times, as well as ill-treatment at the camp clinic. Recommendations include the key need to be cautious about the importation of Western biomedical approaches, the need to pay more attention to the prevention of mental health problems and the promotion of mental health through action on the social determinants of health, the need for language interpreter services at the camp clinic, the need for improved engagement with refugee families, and the need for resettlement. Such information may help add to the body of available literature on refugee and asylum seekers’ access to health services and to literature that is exploring the development of appropriate responses to mental wellbeing in the Southern African context. / XL2018

Zimbabweans of all walks of life have crossed over to South Africa since the late 1990s for long and short periods of time, some of them even remaining there permanently. The increased amount of the migration is largely blamed on Zimbabwe’s socio-economic and political instability by most scholars. However, each individual would eventually migrate because of pressure that usually comes from the household. Hence, this study was aimed at investigating household influence on an individual’s decision to migrate to South Africa. This study was carried out in the central Zimbabwean city of Gweru. A household survey was conducted and basic descriptive analyses were used to generate the findings. The results indicate that only 2% of the households in the sample did not have a migrant in another country. Also, about 43.7% of all migrants were females and among those female migrants who have children, 45.7% of them had children younger than five years staying home when they left for South Africa. Most households seem to have a strong influence on the migration decision, and as a result the majority of the migrants send remittances back home. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

The study was conceptualised against the background that leading migration theories explain return migration based on failure and success alone. The neo-classical economics theory of migration perceives return migration as a by-product of a failed migration experience while the new economics of labour migration perceives return as occurring after successful achievement of migration objectives. This study questions these theoretical positions through an exploration of the factors that deter South Africa-based Zimbabwean skilled migrants from returning home permanently notwithstanding a successful or failed migration experience. Furtive economic factors in Zimbabwe and South Africa that dissuade skilled migrants from returning home permanently are explored. Social factors in Zimbabwe and in South Africa that influence return migration decision making are also examined. Furthermore, the study analysed whether and how Zimbabwean skilled migrants are forced into a permanent settlement in South Africa as a result of what this study calls the ‘diaspora trap’. This ‘diaspora trap’ framework argues that Zimbabwean skilled migrants in South Africa do not return following their experiences of failure and success in South Africa. Central to the absence of return is the social construction of migrants as successful in Zimbabwe. Skilled migrants are deterred from returning due to their failure to meet family and communal expectations of success. In addition, return migration is deferred as a means to hide poverty in South Africa. Moreover, new diaspora family ties weaken attachments with Zimbabwe and contribute to deferred return migration. Skilled migrants are thus entrapped in South Africa by their failure to live up to the success social construct and the inability to mitigate adversities in the host country.

Although most whites have remained in Zimbabwe after independence and not all who have emigrated came to South Africa, large numbers established themselves as an immigrant community in this country. The aim of this study is to "sociologically capture" this community's views about their past experiences in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and their present experiences in South Africa. This is done by employing a generative methodological procedure whereby members of the target population themselves generated issues considered to be of importance to their previous and new situational contexts. As it was not possible to obtain a random sample of all Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa, questionnaire data were collected from four separate categories of respondents. In addition, depth interviews were conducted and thus responses have been analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings demonstrate that for the most part, few "Zimbabweans" - whites who are reasonably accepting of the new socio-political order in independent Zimbabwe - have come to South Africa. Rather, most of the immigrants, whose views were canvassed in this research investigation, seem to be bitter "Rhodesians" who have been unable to accept change and integration and the consequent loss of white privilege in the new Zimbabwe. These recent immigrants have not found all things to their satisfaction in South Africa moreover, despite the similar socio-political structures in former Rhodesia and contemporary South Africa.

The thesis aimed at explaining why some Zimbabwean teachers have migrated to South Africa while others have not despite experiencing the same economic and political crisis. The focus was on external secondary brain drain, which is the movement of human resources from one country to another within the Southern African Development Community region (SIRDIC, 2008). It was premised on the theoretical argument that uneven development in the SADC region sustains the movement of human resources from the poorer countries to the richer or ‘core’ countries in the region particularly South Africa. The thesis reviewed literature on the Zimbabwean crisis and conducted a quantitative field survey, which was supplemented by a qualitative aspect, in order to analyse the determinants of teacher migration to South Africa. The field survey involved the self-administration of questionnaires by 200 Zimbabwean teachers, half of them teaching in South Africa and the other half in Zimbabwe, as well as collected life stories from five migrant teachers, interviewed four school heads, and perused circulars. The research found that Zimbabwe’s reversed economic growth and social development constituted the background on which teacher migration occurred. This brain drain, which mainly involved highly qualified and specialised mathematics and science teachers, coincided with the peak of the Zimbabwean crisis around 2008 indicating its survival significance. Teacher migration continued after 2008 due networks and teachers’ salaries that remained inadequate as they were close to the poverty line. Several recommendations were made including strategies for reducing the brain drain. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development studies)

Zimbabwe is suffering from an acute shortage of teachers mainly as a result of teacher emigration to South Africa and abroad. The southern migration of Zimbabwean teachers has received little research attention which has mainly focused on the migration of medical personnel. The purpose of this study is to uncover the factors that drive the migration of teachers from Zimbabwe to South Africa and to explain how these factors function within a grounded theory approach to teacher migration. To achieve this, a review of literature and an empirical study of a small sample of migrant Zimbabwean teachers resident in South Africa were undertaken. A constructivist grounded theory design was used. A theoretical sampling method generated a sample group of thirteen participants who were all qualified Zimbabwean teachers who had migrated to South Africa and been in the country for between one and five years. Data generation and collection consisted of two phases: in the first phase the participants were asked to write a life history narrative or provide a verbal narrative of their life history focussing on their migration. In the second phase they participated in individual interviews to clarify or expand on issues raised in the first phase. Three stages of coding were used in the analysis of the data, namely initial, intermediate and advanced coding. This led to the generation of a grounded theory on teacher migration. The grounded theory indicated that Zimbabwean teachers see migration as the best way to attain an ideal status. An ideal status is conceived to be the ideal interplay between the work conditions, standard of living and social esteem which teachers believe befits members of their profession. Depending on various criteria, teachers fall into one of the following status categories: further diminished status, diminished status, ideal status or ideal status surpassed. Migration is a drastic and demanding way to improve one’s status and it is adopted by teachers only after other strategies to this end have been exhausted. Weighed against existing theories of migration, the grounded theory contributes to understanding teacher migration and retention through the innovative use of the core category status. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

The thesis aimed at explaining why some Zimbabwean teachers have migrated to South Africa while others have not despite experiencing the same economic and political crisis. The focus was on external secondary brain drain, which is the movement of human resources from one country to another within the Southern African Development Community region (SIRDIC, 2008). It was premised on the theoretical argument that uneven development in the SADC region sustains the movement of human resources from the poorer countries to the richer or ‘core’ countries in the region particularly South Africa. The thesis reviewed literature on the Zimbabwean crisis and conducted a quantitative field survey, which was supplemented by a qualitative aspect, in order to analyse the determinants of teacher migration to South Africa. The field survey involved the self-administration of questionnaires by 200 Zimbabwean teachers, half of them teaching in South Africa and the other half in Zimbabwe, as well as collected life stories from five migrant teachers, interviewed four school heads, and perused circulars. The research found that Zimbabwe’s reversed economic growth and social development constituted the background on which teacher migration occurred. This brain drain, which mainly involved highly qualified and specialised mathematics and science teachers, coincided with the peak of the Zimbabwean crisis around 2008 indicating its survival significance. Teacher migration continued after 2008 due networks and teachers’ salaries that remained inadequate as they were close to the poverty line. Several recommendations were made including strategies for reducing the brain drain. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development studies)