Browsing by Author "Eigelaar-Meets, Ilse"

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    Internal migration in post-apartheid South Africa: The cases of the Western and Northern Cape
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Eigelaar-Meets, Ilse; Bekker, S. B.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology & Social Anthropology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Internal migration in post-apartheid South Africa is the primary focus of this dissertation. The geographic focus is on two of the country’s current provinces. In both the Northern Cape and the Western Cape provinces, apartheid policies that restricted the free movement of certain South Africans were supplemented by further restrictions arising from the policy of Coloured Labour Preference. It is because of these legislative constraints that resulted in a distortion and interference of migratory waves and trends that these two provinces offer a unique opportunity to do systematic research. Accordingly, the study identifies and analyses the primary changes in the direction and nature of internal migration streams into and within these provinces subsequent to the end of the apartheid regime and scrapping of such restrictive policies. Method: The main demographic and locational characteristics used in this analysis are changes in the size of the overall migration streams, their shifting mix of population groups (Black African, Coloured, Indian/Asian and White), the age of migrants, and the urban, peri-urban or rural nature of these migrants’ destinations. Migration data from three post-apartheid periods - 1996-2001, 2001-2006 and 2006-2011 – are analysed so as to enable comparisons of migrant flows between each of these periods. Findings: Comparing the net-migration rates during the earlier and latter post apartheid periods, both provinces reveal a deceleration in general mobility and in urbanisation, suggesting a slowing down in net migration flows in the latter period. Measuring and describing how migrants in these two provinces move, data pertaining to both inter-provincial migration (movement across provincial boundaries) and intra-provincial migration (movement within provincial boundaries but across municipal district boundaries) are considered. Although some variation in movement is illustrated for the two provinces, the data clearly illustrates continuing urbanisation in the settlement patterns of migrants for both migration flows. Considering the characteristics of migrants, the data illustrated migrants as mostly mature adults (30-60 years of age), except for in-migrants to the Western Cape who are mostly younger adults (20-29 years of age). The Black African population is the most mobile within inter-provincial migration streams, with the Coloured population the most active in intra-provincial flows. When comparing pre- and post-1994 internal migration trends in the two provinces, the dissertation illuminates three specific shifts, (i) a change in the political context within which mobility is framed, (ii) a change in the type of internal migration flows that are sustaining urbanisation and, (iii) a change in the profile, specifically pertaining to population group, of migrants mobile in the two provinces. The dissertation concludes by making a case for the adoption of a strategic and concerted approach by governments to accommodate the developmental constraints and challenges posed by these forms of human mobility.