Masters Degrees (Sociology and Social Anthropology)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Sociology and Social Anthropology) by Subject "Africa, Southern -- Economic integration"

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    Examining experiences of Zimbabwean migrant entrepreneurs on state repression in the inner-city of Johannesburg, South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12) Matenga, Luckymore; Prah, Efua; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Focusing on Zimbabwean documented and undocumented migrant entrepreneurs in Johannesburg, the study engages the ways in which the State responds and represses Zimbabweans and their enterprises in the inner-city. From data gathered I argue that State repression of migrant entrepreneurs supresses migrants’ opportunities to successful livelihoods under the false pretence of protecting the citizenry of South Africa. This is evident from the myriad ways in which State apparatuses (mainly the South African Police Service) use the legal system as a means to harass and victimise Zimbabwean migrant entrepreneurs because they operate without official or legal documents and the requisite registration of their businesses. This adds to the volatility of migrant entrepreneurs lives in South Africa where partial remedy is applied through various strategies they employ such as communicating dangerous hotspots via coded messages amongst themselves, bribing the metro police, developing rapport with the metro police and using fake permits to navigate the precariousness of living in illegality. A qualitative design methodology was undertaken using a snowball sampling procedure to identify participants.Ten (10) telephonic interviews of two 2 hours in duration were conducted with seven (7) men and three (3) women. Secondary data was collected through newspaper articles. The theoretical analysis uses a Marxist-Leninist conception of the State which argues that the State acts as an effective structure of repression that enables the ruling class to exercise dominance over the livelihoods of some of the most vulnerable inhabitants in South Africa –documented and undocumented Zimbabwean migrants.