Congolese Migrants' Search for Survival and Success in Muizenberg, Cape Town
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" On se Debrouille": Congolese Migrants' Search for Survival and Success in Muizenberg, Cape Town A thesis submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of RHODES UNIVERSITY by JOYNOWEN May 2011 11 Abstract Situated in a Congolese transnational 'community' in Muizenberg, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, the thesis focuses on the lives of three middle class Congolese male informants. Their contingent acquaintance with a South African white Christian man gave them access to valuable social capital; social capital that positioned them advantageously to date and eventually marry European white women and thereby further their culturally-defmed economic/material career goals. To demonstrate the socio-economic trajectory of the three, I compare their social positioning with other Congolese men and women resident in Muizenberg. I show how these men and women, like my three main informants, activate their Congolese 'habitus' to secure access to social networks and the social capital therein. The difference between these Congolese men and women and my three main informants, however, is their strategic use of contingency, and the instrumental capitalisation of their cultural capital through the creation of a client-patron relationship with a South African in order to further their life goals. The thesis reorientates the migration literature on African migration from a focus on the implications of migrant remittances to the home country, to a focus on individual migrants' agency in the host country and the cultural influence of the society of origin. While I acknowledge that my research participants are part of a transnational social field, the focus on one locality and the relatively longitudinal approach of the study grounds the analysis both in the day-to-day lives of these migrants and in their migrant careers in and beyond Muizenberg and South Africa. With this orientation, the thesis is able to reveal that some Congolese migrants are comfortable to create a holding place for themselves in South Africa, while others - ever aware of the Congolese ambition to travel overseas - migrate beyond South African borders. For these Congolese migrants, South Africa is then a transit space. Fundamentally, all of my research participants give expression to Mobutu's edict of on se debrouille (literally, 'one fends for oneself), but some are more able to achieve the ultimate aspiration of settling in the First World -lola. 111 Contents Page Abstract 11 Contents 111 Preface V11 Acknowledgements 1X Part I: Preliminaries Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Locating the Field ofStudy: Macro and Micro Concepts 10 A short survey of academic categorizations of migrant communities 12 Defining Diaspora - theorising the construction of a transnational community Transnational Migration - emphasising emplacement in horne 16 and receiving countries Positioning the Refugee in Involuntary Migration 20 Defining the Refugee - a different sort of migrant? 20 The Refugee Diaspora? 27 Questioning the 'African' Diaspora 29 Social Capital and Patronage 34 Conclusion 38 Chapter 2 African Migration? Contextualising the Congolese 41 The Ages of Migration in Africa - focusing on the DRC as an 42 example Pre-Colonial Migration 42 Colonial Migration 44 Post-Independence/post-colonial Migration 53 The Mobutu Years: Zaire, 1965 - 1997 54 Creation of the Second Economy: circuits personnelles 56 Post-Mobutu 58 Contemporary Migration in Africa 61 South Africa's Immigration and Refugee Policies -legislating 62 otherness Early Migration in South Africa 62 Post-apartheid Immigration Legislation 64 Exclusionary Politics - Xenophobia 67 Xenophobia in South Africa - root causes and contemporary 67 manifestations Xenophobia in South African Media 69 The New Immigrants to South Africa 70 Focusing on Congolese Migration to South Africa 70 Conclusion 74 Chapter 3 Fieldwork and Research Reflections 76 Rooting the Research in my Biography 77 First Introductions 79 Initiating Interest 79 Introducing Muizenberg 81 Congolese in Muizenberg 83 iv Contents Page Sketches of Congolese lives in Muizenberg 83 Observing and Judging the African Other 87 Fieldwork 93 The Not so Native Anthropologist 95 The Female Body Doing Fieldwork 96 Danny 97 The Professional Becomes Personal: Sexuality in the Field 101 Lyon 104 JLM 105 Conclusion 108 Part IT: Settling in and coping 110 Introduction 110 Chapter 4 Living on the Margins: Social Networks, Contingency and Religion 113 Survival in Muizenberg 115 Eric Madondo - single male 115 Toni - single female 120 Mama Fifi - married with children 132 Mama Erin - married with children 135 The Instrumentality of Church Attendance 142 Pentecostalism amongst Congolese migrants in Muizenberg: 'Reaching up and Touching God' 145 The Patriarchy of Sonrise AOG 150 Conclusion 153 Chapter 5 Success Guaranteed: Economic Survival and Success through 156 Religious Patronage Choosing One's Religion? 157 Lyon - the flexibility of religious choice 159 Initiating Religious Worship 159 Adjusting to the Host environment - Johannesburg, 163 South Africa Relocation to Cape Town 164 First Introductions - Robert and the guys 167 Robert's Christian Activism -- A Christian Non-governmental 174 Organisation Formal Interview with Robert 179 Conclusion 187 Part ill: Onward and Upward: The Romance Factor 190 Introduction 190 Chapter 6 Interrogating Stereotypes: Linda and Gianni 195 Questioning Media Stereotypes 196 Organising Exchanges - flirting vs economic exchange 203 Migration to South Africa 205 v Contents Page Networks in Action 207 This is love ... 212 Conclusion 213 Chapter 7 Performing Masculinities: Jenny and Joel 215 Sam and Noel: Initial Introductions 216 The Soccerscape 217 "You are under our control" 217 Performing Masculinities 220 Inverting the Male Gaze 225 Performative Violence 227 A Funeral: Congolese Masculinities and Femininities on Display 229 The funeral home/mortuary: controlled public space 232 Noel's affection and responsibility: a subtle show of masculinity 236 The Civilised Gangster and the Flashy Sapeur: Masculinities on Show 239 The Congolese Father 245 Conclusion 248 Chapter 8 Romantic Love or Migrant Careerism? Melanie and Guy, Hannah 249 and Serge Michelle and Guy: Love Gone Wrong? 250 Serge and Hannah: Abiding Love? 259 The Church Wedding 263 The Wedding Reception 267 Conclusion 274 Conclusion 276 Bibliography 284 List of Images and Photographs Image 1: Democratic Republic of Congo 53 Image 2: Map ofMuizenberg 78 Photograph 1: Muizenberg changing huts 79 Photograph 2: The fa<;ade of Empire Building prior to its restoration 82 Photograph 3: The Blue House 85 Photograph 4: Congolese men in the local Congolese tavern 86 Photograph 5: A Congolese man and his 'coloured' girlfriend in the local 86 Congolese tavern Photograph 6: Surprise 'going away' cake 95 Photograph 7: Muizenberg Mountain from the backpacker's window 98 Photograph 8: Toni on the escalator in Cape Town 120 Photograph 9: Congolese man collecting water opposite Richmond, once the 125 water was disconnected Photograph 10: Kalky's fish and chip shop iin Kalk Bay harbor 128 Photograph 11: The ceiling of one of the bathroom's in Yellow House 133 Photograph 12: The front of the Sonrise AOG church 145 Photograph 13: Visit to Holland December 2009, Guy, Lyon and Serge 171 Photograph 14: Visit to Holland December 2009, Deja vu 172 Photograph 15: Gianni, Linda, Katia on Linda's hip and Ariette in front 213 Photograph 16: Jenny and Joel on the sidelines of the soccer pitch at Sandvlei 216 VI Contents Page Photograph 17: Soccer team with Serge standing on the right 217 Photograph 18: Soccer enthusiasts celebrating a goal 220 Photograph 19: Unknown Congolese man filming the soccer match 222 Photograph 20: Ayanda, Joel, Silver and Gwynneth and Iza 224 Photograph 21: Mobutu look-alike views the body for the fmal time 234 Photographs 22 and 23: Congolese men and women on the sides of the coffin 235 Photograph 24: Sam posing with a sapeur 243 Photograph 25: Michelle and Guy exchanging vows, MCC, May 2006 253 Photograph 26: Serge and Hannah exiting MCC, December 2007 265 vii Preface Intended initially as a study on African migrants, my work in Muizenberg mutated into a closer examination of Congolese ways of being in a foreign space as expressed through particularly, gender, class, personality, religious denomination and worship and love relationships. The study favoured the particular over the general but the approach was relatively longitudinal: fieldwork ensued with fairly frequent visits of varying length from mid-2004 to the beginning of 2009. From its early stages, despite the diversity inherent in the Congolese cohort of immigrants in Muizenberg, my research inclined towards the study of three male individuals - all of whom were being assisted by a white South African Christian patron. Although my research would encompass the experiences of a number of other Congolese nationals, I spent a considerable amount of my time 'returning' to these three participants, in part due to the constant friendship we shared, but also because as the years unfolded their migrant careers shifted as these were shaped by decisions they made to further their careers and enhance their lives. In some cases, their plans succeeded in terms of their aspirations; in other cases they did not. Muizenberg, unlike many other South African locales, has long had a multicultural, cosmopolitan and transitory population. In the 1990s it lost some of its appeal as it became derelict in atmosphere and architecture. This derelict space offered the first Congolese residents in the area cheap accommodation, easy access to transport, a supermarket and the company of similar others. Muizenberg was a liminal space and thus easily converted to a 'little Congo' in the 1990s as it became home to mostly Kinois and some Lushois from the Democratic Republic of Congo. As late-comers in South Africa's migrant scene, the flamboyant strut, and the lilting and accented English of the Congolese caught my attention. Migrants from Southern Africa, particularly Mozambique and Lesotho, were predominant regulars in the hot, dark and dangerous voids of South Africa's gold mines, a long way from Cape Town.