Document] Is It? Documentation and the Negotiation of Meaning Among Zimbabwean Migrants in Johannesburg

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Wits Institutional Repository on DSPACE Whose Identity [Document] Is It? Documentation and the Negotiation of Meaning Among Zimbabwean Migrants in Johannesburg Kathryn Takabvirwa Student #: 421520 Research Report Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts by Coursework and Research Report in Forced Migration Studies Supervisor: Tara Polzer, FMSP Johannesburg, 2010 CONTENTS Title Page ……………………………………………………………………………………..….. 1 Contents ………………………………………………………………………………………..… 2 Declaration ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 4 Abstract ........................................................................................................................………...… 6 Key Terms. ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Documentation ............................................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ 7 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 8 Research Question/s ....................................................................................................................... 9 Structure of the Report ................................................................................................................... 9 Literature Review ......................................................................................................................... 10 Parameters of belonging: Re-actualisation of Fences .......................................................... 11 Delineation of Membership and Labelling .......................................................................... 12 Documentation‟s Dual Function: Categorizing and Imparting Unique Identities ………... 15 Documentation in the Context of Migration .........................................................……..… 16 Rationale for This Study ............................................................................................................... 20 Historical Context of Movement and Access Control in Zimbabwe and South Africa ...... 24 Why from the Migrant‟s Perspective? ................................................................................ 25 Population under Study ………………………………………………………………………… 27 Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………………………. 29 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 30 Scope of the Study ............................................................................................................. 30 Collecting Data .................................................................................................................. 31 Sources of Data ....................................................................................................... 31 Sampling: Finding the People .................................................................................. 32 Interviewing as a Methodology ............................................................................... 33 Group Discussion ..................................................................................................... 34 Reflexivity: “Insider” or “Outsider” Researcher? .................................................... 35 Audience .................................................................................................................. 38 Analysis of Data ................................................................................................................ 39 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................................................ 41 Vulnerability Population and Illegality .............................................................................. 41 Confidentiality and Anonymity ......................................................................................... 42 Collection and Storage of Data ................................................................................. 42 Analysis of Data ........................................................................................................ 43 Informed Consent and Beneficence ................................................................................... 43 2 Results and Discussion ............................................................................................................. 45 Section 1: Identification and Membership ................................................................... 46 The Passport is not for the Police ................................................................... 46 How to Spot an Alien: Visible Markers of Non-Belonging ........................... 48 Not of here: ......................................................................................... 48 But of Where? ..................................................................................... 50 Good Citizens and Good Migrants .................................................................. 52 Death and Documents ..................................................................................... 54 Section 2: On Getting Through (In Spite of What the Government Says)………….... 58 Undocumented Exits/ Passing/Going Unnoticed/Unchecked ……………….. 58 Being versus Having: The Person v. the Person on Paper………………….... 58 Asylum Seeker Permits.................................................................................... 59 Access to Ways of Being ................................................................................ 62 Authorised to Enter but Unwanted ................................................................. 63 Section 3: Documents & Defence ............................................................................... 66 Is this Parachute a Knapsack?! – When the Bulletproof Vest is Made of Paper .................................. 66 Levels of Defense: On Resisting ..................................................................... 70 On Being Stopped by the Police ...................................................................... 71 The Meaning of Inspection ............................................................................. 74 Separation of State and Official ....................................................................... 77 Separate Rules for Separate Residents: A Return to Apartheid? ..................... 79 Whose Document Is It? ................................................................................... 81 Ownership of Identity Documents ................................................................... 85 A Nobody until You Die. ................................................................................ 86 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 88 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 92 Appendix A: Guiding Questions for Formulation of Interview Questions ........................... 98 Appendix B: Sample Interview Questions ............................................................................ 99 Appendix C: Consent Form ....................................................................................……….. 100 Appendix D: Excerpt from Exchange with Respondent ....................................................... 101 3 DECLARATION I, Kathryn Takabvirwa, do hereby declare that this Research Report is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Master of Arts in Forced Migration Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any other degree or examination at any other University. Signed: Date: 4 At the beginning of each of his sermons, Pastor Joel Osteen raises his bible and leads his congregation in a proclamation: “This is my bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do…” In the individual- state relationship, the identifying document is the bible. The congregation of migrants rises, holds up their asylum seeker permits, student visas, passports and temporary residence permits (like black South Africans held up their passbooks during the Apartheid era) and chant: “This is my ID. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do…!” Or am I? A few months ago, I travelled from Zimbabwe to South Africa. At the South African border, a young lady stood a few paces ahead of me in a line to show our modern day passbooks to an immigration official. The young lady clutched what appeared to be a corporate permit (characteristic A4 size sheet of paper). Her bible. Her permission slip. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the photograph on the permit was that of a young man in his early thirties. “This is my ID. I am what it says I am…” 5 ABSTRACT From the moment a person enters a state, whether by birth or migration, the individual- state interaction is often mediated by some form of (supposedly) official state-issued document.

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