EXPLORING THE MIGRATION EXPERIENCES OF MUSLIM YAO WOMEN IN KWAZULU- NATAL, 1994- 2015 JOSEPH YUSUFU MBALAKA 215068614 This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Of Social Science – Masters in History in the School of Social Sciences, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Howard College. Supervisor Kalpana Hiralal (Associate Professor) Durban, South Africa 2016 i TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE DECLARATION V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VI DEDICATION VII LIST OF ACRONYMS VIII ABSTRACT IX CHAPTER 1: Introduction 1 Aims and Objectives of this Study 4 Literature Review 7 Theoretical Framework 14 Research Design, Methodology and Methods 17 Problems encountered during the field work and Limitations of this research 20 Relevance of this Research 21 Organisation of the Dissertation 22 CHAPTER 2: The Yao: Origins, Migration, and Settlement in Malawi 23 Figure1: Map of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique where the Yao originated 24 Figure 2: Map of Mozambique 25 Figure 3: Map of Tanzania with Mtwara region in the south where the Yao settled 26 Figure 4: Map of Malawi showing some districts where the Yao settled 27 Early History of Migration 28 Types of cloth the Yao brought from the east coast 34 Table 1: Types of cloth the Yao brought from the east coast 34 Figure5: A sample picture of chitenje material 35 Figure 6: A display of women designs made from chitenje material 35 The Nineteenth Centuries Yao Movements in Southern Africa 36 Yao Clans and their dispersal in Southern Africa 38 CHAPTER 3: Reasons for Migration 42 Table 2: Push Factors and Pull Factors 43 ii Push and Pull Factors that Influenced Muslim Yao woman to migrate to South Africa 44 Economic Factors 44 Political Factors 47 Table 3: the UN Human Development Index between 1980 and 2012 47 Socio-Cultural Factors 49 Figures7and8: Sample pictures of Malawian agricultural products 53 Figure 9: A Malawian woman dressed in a blue artful piece of cloth known as chitenje. 55 Environmental Factors (drought) 55 Why do Muslim Yao Women choose Durban? 56 Occupation of women 59 Figure 10: Asiya Mwamadi’s vegetable garden in Lindelani. 60 Figure 11: Chinese cabbage grown by foreign nationals being sold at the market 61 CHAPTER 4: Settlement in South Africa: Challenges, and Constraints. 63 Common African identity 63 Interaction between Muslim Yao and Zulu women 65 Figure 12: Rape vegetables 66 Figure 13: Chinese cabbage 67 Language barriers 68 Challenges in the Workplace 69 Figure 14: A sample of an ‘African attire’ Figure 15: A picture of an immigrant woman in her saloon 71 Remittances 72 Figure 16: A picture of a modern house in Malawi 74 Figure 17: A cartoon depicting xenophobia 75 Xenophobia 75 Figure 18: An advert against xenophobia 77 Figure 19: Protesters loot a shop 77 Views on the reasons for the outbreak of xenophobia 78 Job stealing 78 Victims of Xenophobia: how were they affected? 79 Do Muslim Yao women feel good for being targeted? 80 Reactions to the outbreaks of xenophobia Did they want to return home? Were they anxious or fearful? 81 Police Harassment 82 Figure 20: Police involvement in criminal activities 84 Figure 21: IsiZulu Newspaper showing how the police Solicit money from foreign nationals 85 Stereotyping 85 Transnational Families 87 iii Marital relations 87 Family life in KZN 88 How do Muslim Yao Women construct and perform their cultural and religious identity in transnational settings? 89 CHAPTER 5: Conclusion 95 APPENDIX 1: Interview Guide 101 APPENDIX 2: Informed Consent 103 BIBLIOGRAPHY 157 iv DECLARATION I, Joseph YusufuMbalaka, hereby declare that: (i) The research reported in this dissertation, except where otherwise indicated, is my original work. (ii) This dissertation has not been submitted, in whole or in part, for a degree at another university or institution. (iii) Where data, ideas and quotations have been used that are not my own, they have been dully acknowledged as being sourced from other persons. (vi) This dissertation is submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Social Science – Masters in History in the School of Social Sciences, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Howard College. SIGNED: _____________________ DATE: __ March 2017___________ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor Professor Kalpana Hiralal research mentor and Professor Goolam Vahed for recognizing my potential as an emerging researcher on the history of the Yao of southern Africa. My sincere thanks go to Dr. Vanessa Noble for her constructive criticism on my proposal. Also thanks should go to Professor Mandy Goedhals for her many suggestions and recommendations on the topic. Thank you for generously imparting your knowledge and expertise to me. Under the guidance of Professors Hiralal and Vahed, I am developing my career as an academic. Thank you for nurturing my potential during the research field trips whereby you provided invaluable advice and guidance. I will forever be grateful for all the advice, support, encouragement that you have offered to me in every part of this undertaking. Without your support and resources, this project would not have been conceived or completed. A special thank you goes to my mother Che Niya abiti Mwamadi for her unwavering support and for her sound advice in my academic endeavours, and for instilling in me a solid work ethic, compassion for others other than myself, encouragement, words of wisdom and most importantly, infectious energy. You have been my pillar of strength through my many trials and tribulations. Sheikh Saleem N. Banda for his support during my studies, without him I could not have managed to finish my course. I am also very grateful to the Muslim Yao women, without their support this project would have not materialized. They were very co-operative in this study and I would like to thank them for their generosity and infectious enthusiasm. It is hoped that this dissertation will truly uncover their history in Durban. To my wife, daughters and sons for their tolerance, love and support during the course of my studies. vi DEDICATION This project is dedicated to all Muslim Yao women, Ndapeuli Zakee Y. Mbalaka, and my late father M’balaka Bwanali Ntwana who positively shaped my life through the history book entitled Wayaowe by Yohanna Barnaba Abdallah. The book was published in 1919 by the government printers in Nyasaland (now Malawi), which he purchased in 1956 and handed to me as a gift in 1982. This work inspired me to aspire to greatness and have a passion for the history of the Yao people. It is extremely sad that my father could not live to see and reap the fruits of his labour. vii LIST OF ACRONYMS ANC African National Congress BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa FD FirqatudDawah KZN KwaZulu-Natal MAM Muslim Association of Malawi NGO Non-Governmental Organisation RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme SADC Southern African Development Community TIP Taking Islam to the People UKZN University of KwaZulu- Natal viii ABSTRACT There is very little to no research accessible on Muslim Yao women in South Africa; the available literature focuses primarily on Muslim Yao male migrants. This study critically examines the lived migration experiences of Malawian women in South Africa. This research is contextualized within the larger narrative of migration to South Africa in the post-apartheid period and experiences of many migrant communities in recent years. It will interrogate and explore the migration experiences of Muslim Yao women in KwaZulu-Natal between 1994 and 2015. The Yao form the largest proportion of the Muslims of Malawi and have a long tradition of emigrating from their original homeland to other regions, including South Africa. This study aims to historicise their experiences through a life history and narrative approach of the women who have migrated to Durban. These are Muslim Yao women who are engaged in the civic life of their communities and in public participation in various ways. Key themes examined in this dissertation include the reasons for their migration to South Africa, the challenges and constraints they face as immigrants, and how Yao Muslim women are negotiating their identity in multiple contexts – with fellow Malawians, other, predominantly Indian, Muslims, and black South Africans with whom they are in contact in various settings on a daily basis. The complex and complicated triangular relationship between Malawian women, local indigenous peoples (officially designated as “Black African” in the census), and Indians is explored in this study. Currently there is little work of the kind envisaged here, as most existing works on post- apartheid Muslim Yao migrants deal primarily with men. These studies focus on limited aspects of the lives of Muslim Yao women in South Africa. This study will contribute to our understanding of Malawian women migrants in South Africa. The working hypothesis of this study is that in the process of creating a new life in South Africa, Malawian women are contributing to the economy of Malawi through remittances in significant ways, engaging in the civic life of their communities in very public ways and changing perceptions of Islam as being predominantly an “Indian” religion in KwaZulu-Natal. In addition, this study will add to current debates on migration by focusing on issues of gender, identity, and agency in Africa. Key Words Gender, Identities, International migration, Muslim, Women, Xenophobia, Yao ix x xi CHAPTER ONE Introduction The history of migrations can be traced to the origins of mankind in what is known as the Rift Valley in Africa from where Homo erectus and Homo sapiens migrated to Europe and subsequently into other continents.1 The movement of people to different regions is old as civilization itself.2 Migration is not a new phenomenon.