Inocent Moyo

Visible and Invisible Bordering Practices: The EU-African Migration Conundrum and Spatial Mobility of Borders

Purpose Despite enacting numerous legislations, policies and practices accommodating third country nationals, Europe continues to erect a fortress against foreigners. The recent migration crisis on the shores of the Mediterranean seem to validate this view. As Europe searches for optimal solutions to the migration crisis, recent media and humanitarian organisation reports of surging African and Middle Eastern refugees and migrants bring into sharp focus and test these immigration measures. For this cause, the purpose of this paper is to interrogate European Union (EU)-Africa relationships on international migration issues. Design/methodology/approach Located in the evolving field of border studies, the paper employs the concepts of displacement and humanitarianism in an effort to frame the EU-Africa relations on migration in the context of borders, boundaries and frontiers. A thorough review and critical analysis of relevant legislations, literature and media reports on the Africa-Europe migration interface is also conducted. Findings The militarisation, securitisation, restrictive and, sometimes, draconian immigration regimes do not provide sustainable solutions to the migration crisis facing Europe. A rethinking around the integration and inclusion of immigrants into Europes socioeconomic fabric, and addressing fundamental and structural weaknesses in EU-Africa relationships and respective economies is essential. Originality/value Theoretically, the paper attempts to understand better, the way the EU and Africa engage each other on international migration issues, in the context of border studies. Empirically, the paper positions itself in policy engagements and the quest for practical solutions by the two continents in view of the migration crisis currently facing Europe.

African Migrant Traders’ Experiences in Johannesburg Inner City: Towards the Migrant Calculated Risk and Adaptation Framework

ABSTRACT Globally, migrants face numerous socio-economic and institutional impediments that hinder their participation in the labour market of host cities and/or countries. This motivates them to join the informal economic sector to make a living. Applying the concept of tactical cosmopolitanism to understand the social and economic agency of African migrants, this article reports on an explorative analysis of the experiences of informal African migrant street traders (African migrant traders) operating in Johannesburg inner city, Gauteng, South Africa. The study revealed that African migrant traders left their countries of origin to secure better opportunities and to escape hostile conditions in their home countries. Despite the host city turning out to be more hostile and xenophobic, making life and finding formal employment opportunities more challenging, the thought of the more difficult life conditions in their home countries has led them to trading on the streets. Given the risks and challenges, including hostile and xenophobic situations that African migrant traders face in Johannesburg inner city, they have adopted dynamic and agentive strategies to survive and continue operating their businesses. Such findings pointed towards and assisted in the development of the Migrant Calculated Risk and Adaptation Framework.

Migration, Logics of Inclusion and Exclusion and Xenophobia: The Case of African Migrants in Post-apartheid South Africa

This contribution explores xenophobic tendencies in post-apartheid South Africa through historical sketches that revolve around debates of belonging, inclusion and exclusion. Such a historicity has created a legacy of suspicion and stigmatisation of migrants from within and without the country resulting in a fractured society with some implicit or explicit ‘othering’ on the basis of suspicion and fear. This has provided a template for exclusion of African migrants through promotion of indigeneity and/or reconfiguration of an exclusivist South African identity, which relegates migrants from other African countries to the subaltern, second and third classiness—a site for xenophobia. On the other hand, South African authorities are faced with a dilemma: they find it difficult to acknowledge the reality of xenophobic hostilities. Doing so would force them to accept that an underlying and continuing exclusivist narrative exists. If xenophobia contributes to the promotion of an exclusive South African identity, we question the approaches that have been adopted to try and resolve the xenophobic challenge and argue that the first real step towards dealing with xenophobia does not rest in denouncing it. Rather, the solution lies in engaging and investing in concerted efforts that ‘clean up’ the image of the African migrant.

Informal Immigrant Traders in Johannesburg: The Scorned Cornerstone in the Southern African Development Community Integration Project

Taking the case of informal cross-border traders from Southern Africa in Johannesburg, human mobility is discussed as one of four productive factors that are key to regional integration. Employing three levels of analysis—regional, national and local—discussion is confined to economically active persons. Key Southern African Development Community (SADC) instruments relating to human mobility are also discussed. Existing and corresponding national and local legislation, by-laws, policies and practices are investigated to highlight the extent to which SADC members implement regional instruments. Using in-depth interviews with informal cross-border traders in Johannesburg from SADC countries, the findings show the absence of supportive legal-institutional regulatory regimes to promote the activities of immigrant traders. This demonstrates that an important element in the SADC integration project is unwelcome or ignored.

Zimbabwean Dispensation, Special and Exemption Permits in South Africa: On Humanitarian Logic, Depoliticisation and Invisibilisation of Migrants:

Cross-border migration from Zimbabwe to South Africa has existed for a long time. Given this context, the governance of migrants, especially the undocumented Zimbabweans by South Africa, has come to the fore. Starting in 2009, South Africa granted undocumented Zimbabwean migrants Zimbabwean Dispensation Permits, which were replaced by Zimbabwean Special Dispensation Permits in 2014. In turn, the Zimbabwean Special Dispensation Permits were replaced by Zimbabwean Exemption Permits in September 2017. Although these are steps in the right direction, the changes in the conditions of these permits demonstrates humanitarian logic, which depoliticises and excludes the affected migrants.

Mapping spatial locational trends of informal economic enterprises using mobile geographic information data in the city of in Harare, Zimbabwe

Spatial planning for informal economic enterprises globally and cities of the developing world such Harare in particular is made difficult by the lack of appropriate data. In most cases, informal economic enterprises are discussed descriptively and statistically, leaving out their spatial characteristics. This makes the orderly planning for the enterprises very difficult if not impossible, especially given that the informal economy dominates the economies of most developing countries. This article presents geographic information data that was collected by means of mobile geographic positioning systems over time. In the absence of any other spatial datasets in the City of Harare, this unique data is handy in revealing spatial locational trends of informal economic enterprises and the preferred locational behaviour of informal economic entrepreneurs in the city.

Migration Context and Contestations

This chapter theorises African immigrants as the threatening other in South Africa based on secondary sources and other sources from the media. The chapter demonstrates how and why African immigrants are constructed as the threatening other and on this basis puts a case for the need for a deconstructionist reading and analysis of the projection of African immigrants as the threatening other.

Global Contexts, African Immigrants, Traders and the Johannesburg Inner City Milieu

This chapter shows that the migration and immigration conundrum is not a South African exceptionalism, but a global phenomenon. The aversion towards immigrants is also evident in regions such as the EU and individual countries such as Britain and France. It is also witnessed in countries like the USA. However, the targeting of African immigrants in South Africa provides a compelling case, especially given that immigrants from other parts of the world do not suffer the same condemnation as those form African countries.

The Framing of African Immigrants as the Problematic Aliens

This chapter provides an introduction by outlining the framing of African immigrants as the threatening other- the problematic aliens in contemporary South Africa. This framing projects the African immigrants as only capable of importing a litany of problems that range from committing a host of crimes to the use of magical powers to cause other social problems. This chapter therefore probematises this construction of African immigrants and locates the book within these debates.

Zimbabwean Cross-Border Traders in Botswana and South Africa: Perspectives on SADC Regional Integration

This chapter deploys a qualitative study of informal cross-border traders (ICBTs) at the Ramokgwebana border post between Botswana and Zimbabwe (Francistown–Plumtree–Bulawayo interface) and the Beitbridge border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe (Johannesburg–Messina–Beitbridge interface), to explore their activities and operations. It was established that ICBTs travel between these countries for the purposes of buying and selling different types of goods. Cross-border economic activities between Francistown and Plumtree and Bulawayo, and between Johannesburg and Messina and Beitbridge on the Zimbabwean side seem to be integrated economically. Consequently, the chapter argues that ICBTs constitute an important and innovative bottom-up initiative in the SADC regional integration debate. On this basis, policies that could enhance the activities of the ICBTs are advocated, so they are seen as an integral part of the regional integration project in the SADC.