‘Immigrants work hard’ – report

MOST foreign nationals seeking a better life in South Africa make it through sheer hard work and sacrifice.

This is according to a report by the SA Institute of Race Relations.

Called “South Africa’s Immigrants – Building a New Economy”, IRR researcher Rian Malan said his research showed how most migrants succeeded in the country, sometimes through good business acumen and ability to start from scratch and move up.

Political repression or wars, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe pushed citizens to South Africa, whose relatively strong economy was attractive to them.

Malan used three case studies of Somalis taking over the spaza shop business in townships, Zimbabweans waiting tables and managing restaurants in Joburg, and the mushrooming of trading in the Joburg CBD started by Ethiopians at a time when municipal authorities neglected the inner city.

The immigrants’ strong networks ensured that their countrymen accessed opportunities as well, when they arrived in the country.

They also had to start from the bottom and sometimes work for their already successful countrymen for just meals “until they had paid the debt” and then start earning to work their way up, the report showed.

“The stories raise fundamental questions about the truth of these beliefs (about immigrants). All are black, using the broad definition favoured by Pan-Africanists.

“And yet, foreigners make it here. Some of the stories told here might convey the misleading impression that all migrants are pulling R20 000 a month as waiters in posh restaurants, or buying innercity buildings with suitcases full of cash. These are exceptional cases… but the literature demonstrates that foreigners are more likely to be working than South Africans… and in the few cases where data is available, earning more than their South African counterparts.”

Malan added that a survey conducted in 2008 showed that 80% of South Africa’s unemployed were also desperate for work and willing to start for very little, provided there was some prospect of advancement in the long run.

“But 62% said this got them nowhere, because there were simply no jobs available. Foreigners dispute this claim, contending that there are all sorts of opportunities here for those willing to start at the bottom or create work for themselves.”

It was not too late for the South African government to listen to what immigrants had to say and lessons they might have, said Malan.