South African Trade Union responses to xenophobia in workplaces: the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA)
- Authors: Gongqa, Nombulelo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xenophobia , Xenophobia-- South Africa , National Union of Mineworkers , National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa , Labor unions -- South Africa , Immigrants -- South Africa , Marginality, Social -- South Africa , Social conflict -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115061 , vital:34074
- Description: This research looks at how trade unions relate to immigrants and how inclusive they are to immigrants who form part of the South African working class. South Africa has been an immigrants receiving country for decades, where most immigrants are from neighbouring countries within the South African region. It was the trade unions that empowered workers to gain back some of their basic rights during the apartheid era, and they did this for all workers who worked in sectors where they were exploited and mistreated by the apartheid regime on the basis of their skin colour. This research aims to understand how trade unions respond to xenophobia in the workplace, and the ways their strategies increase inclusion of immigrants in the trade unions. This research focuses on the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), seeking to find whether they have strategies and planned ways to respond to xenophobia in South African workplaces. This research also looks at the impact of nationalism in South Africa on immigrants. It shows that whilst the concept of nationalism is to protect South Africans, it does exclude immigrants because it places South Africans before immigrants when it comes to benefiting from the resources of the country. This shows that protecting one section of the working class over another weakens the working class movement. To get views from the trade unions, trade union officials were interviewed and from the interviews, common themes were picked out. From the interviews, it can be identified that trade union officials believe that immigrants should be included in the trade unions, and they should be treated with dignity. However, there are some conflicting themes, which highlight the view that South African locals deserve to get the resources of the country, such as housing, before immigrants. The themes will be discussed in the research to highlight the different perspectives that came from the trade union officials.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Gongqa, Nombulelo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Xenophobia , Xenophobia-- South Africa , National Union of Mineworkers , National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa , Labor unions -- South Africa , Immigrants -- South Africa , Marginality, Social -- South Africa , Social conflict -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/115061 , vital:34074
- Description: This research looks at how trade unions relate to immigrants and how inclusive they are to immigrants who form part of the South African working class. South Africa has been an immigrants receiving country for decades, where most immigrants are from neighbouring countries within the South African region. It was the trade unions that empowered workers to gain back some of their basic rights during the apartheid era, and they did this for all workers who worked in sectors where they were exploited and mistreated by the apartheid regime on the basis of their skin colour. This research aims to understand how trade unions respond to xenophobia in the workplace, and the ways their strategies increase inclusion of immigrants in the trade unions. This research focuses on the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), seeking to find whether they have strategies and planned ways to respond to xenophobia in South African workplaces. This research also looks at the impact of nationalism in South Africa on immigrants. It shows that whilst the concept of nationalism is to protect South Africans, it does exclude immigrants because it places South Africans before immigrants when it comes to benefiting from the resources of the country. This shows that protecting one section of the working class over another weakens the working class movement. To get views from the trade unions, trade union officials were interviewed and from the interviews, common themes were picked out. From the interviews, it can be identified that trade union officials believe that immigrants should be included in the trade unions, and they should be treated with dignity. However, there are some conflicting themes, which highlight the view that South African locals deserve to get the resources of the country, such as housing, before immigrants. The themes will be discussed in the research to highlight the different perspectives that came from the trade union officials.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
My Friend, the stranger: Somali spaza shop operators in the villages around Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Maselwa, Avuyile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Immigrant business enterprises -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Somalis -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Somalis -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Public opinion , Somalis -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/41738 , vital:25127
- Description: This thesis presents a study of the relationships between Somali spaza operators and the villagers living in the villages around Cofimvaba. The Somali spaza operators are operating spazas in the villages around Cofimvaba in the Intsika Yethu District Municipality (IYDM) located in the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM). Spaza shops are general dealers selling daily consumption items, which usually operate in the informal sector, primarily in poorer black neighbourhoods, both urban and rural. Resentment of the very visible, post-apartheid, expansion of immigrant entrepreneurship - in the informal sector, notably in spazas- has been central to South African anti-immigrant sentiment, popularly dubbed “xenophobia,” which casts foreigners, mainly black or Asian, as stealing South African resources. Foreign spaza operators, many of them Somalis, have been subject to ongoing violence and looting for well over a decade, notably in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces. Yet in the deeply impoverished villages around Cofimvaba, in the former Transkei black homeland in the Eastern Cape, where Somalis play a central and growing role in spazas, such attacks are unknown. The aim of this thesis is to understand why. Careful qualitative research in several villages has indicated key reasons. These include the relative absence of South African, locally- owned spazas, and so, the lack of a local group driving xenophobic resentment; the convenience offered by Somali-owned spazas in these isolated villages, the affordability of the products offered, and the availability of systems of credit for villagers; the investment of the Somali entrepreneurs into the villages through acts like charity; and their social interaction with villagers. The Somalis have redefined the local spaza sector, to the benefit of the villagers, and there is a degree of “xenophilia” as a result. The research also found that the growing number of Somali spaza operators in the villages was a direct result of the xenophobia experienced by this group in the urban townships. The villages around Cofimvaba benefit the Somali operator, not in a financial sense as these are not where the most profits have been made, but as sites where the traders feel safest. But although the villages are a sort of refuge, they are isolated and isolating. The Somalis resident in these areas struggle to maintain the strong ethnic group consciousness based on a strong vision of the Somali homeland, and a sense of being sojourners, hoping to relocate elsewhere.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Maselwa, Avuyile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Immigrant business enterprises -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Somalis -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Somalis -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Public opinion , Somalis -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/41738 , vital:25127
- Description: This thesis presents a study of the relationships between Somali spaza operators and the villagers living in the villages around Cofimvaba. The Somali spaza operators are operating spazas in the villages around Cofimvaba in the Intsika Yethu District Municipality (IYDM) located in the Chris Hani District Municipality (CHDM). Spaza shops are general dealers selling daily consumption items, which usually operate in the informal sector, primarily in poorer black neighbourhoods, both urban and rural. Resentment of the very visible, post-apartheid, expansion of immigrant entrepreneurship - in the informal sector, notably in spazas- has been central to South African anti-immigrant sentiment, popularly dubbed “xenophobia,” which casts foreigners, mainly black or Asian, as stealing South African resources. Foreign spaza operators, many of them Somalis, have been subject to ongoing violence and looting for well over a decade, notably in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces. Yet in the deeply impoverished villages around Cofimvaba, in the former Transkei black homeland in the Eastern Cape, where Somalis play a central and growing role in spazas, such attacks are unknown. The aim of this thesis is to understand why. Careful qualitative research in several villages has indicated key reasons. These include the relative absence of South African, locally- owned spazas, and so, the lack of a local group driving xenophobic resentment; the convenience offered by Somali-owned spazas in these isolated villages, the affordability of the products offered, and the availability of systems of credit for villagers; the investment of the Somali entrepreneurs into the villages through acts like charity; and their social interaction with villagers. The Somalis have redefined the local spaza sector, to the benefit of the villagers, and there is a degree of “xenophilia” as a result. The research also found that the growing number of Somali spaza operators in the villages was a direct result of the xenophobia experienced by this group in the urban townships. The villages around Cofimvaba benefit the Somali operator, not in a financial sense as these are not where the most profits have been made, but as sites where the traders feel safest. But although the villages are a sort of refuge, they are isolated and isolating. The Somalis resident in these areas struggle to maintain the strong ethnic group consciousness based on a strong vision of the Somali homeland, and a sense of being sojourners, hoping to relocate elsewhere.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
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