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Why do African migrants with a tertiary education do menial jobs in Cape Town?
Includes bibliographical references ( leaves 86-91).
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Social Development
2014
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| _version_ | 1867611333685411840 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Bamanayi, Mbikayi Alexis |
| author2 | Sichone, Owen |
| author_browse | Bamanayi, Mbikayi Alexis Sichone, Owen |
| author_facet | Sichone, Owen Bamanayi, Mbikayi Alexis |
| author_sort | Bamanayi, Mbikayi Alexis |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes bibliographical references ( leaves 86-91). |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/10095 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | Department of Social Development |
| publisherStr | Department of Social Development |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/10095 Why do African migrants with a tertiary education do menial jobs in Cape Town? Bamanayi, Mbikayi Alexis Sichone, Owen Lincoln, David Development Studies Includes bibliographical references ( leaves 86-91). This research considers the reasons for the position of African migrants with a tertiary education in menial jobs in Cape Town. Until recently, mainstream migration literature on South Africa has tended to universalise xenophobia and to treat migrants as innocent people for their situation. To what extent does xenophobia explain the position of skilled migrants in menial work in Cape Town bearing in mind that i) South Africa suffers a shortage of skills needed to spur economic growth and development, ii) xenophilia (love and support for foreigners) is part and parcel of the interactions between South Africans and foreigners? Using an in-depth, qualitative, face-to-face interview schedule instrument and a convenience sampling method to select twelve skilled migrants from five African countries, this research provides a 'thick' and comprehensive understanding of the reasons for the position of African skilled migrants in menial jobs in Cape Town. It establishes a system of antecedent and immediate reasons which explain this position. The antecedent reasons are deprivation in home countries, reliance on superficial information and/or emotions to find out about opportunities in South Africa, the imperative of survival, reliance on limited social capital to find jobs, limited English skills, low entry requirements characterising menial jobs, and the fact that the migrants saw menial jobs as a temporary measure and exploited this facet of such jobs. Immediate reasons consist of limited knowledge of Xhosa and Afrikaans languages, xenophobia, racism, and the temporary nature of asylum seeker permit identity document. This research challenges the sketchy finding of earlier studies which has implicitly suggested that xenophobia is omnipresent in South Africa. It throws doubt into the extent to which the Government and businesses are informed about and willing to tackle the skills shortage in this country. It shows that the value of education is not forgone even though highly educated migrants do menial jobs. Such migrants are likely to and do secure professional jobs in the long-term. 2014-12-26T14:06:39Z 2014-12-26T14:06:39Z 2008 Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10095 eng application/pdf Department of Social Development Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Development Studies Bamanayi, Mbikayi Alexis Why do African migrants with a tertiary education do menial jobs in Cape Town? |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Why do African migrants with a tertiary education do menial jobs in Cape Town? |
| title_full | Why do African migrants with a tertiary education do menial jobs in Cape Town? |
| title_fullStr | Why do African migrants with a tertiary education do menial jobs in Cape Town? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Why do African migrants with a tertiary education do menial jobs in Cape Town? |
| title_short | Why do African migrants with a tertiary education do menial jobs in Cape Town? |
| title_sort | why do african migrants with a tertiary education do menial jobs in cape town |
| topic | Development Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10095 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bamanayimbikayialexis whydoafricanmigrantswithatertiaryeducationdomenialjobsincapetown |