Feminisation of migration, precarious occupations, and workplace-based stokvels. A case of Zimbabwean women migrants working in the hospitality industry in South Africa

Abstract

Historically in Africa, migration has been a male dominated phenomenon. However, over the past few decades there has been a change of trend in the migration predicament, with an unprecedented number of women joining the migration corridor. This is because women have always been economic beings with the added responsibility of needing to contribute financially to their families. With that in mind, Zimbabwean women have been situationally forced to migrate to South Africa (SA) in search of better employment opportunities. Upon arrival, they are absorbed into precarious jobs in the hospitality industry, due to their lack of proper immigration documentation and relatively low literacy. Precarious occupations are characterised by low and irregular wages, long working hours, and poor terms and conditions, as well as being subject to exploitation. The jobs are unstable and unpredictable. My research shows that the tips and commission remuneration system used in restaurants positions women migrants into financial vulnerability, which motivated this study. The study examines how Zimbabwean women migrants (ZiWoM) managed to navigate financial vulnerability through the use of Work-Place Based Stokvels (WPBS) whilst working under precarious conditions. It explores distinct vulnerabilities women migrant workers encounter, discusses social factors they consider to organise themselves to form WPBS, and reveals socio-economic benefits that emanates from participating in WPBS. The study is ethnographic in nature embedded within a qualitative research approach. The in-depth inquiry is grounded in people’s realities and experiences. Data was collected at “Chloe’s' restaurant situated in Johannesburg, Gauteng province (GT) in SA, through informal interviews and informal focused group discussion, repeated home visits, participatory and non-participatory observations. Chloe’s restaurant is a pseudonym used to represent a big-clientele restaurant that is the site of my study. I will refer to the strong migrant women under study by the acronym ZiWoM (see above). This acronym will be used interchangeably with the terms “the migrant women” and “the Women” for the purpose of writing clarity and flow. The study finds out that ZiWoM face distinct vulnerabilities whilst working at Chloe’s restaurant. These vulnerabilities are categorised as economic, sexual, health and security. ZiWoM are subject to low and irregular wages, work for long asymmetrical hours, being overworked and sexually abused by their managers, co-workers and restaurant customers. They are exposed to stress and depression, do not get paid maternity leave and some have been infected with STIs and HIV. On the other hand, the women suffer from job insecurities, cannot open bank accounts and are subject to xenophobic attacks. Despite being in this stressful situation they have managed to organise themselves to form WPBS to improve their income accumulation and meet their migratory goals. The study found that they considered the following social factors; trust, honesty, reliability, dependability, commitment, self-control, socially networked relationships and ethnicity, when formulating their WPBS. Despite the social factors, they also brought on board economic and demographic factors such as good financial behaviour, hard-working skills and age to aid to their selection process. Furthermore, ZiWoM benefit from participating in these WPBS socially, economically and also during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) era. The social benefits include moral support such as having a family away from home, when celebrating birthdays, conducting social gatherings, during times of sickness and bereavement. They have managed to boost their families' social confidence, create social capital and socially changed their behaviours. In the economic sense, ZiWoM have cultivated the culture of saving, where heavy spenders have become great savers. With their savings, they manage to meet basic needs such as groceries, clothing, health care and paying school fees for their children and dependents back home. Savings have enabled them to enhance their education and navigate through the difficult month of January popularly known as “January disease’’ in the Black communities. The Women also gained financial independence through their participation in their stokvels, which enabled them to invest into small businesses to boost their income. They bought properties and durable goods with their payouts from the stokvels. When COVID-19 struck, they managed to survive the crisis with the use of their savings and payout from their WPBS. The study concludes that, to a greater extent, ZiWoM managed to achieve their goals through the use of WPBS. However, recommendations were drawn from the findings to improve their situations. There is a need for (a) the formal banking system to tap into these WPBS and assist women migrants to transact and keep their money safe; (b) community based non-governmental organisations (NGO) being sponsored by international NGO dealing with migration, such as International Organization for Migration (IOM), should assist community members in the home countries of the migrants with refresher and practical courses on business know-how management and financial literacy, especially those receiving remittances from diaspora; (c) The South African government should allow the formation of a formally registered policy monitoring and regulatory organisation that protects the rights and humanity amongst migrants at workplaces whether documented or undocumented.