Source: Zimbabweans abroad: Uber drivers in Cape Town | zimbabweland I am just back to Harare from a couple of months in Cape Town where Tapiwa Chatikobo and I have been writing up our project, Zimbabwe’s land reform after 25 years, getting to grips with overwhelming mountains of data. More on that in forthcoming blogs. I […]
I am just back to Harare from a couple of months in Cape Town where Tapiwa Chatikobo and I have been writing up our project, Zimbabwe’s land reform after 25 years, getting to grips with overwhelming mountains of data. More on that in forthcoming blogs. I took a lot of Uber rides while there and virtually all drivers (bar two Malawians) were Zimbabweans.
Given Cape Town’s traffic these days, some of these journeys were quite long and inevitably conversations turned to Zimbabwe, people’s lives, their plans for the future and so on. Yes, the researcher never stops! It is a completely unrepresentative sample and based on discussions of varying lengths, but some themes emerged. Given that there are so many migrants in South Africa at any one time, these are important to reflect on.
All my Uber informants were highly educated and very articulate. They were all men ranging from their mid-20s to mid-40s. A number had taken up Uber driving as they had been fired from truck driving jobs due to businesses responding to pressure from the All Truck Drivers Association to stop hiring immigrants. Conversations ranged across many themes, from geopolitics to rural development, and all were nuanced and well informed. Nearly all had completed Form IV and many had sixth form and degree qualifications. Zimbabwe exports some serious talent, but fortunately this is mostly temporary.
All who I spoke to intended to go back home, sooner rather than later if at all possible. Circular migration is still an important feature of the regional economy, and the work relationships between South Africa and Zimbabwe remain strong as they have for a century or more. Money raised in South Africa is remitted home, and there are many projects on-going, as well as money being sent to parents and other relatives. The statistics on large numbers of Zimbabweans in South Africa are no doubt correct, but few migrants are permanent. For most, this is migration for a purpose, and mostly this is investment at home, very often in rural areas, with the intention of returning home. That said, at least one driver explained that he was ‘stuck’, unable to return home, without enough surplus to invest and few connections at home having left in 2008, and with parents no longer alive and siblings scattered. This he said was down to mistakes he made when he was younger, but now with a family, he saw no chance of leaving.
Many Uber drivers in Cape Town farm in Zimbabwe. I was shown prized fields and crops in photos, and many are building homes in rural areas as well as in towns. In most cases, rural origins were communal areas, but there were a few from resettlements and one from a ‘purchase area’. All had plans for rural life on return, even if living in town some of the time. Rural investment, particularly in irrigation, was central to many conversations. One driver was in business with a relative funding the purchase of gold hammer mills, which he bought in South Africa and transported home. He was making some serious money from the explosion of artisanal gold mining near his home area.
The drivers I spoke to were at different demographic stages. Some were married, some not; some had kids, others were without. Most had partnerships with Zimbabwean women, some of whom were still in Zimbabwe, while others had joined later, also finding jobs as cleaners, housekeepers, shop assistants and so on. Sustaining families in Cape Town is hard, especially for migrants, they explained.
Living in Cape Town meant finding cheap accommodation in safe places. This was a real challenge, my informants observed. Most aimed for lower income former ‘coloured’ or working-class ‘white’ suburbs. Low rise ‘medium-density’ living was the aim. Slotting into the old racialised apartheid divisions in urban areas as a migrant is always challenging, they explained. Muslim neighbourhoods were often preferred as places that were safe but cheaper. Except two, all emphasised that they would not live in the townships. These were dangerous, subject to gang violence and xenophobia. One exception was one determined young man, aged 27 and single, who lived alone in a small room in a notoriously dangerous township. He drove his taxi all day and went home in time and locked himself in until the next day. Not a great life, he agreed, but his mission was to raise money and support his money, and he would leave as soon as he could.
A recurrent theme in discussions of the comparisons between South and Zimbabwe was the incidence of violence. Even in the better suburbs you could hear gunshots at night. Robberies happened regularly on the streets. As an Uber driver you were especially vulnerable, and all had learned where not to pick up or drop off lifts. Everyone talked about how they enjoyed being back home for the peace and freedom from random violence.
Part of such violence was the xenophobia experienced in different ways by everyone. The antagonism of black South Africans in particular was pointed to. They were used to the casual racism of some whites, but the way migrants were being blamed for the ills of South Africa, while they were contributing important work was disappointing, they explained. The regular accounts of Zimbabweans being attacked, chased from schools or refused treatment in hospitals made them feel unwelcome, despite the assurances of the President in his State of the National Address. The anti-immigrant mobilisation around the Operation Dudula movement was particularly worrying, they claimed. South Africa, they reasserted, was a temporary stop, even if the period sometimes stretched to many years.
Another comparison was on school education. Everyone preferred the Zimbabwe education system to public schooling in South Africa (even in its current state, they said). ‘Cambridge exams’ were better than the South African exam system; higher quality and more rigorous, they claimed. Indeed, those with school aged kids either had left their children at home with parents or other relatives to attend school in Zimbabwe, or they paid for private education by Zimbabwean teachers using the Zimbabwean curriculum and exam system in South Africa. Just as in Zimbabwe, there has been an explosion of private schools in areas with high levels of migration, including Cape Town. These are run by former headmasters from Zimbabwe and staffed with former teachers. They make good money and are all full, my informants noted.
Complaints about police corruption and being hassled by authorities was a recurrent theme of discussion, with familiar tales of cars being impounded if the correct permits were not available. Pressure from the parallel taxi system where drivers are mostly South African was blamed. Corruption is of course familiar from Zimbabwe, but navigating it as a migrant, often with incomplete or no immigration papers, is always challenging. Fears of deportation or imprisonment are always present, creating anxiety and stress, they explained.
Over a couple of days, we discussed the South African tourist visiting Zimbabwe who was sending Twitter video updates on his trip, which were going viral. In his posts he was waxing lyrical about the quality of the road from Beitbridge, how supermarkets were well stocked and how South Africans have such a distorted view of Zimbabwe. This struck a chord. Many drivers commented that many customers assumed that they had escaped extreme poverty and hardship and that Zimbabweans had little food and the shops were empty. They found it difficult to explain that they simply were coming to earn money in order to return. Migrating was a choice; not great and hopefully short-lived. Indeed, everyone said that they would much prefer being at home.
And, in the end, as ever with Zimbabweans, conversations turned to politics. Two trips were on the day Nelson Chamisa reappeared. There were two contrasting views. One deemed him a spent force, too biblical, no longer convincing. The other argued that he is the only one who can make a change, and what’s more ‘we had supported him for so long’. The age group is one that has experienced a whole adult life since the emergence of an opposition, and then the disappointment of crushed hopes and electoral loss at the hands of ZANU-PF manipulation. Another trip happened on the day after Blessed Geza, aka Cde Bombsell, died. There was agreement that he was naïve and probably misguided, but I was interested to hear lots of positive commentary about VP Chiwenga, on both the outward and return journey.
So, take all this with a very large pinch of salt. This is more casual impression than solid evidence, but there were some interesting themes that are important for Zimbabwe. Migration is rarely forever. The rural areas and agriculture are the places to invest. Peace and the lack of a gun culture is a big draw. And, as ever, political allegiances are divided.
If you are in South Africa, travel by Uber and do your own research, but tip heavily please. The fares are low and the Uber fees are high, and all drivers not only have to survive in increasingly expensive south Africa, but they need to remit home to support homes, families and farms, so please add the maximum suggested on the App or, if possible, more!
