African Human Mobility Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (August 2018) pg. 1226
African Migrants’ Characteristics and Remittance
Behaviour: Empirical Evidence from Cape Town in South
Africa
Jonas Nzabamwita *
Abstract
South Africa experienced an increase in the number of mixed categories of
migrants from the African continent. Central to these migrants is the issue of
their remittances. Using remittance motives in a prospect theoretical framing,
this paper presents the findings of a study that explored remittance patterns and
behaviour along a range of migrants’ characteristics. The data are premised on
questionnaires, interviews and focus groups with migrants from the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Somalia and Zimbabwe who live in Cape
Town, South Africa. The results show that economic migrants remit cash and
goods more frequently, while forced migrants remit more both socially and in
terms of the value of cash and goods. In addition, income, education and family
size are significantly associated with remittance behaviour in respect to the
amount of cash remitted as well as value of goods. Furthermore, there is a strong
correlation between the type of remittance channels and income, education and
immigration status.
Keywords African migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, migration, remittances,
South Africa.
Introduction
South Africa has witnessed the greatest recorded rate of increase in various
categories of migrants from the African continent. The flow of these migrants
into South Africa has always been intrinsically linked to several distinct
periods. For instance, in the pre-colonial period, the discovery of diamonds in
1867 and gold in 1886 by the Apartheid regime lured low wage and low skilled
labour migrants from Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and
Tanzania into South Africa’s rich mining centres (Tsietsi, 1998; Adepoju,
2003b; Makhema, 2009; Dinbabo & Nyasulu, 2015). In addition to the use of
inexpensive migrant labour in the mining industry, the South African go
* PhD Candidate in Development Studies, Institute for Social Development, Faculty of Economic
and Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Email:
nzabajonas@gmail.com
African Migrants’ Characteristics and Remittance Behaviour: Empirical Evidence from
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African Human Mobility Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (August 2018) pg. 1227
vernment recruited African migrants for domestic service, work on
commercial farms and factories and the transportation and construction
sectors (Crush et al., 2006; Kok et al., 2006). Towards the colonial period,
foreign labour migration became not only keystone for government policies,
but also pivotal for upholding South Africa’s industrial revolution, which
bolstered the economy and development, thereby attracting a massive influx
of white migrants escaping political uncertainty and hostility in newly-
independent African countries (Breyetenbach, 1979; Adepoju, 2000b;
Peberdy, 2009).
For much of the colonial period, the Apartheid regime adopted protectionist
and nationalistic migration policies with a particular emphasis on tight border
control and restrictions on Africans who were considered undesirable (Segatti
& Landau, 2011). When Apartheid was officially abolished in 1994, South
Africa re-entered a global economic and political sphere, and the new
government led by the African National Congress (ANC) felt obliged to repay a
political debt to other countries for their role in the liberation struggle
(Anderson, 2006; Crush et al., 2006). Subsequently, South Africa opened up its
borders, which sparked a large-scale flow of refugees and asylum seekers
running away from the deepening political crisis in countries such as the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola,
Nigeria, the Central African Republic (CAR), Ethiopia and others further afield
(Adepojo, 2000b; Adepojo 2003b; Dinbabo & Carciotto, 2015). Likewise, the
fall of Apartheid encouraged increased clandestine cross-border movement of
economic migrants from as far as Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Cameroon, Uganda,
Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Kenya, Algeria, Morocco and elsewhere in search of a
better life and opportunities in South Africa (Mukasa, 2012).
By the end of the 20th century, restrictive immigration policies were still in
place; however, the post-Apartheid government slowly dismantled border
control policies (Kok et al., 2006; Segatti & Landau, 2011). The number of
migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa in South Africa dramatically surged as a
result of a booming economy coupled with amnesties to political refugees and
asylum seekers (Crush, 2000; Crush et al., 2005). Along with the influx of
short-term contract miners, long-term white migrants and migrants forced to
flee persecution in their home countries, in 2000, South Africa recorded other
categories of voluntary migrants that included skilled migrants (i.e.
professionals, semi-professional, managerial and technical migrants),
documented migrants (i.e. temporary residents in possession of tourism,
African Migrants’ Characteristics and Remittance Behaviour: Empirical Evidence from
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African Human Mobility Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (August 2018) pg. 1228
study or medicine or those holding work permits) and undocumented or
clandestine migrants (Wentzel et al., 2006; Wentzel & Tlabela, 2006).
While South Africa has a range of migrant categories, determining a precise
figure of African migrants has proven to be extremely difficult. In addition, a
number of sources have challenged the accuracy of data provided by the South
African government (Stupart, 2016; Africa Check, 2017). Nonetheless, using
the stream of contract and voluntary economic migrants, as well as forced
refugees and asylum seekers, the 2011 Census placed the total number of
international migrants in South Africa at 2,173,409. This was approximately
4.2% of the country’s total population at that time, and 73.5% of these
migrants originated from African countries (World Bank, 2018: 3). This figure
is unlikely to include all illegal migrants, however, the projections from the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) (2016) and International
Labour Organization (ILO) (2017) show that the stock of migrants,
particularly those from African countries, will continue to steadily and
considerably rise, largely due to on-going protracted political instability and
persistent economic collapse and deprivation.
The rising population of African migrants in South Africa brings to the fore the
issue of remittances. In practice, remittances are a proportion of a migrant’s
income in his or her domiciled country that is sent to the country of origin (Van
Doorn, 2002; Ratha et al., 2009). In the past, global financial institutions often
confined remittances to financial transfers. However, this restriction
underestimates and ignores the main essence of remittances, as the World
Bank (2014) and Suliman, et al. (2014) estimate that a substantial share of
overall remittance outflows to developing countries is in fact in-kind transfers.
In a broader sense, beyond economic transfers of cash, migrants also buy
consumable commodities that they send to their dependents in their home
countries (Tavera & Chikanda, 2009; Chisasa, 2014). By the same token,
international migrants establish social and political networks in their
countries of residence through which they acquire a wealth of information,
values, technology, intellectual capacity and social capital (knowledge,
experience and expertise) as well as other tools that are transmitted to their
respective countries in the form of social remittances (Levit, 1988; Goldring
2002; Goldring, 2004; Mohamoud & Fréchaut, 2006; Levitt & Lamba-Nieves,
2011). From this vantage point, migrants’ remittances can potentially be
defined as one part of a system of strong transnational connections that link
people across distances and diverse cultural practices (Cohen & Rodriquez,
African Migrants’ Characteristics and Remittance Behaviour: Empirical Evidence from
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2005; Paerregaard, 2008). For that reason, cash, goods and social remittances
are an essential and enduring linkage between migrant and home country at
family and community levels, as well as local government and national levels
(Taylor, 2000; Styan, 2007).
In relation to migrants’ resource flows, remittances can further be classified
either as formal or informal. The transfer of remittances is formal when sent
using registered channels. Informal remittances, on the other hand, as the
name suggests, are remittances sent through informal channels and, by
definition, this type of remittance is not registered (Buencamino & Gurbonov,
2002; World Bank, 2012). In remittance markets, the transfers of cash
primarily take place formally in the commercial banks, post offices, Money
Transfer Operators (such as Western Union and MoneyGram),
telecommunication companies, retails outlets and authorised dealers with
limited authority (Orozco, 2006; Bester et al., 2010). They may also be
transferred informally by the migrants when they visit the home country, or
by family, friends, networks of transfer agencies, unregistered travel agencies,
taxis, buses, call shops and ethnic stores (Truen et al., 2005; Truen & Chisadza,
2012; World Bank, 2014).
Remittances in the form of money or goods may be sent by migrants using a
broad array of informal and formal channels, ranging from hand deliveries by
migrants themselves or third parties to less regulated conduits of delivering
goods (Truen et al., 2005; Truen & Chisadza, 2012; Chisasa, 2014). Social
remittances, on the other hand, are intangible assets. As such, the potential
pathways along which they are transmitted are cross-linking modalities such
as letters, telephone calls, emails, online chats, videos, face-to-face
conversations and meetings with key political figures from migrants’
homelands (Levitt, 1998; Levitt & Joworsky, 2007).
Different types of remittances and varieties of channels have made it
extremely difficult to establish the total size of the remittance market.
Similarly, ensuring that all remittance outflows are accurately and consistently
reported has always been challenging in South Africa. Given this complexity,
being the largest economy of the region and the only middle-income country
in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa is among the continent’s largest remittance
markets (Bakewell, 2011: 35). The remittance outflows account for about
0.4% of South Africa’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the
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approximate size of the total remittance market from South Africa to other
African countries is $2 billion per annum (Technoserve, 2015: 4).
While migrant remittances from South Africa to other African countries
continue to grow, and despite a plethora of literature, there has been a
knowledge gap as to how and in what respect remittances might differ among
migrants. The continued deficiency in the understanding of the fundamental
aspects of remittances requires answering questions such as: Who remits?
What is remitted? How much is remitted? Why and how? As a contribution to
these academic debates, this paper sets out to explore the link between African
migrants’ characteristics and remittance behaviour. The next section of this
paper presents the theoretical literature. Section 3 presents the methodology
and a summary of the main variables used in the analysis. Section 4 presents
and discusses empirical findings and the last section presents a conclusion.
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
A substantial number of theories have been advanced to analyse what
motivates a rational migrant to send remittances (e.g. Lucas & Stark, 1985;
Stark & Lucas, 1988; Poirine, 1997). Since the decision to remit funds and
other resources is underpinned in the behavioural approach, a combination of
remittance motives and prospect theory would provide better insights into
remittance behaviours. The original prospect theory was developed by
Kahnerman and Tversky (1979) and was later revised and improved by other
authors (i.e., Kahnerman & Tversky, 1991; Tversky & Kahnerman, 1992;
Wakker & Tversky, 1993; Kahnerman & Tversky, 2000; Wakker & Zank, 2002)
to explain the decision-making process. This descriptive theory departs from
the normal utility approach to include the psychological and economic
principle of decision making under conditions of risk, uncertainty and
ambiguity (Wakker & Zank, 2002). Using the utility approach, Opong (2012)
and Barberis (2013) argue that when faced with decisions, the behavioural
patterns of all decision makers will seek to maximize their utility, by first
weighing each possible outcome with the probability of occurrence and
summing this up over all possible outcomes, and then selecting the strategy
that guarantees the highest possible returns or payoffs.
In a prospect theoretical perspective, individual decisions are anchored
around a reference point and a decision maker evaluates the outcomes in
terms of loss and gains relative to the selection of choices. What influence a
decision maker the most and thereby act as carriers of value or utility are
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circumstances, rather than the final asset position that includes current wealth
(Kahnerman & Tversky, 1991; Carmerer, 2005). In a similar view, Opong
(2012) reasons that, much like all theoretic prospect decision makers, the
frame of reference of most migrants guides their decision making, and their
reference points are deep seated in the prevailing conditions in their home
countries. This reference point is affected by and interlinked with the
migrants’ social-economic conditions in the country of destination, which in
turn shapes migrants’ perceptions of the current situation in their home
countries. According to Stark and Lucas (1988) and Rapoport and Docquier
(2006), the reality of conditions in migrants’ home countries influence their
behavioural patterns and judgment, and in the long run determine how money
is sent home, how often, how much is sent and to whom.
Prospect theory contains many remarkable insights that link with the social
and economic milieu of migrants, and in incorporating remittance motives
Opong (2012) maintains that remittance behaviour depends on both migrants’
abilities (i.e. their income and savings) and their motives to remit. From this
perspective, remittance decision making and behaviour is a function of a
migrant’s characteristics, willingness and ability to remit (Lucas & Stark 1985,
Rapoport & Docquier, 2006). Based on this notion, the willingness and
motivation of the prospective remitter has been hypothesized as related to
altruism and self-interest (Lucas & Stark, 1985; Taylor, 1999) as well as
tempered or enlightened motives (Poirine, 1997; Lillard & Willis, 1997). The
self-enlightened motive of remittances was expanded by Hagen-Zanker and
Siegel (2007) to include contractual arrangements, such as co-insurance, loan
repayment and exchange between migrant and household members in the
country of origin.
Under an altruistic model, the intuitive motive to remit is the migrants’
concern about relatives left behind in the home country. In a nutshell, a
migrant may derive satisfaction from ensuring the welfare of his or her
relatives (Lucas & Stark, 1988; Stark, 1991; Solimano, 2003). In a behavioural
sense, altruism implies a utility function in which the migrant cares about the
consumption needs of the family members left behind (Banerjee, 1984; Lillard
& Willis, 1997; Agarwal & Horowitz, 2002). Further to altruistic assumptions,
migrants with higher earning potential tend to remit more money and goods,
and remittances tend to increase if the migrant is married and the spouse
and/or children are in the country of origin (Frankhouser, 1995; Von
Burgsdorff, 2010; Von Burgsdorff, 2012; Chisasa, 2014). However, in a post-
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hoc strategy that follows migration, when the families join migrants, the ties
and links with the home country become weaker and the amount of
remittances decrease and are sent less frequently (Sana & Massey, 2005;
Kosse & Vermeulen, 2014).
In addition, intentions to return are positively correlated with the tendency to
remit more (Konica & Filer, 2005; Lindley, 2007; Lindley, 2008), and the
amount that a migrant sends to relatives in the home country is negatively
correlated with the number of migrants from the same household.
Furthermore, the time profile of remittances as propounded in the remittance
decay hypothesis (that remittances decline as the length of residence
increases) depends on the profile of migrants, i.e. migrants who stay longer
abroad tend to remit at a decreasing rate (Stark, 1978; Agunias, 2006;
Amuedo-Dorantes & Pozo, 2006; Vargas-Silva, 2006; Makina & Massenge,
2014; Echazarram, 2011). Likewise, remittances are positively correlated with
income, while the number of dependents in the host country affects
remittances adversely (Frankhouser, 1995; Holst & Schrooten, 2006).
In a similar view to the above, migrants who perceive the business
environment in their countries of origin to be favorable will remit more money
and goods in the form of investments (Lucas & Stark, 1985), and migrants who
regularly visit their home countries are more likely to send remittances
(Lindley, 2007; Lindley, 2009; Lindley, 2010). Much like the altruistic
hypothesis, in the self-interest motive, migrants who maintain links with home
countries are more likely to remit, especially when they are willing to return
to their countries of origin (Hoddinott, 1994; Cox et al., 1998; De la Briere et
al., 2002; Agunias, 2006).
In a pure self-interest motive, migrants driven by the prospect of inheritance
send remittances to maintain family income and financial stability. Under this
hypothesis, remitters are expected to have a higher chance to inherit assets,
whereas the higher the value of assets to be inherited is likely to be associated
with the higher remittances. For example, Osili (2007 and Hoddinott (1994)
found that migrants remit more in wealthier areas. Likewise, Schrieder and
Knerr (2000), Garip (2006) and Holst and Schrooten (2006) affirmed that with
an inheritance seeking motive, male emigrants remit significantly more
compared to female emigrants. However, according to Cracium (2006), the
exceptions are that women remit a substantially larger proportion of their
wages than men.
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In reaction to pure altruism and pure self-interest motives, Stark and Lucas
(1988) used an eclectic model termed “tempered altruism” and “enlightened
self-interest” to explain contractual arrangements of co-insurance, exchange
motives and loan repayment in driving remittances. A number of sources
stress that in the eclectic model, remittances are utilized as a familial strategy
to maximize an income and to insure against future shocks (Stark, 1991;
Poirine, 1997; Brown & Ahlburh, 1999; Solimano, 2003). The family enters
into an implicit pre-determined agreement in which they either invest in the
education of the remitter or finance the cost of migration, while the
remittances they receive are used to repay the loan that financed the cost of
migration and education. Under this assumption, scholars report that
educated migrants are likely to remit more (Hoddinott, 1994; Ilahi & Jffarey,
1999).
From the behaviour and motivation theoretical synthetic models, it is evident
that the complex mixture of altruism, self-interest and self-enlightenment best
describes the theoretical aspect of remittances. However, when combined
with micro-variables representing migrants’ characteristics, remittance
behaviours are difficult to predict. Therefore, to ascertain whether there is a
link between migrants’ characteristics and remittance behaviour, the
researcher developed the function consisting of principal independent
variables. These variables have been prominently linked to remittances in the
literature.
Remittance behaviour (RB) = N + A + Ge + MS + EL + IRSA + DTISA + RI + DSSA
+ IL + ABSA + FHV + A
Variable description:
• Nationality = N
• Age = A
• Gender = Ge
• Marital status = MS
• Educational level = EL
• Immigration reasons to South Africa = IRSA
• Document types in South Africa = DTSA
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• Return intentions = RI
• Duration of stay in South Africa = DSSA
• Income level = IL
• Access to banks in South Africa = ABSA
• Frequency of home visits = FHV
• Associations = A
Methodology
The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The information
was collected using structured survey questionnaires administered to 83
migrants. Additionally, interviews and focus group discussions were
conducted with 12 migrants from the DRC, Rwanda, Somalia and Zimbabwe
who live in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town is of interest as it is a
cosmopolitan city that receives migrants from the African continent and has a
history of migrant settlement (Lefko-Everett, 2008). Similarly, from the
researcher’s observations, Cape Town’s largest inner-city sections account for
a high number of migrants from the case study. The sample was selected by
means of non-probabilistic method, where the researcher applied the
purposive approach to select the sample of migrants as an entry point based
on his knowledge and the nature of the research aims. The sample was then
extended by means of snowballing to reach more participants by referral.
To mitigate the risks of bias and errors associated with the non-probability
sampling method, a considerable effort was made to include migrants of
varied demographics in terms of age, gender, occupation, nationality and legal
status. In addition, the non-probability sampling approach enabled the
researcher to overcome the difficulty of locating undocumented migrants. In a
similar view, combining purposive and snowballing sampling methods
enabled the researcher to choose the respondents included in the study and
increase subjects’ variability, thus minimizing the challenges of finding the
representative sample (Babbie & Mouton, 2001; Mertens & Gisenberg, 2009).
On the one hand, variables representing characteristics of migrants were
categorised according to demographic information, such as nationality, age,
gender, education, marital status, duration of stay in South Africa, income
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level, migration history, family context (i.e., migration status, reason for
immigration and return intention), family size in both South Africa and the
home country, level of social capital and access to financial institutions and
banking facilities. On the other hand, remittance patterns and behaviour-
specific variables were disaggregated to include remittance type (i.e., cash,
goods and social remittances) propensity to remit, value and amount of
remittances, frequency of remittances, as well as channels used to send
remittances.
The data analysis was based on a combination of both primary and secondary
data, and the goal was to link remittance behaviour with migrants’
characteristics. To do so, a statistical analysis was performed on the data
collected from the survey questionnaires using STATA software. In order to
describe, explain, interpret and summarise the characteristics of the migrants
and their remittances, descriptive statistics in the form of mathematical
quantities were used, while inferential statistics were employed to ascertain
whether remittance behaviour differs depending upon migration
characteristics. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic content
analysis. This involved breaking data from the interviews into more
manageable themes, triangulating them with those from the focus group and
comparing the findings with information from the literature review.
Disaggregating remittances into many types posed a challenge and
incorporating and analysing the aspects of social remittances created
incoherence in this paper. This was due to the fact that these kinds of
remittances are intangible in nature and difficult to measure compared to
financial transfers (Mohamoud & Fréchaut, 2006: 34). Similarly, the
quantitative approach did not provide detailed or nuanced narratives from
migrants’ responses. Nonetheless, these methodological shortcomings were
offset by the qualitative method employed. A quantitative method provides
data that may be effectively used to predict and measure relationships and
phenomena (Babbie & Mouton, 2001; Mertens & Gisenberg, 2009). As such,
the quantitative method was selected for this research as it proved to be more
affordable and faster than the qualitative method, especially when testing
hypotheses.
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Results and Discussions
Demographic Characteristics
Out of a sample of 83 respondents, 20 participants (24%) are from Zimbabwe,
20 (24%) are from Rwanda, 20 (24%) are from Somalia, and the remaining 23
(28%) are from the DRC. There is no considerable difference in terms of
educational background across nationalities, apart from the Rwandese, of
whom half attained university degrees. Otherwise, many of the pooled sample
(31%) indicated they had completed secondary school, 17% had attained
primary school, 23% had achieved a college qualification, 28% had completed
tertiary education and 1% had obtained another type of education. The
average monthly income of 34% of respondents falls between R4000–8000,
22% receive R1500–4000, 26% receive R8000–15000 and 18% receive
R15000 or more.
Relating to migration context and family history of migrants, 63% of the
respondents belong to an association or diaspora organisation, compared to
the remaining 37% who do not. A relatively high number of migrants have
access to banking institutions in both South Africa and their countries of
origin, and 64% of the respondents indicated they have bank accounts in South
Africa, compared to 36% who do not. 58% of the respondents indicated that
their relatives have access to financial and banking institutions in their home
countries. With regard to returning home, in this study, 61% of participants
reported that they intended to return home permanently at some point in
time, while 39% said that they did not have such intentions. Out of those who
intend to return to and settle permanently in their countries of origin, the
majority (65%) are planning to do so in a period of four years or more.
Concerning a visit to their home countries, more than half of the pooled sample
(51%) stated they had not visited their home country, 18% indicated that they
have travelled home once, 12% indicated that they visit every few years, 11%
visit once a year, 6% twice a year and the remaining 2% visit their home
country every three months. In addition, the majority of the respondents (not
including Zimbabweans) are holders of refugee status (33%) and asylum
seeker permits (17%). Other types of documents held are as follows: work
permit (12%), partnership permits (4%), permanent residence permit (14%),
study permit (6%), business permit (2%), other permits (1%). The remaining
11% are undocumented.
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Zimbabweans’ frequency of home visits is high and the intention to return
permanently is common, while on average the majority of respondents from
Rwanda, Somalia and the DRC do not visit their respective countries very
often. The low incidence of return intentions among migrants from these
countries could be linked to the fact that their countries experienced
insecurity and civil wars in the past. According to United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (2010), Somalia is still characterised by
insurgency. Similarly, their low frequency of home visits is linked to the type
of documents the migrants hold and their motives of migration. According to
Lawyers for Human Rights Watch (LHRW) (2009) and the UNHCR (2010), the
South African Department of Home Affairs revokes the residence permits of
asylum seekers and refugees who travel to their native countries.
In terms of their motivation for coming to South Africa, 51% of the surveyed
respondents cited political instability in their respective countries, 7% cited
study reasons, 18% cited economic reasons, 13% cited family reunification,
10% cited business opportunity and 1% cited other reasons. When
disaggregated across nationality, many respondents from Zimbabwe cited
perceived economic and business opportunities as the motive for coming to
South Africa, as opposed to those from the DRC, Rwanda and Somalia, who
indicated political instability.
To sum up, the majority of the Zimbabwean participants’ movement to South
Africa was voluntary. According to the LHRW (2009) and UNHCR (2010), a
person who leaves his or her home country for fear of persecution can apply
for asylum and, if accepted, will be called a ‘refugee’. Using a combination of
the reason for migration, type of documentation, frequency of home visits and
return intentions, one can conclude that the majority of Zimbabweans are
economic migrants (voluntary), as opposed to Rwandese, Congolese and
Somalis, whose movement to South Africa is forced and who thus qualify as
‘refugees’ or ‘forced migrants’.
Remittance Patterns and Behaviour of African Immigrants
All respondents agreed that they send some kind of remittances home. The
types of remittances identified were cash, goods or commodities and social
remittances. 80% of the respondents transmit social remittances, 53% remit
cash and goods simultaneously, 41% remit cash only and 6% remit goods only.
When disaggregated according to nationality, the remittance patterns do not
vary considerably. However, Somalis remit slightly more socially. This finding
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was reinforced by the information gleaned from qualitative data, as explained
by a participant from Somalia:
South Africa is technologically advanced with modernized learning and strong
democratic institutions that can help our countries to develop. We have learnt
a lot in terms of skills and democratic practices, next time when we go home,
we will ensure accountability and transparency in the public sector.
The study also revealed that Zimbabweans tend to remit more than any other
nationality in terms of cash and goods, while goods only predominate among
those from the DRC and Somalia. The high transfers among Zimbabweans
corresponds with other studies (e.g. Makina, 2007; Maphosa, 2007; Von
Burgsdorff, 2010), which found that remittances to Zimbabwe have increased
because of its rapidly declining economic conditions that have been
accentuated by severe drought.
The prominence of social remittances among migrants from Somalia is
undoubtedly associated with the fact that they belong to the Somali
Association of South Africa (SASA), with one of its missions being to facilitate
Somali migrants’ learning and integration in South Africa. Nevertheless, for the
study cohort as a whole, further investigations divulged that apart from skills,
technology and democratic values, some social and cultural practices that are
perceived to be negative (participants referred to these aspects as negative
social remittances) are also transmitted to the countries of origin, as
highlighted by a female Rwandan participant from the focus group:
South Africa is a country where everything is tolerated and accepted. In our
countries, homosexuality and lesbianism are taboo, this Western like culture
has been adopted and promoted by the South African constitution and passed
to us and our children and when they go back home, they take it with.
In terms of remittances in the form of goods, a relatively high level of transfers
of goods among Congolese (the majority of whom are refugees) is likely linked
to the availability of channels. This is described by a male Congolese
participant in the excerpt below:
[…] Nowadays, we don’t struggle to send something home; it is just the
matter of waiting for the bus to arrive from Lubumbashi, and then send
something home through the passengers.
African Migrants’ Characteristics and Remittance Behaviour: Empirical Evidence from
Cape Town in South Africa
African Human Mobility Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (August 2018) pg. 1239
These findings on the sending of remittances by Congolese refugees give
testament to other studies (e.g. Akuei, 2005; Jacobsen, 2005; Loschmann &
Siegel, 2014), which found that temporary forced migrants hoping to return
home in non-distant future are likely to remit. This is not surprising, as under
an altruistic motive, refugee remittances constitute an important mechanism
that provides support to family members through periods of famine, conflict
and war (Lindley, 2007; Lindley, 2008; Lindley, 2009). They also provide real
and substantial bulwarks to protect family members’ human rights (Cockayne
& Shetret, 2012).
This study found that 30% of the respondents remit to support their families.
The remaining 20% of the respondents remit to repay their families, 13%
remit to save and invest in their countries, 11% remit to inject cash in their
businesses, 23% remit to respect their families and the remaining 2% remit
for other reasons. These findings again substantiate all aspects of the prospect
hypotheses that remittances are determined by altruism (Lucas & Stark, 1988;
Stark, 1991; Solimano, 2003), self-interest (Hoddinott, 1994; Cox, et al., 1998;
De la Briere, et al., 2002; Agunias, 2006), enlightened self-interests, which
include familial arrangements of co-insurance, loan repayment and
inheritance motives (Lucas & Stark, 1985; Stark, 1991; Hoddinott, 1994;
Poirine, 1997; Brown & Ahlburh, 1999; Taylor, 1999; Osili, 2004).
A deeper analysis of Table 1 reveals that many Zimbabweans remit to invest
and save in their home countries, while Somalis and Rwandese remit for
family-related reasons. Again, this is not surprising as the study found the
majority of Zimbabweans to be economic migrants, and Rwandese, Congolese
and Somalis to be refugees. According to Phyillis and Kathrin (2008), refugees
mainly remit to help family members left behind escape human rights
violations. The implication of this is that economic migrants’ remittances are
driven by pure self- interest, while forced migrants’ remittances are based on
altruistic motives. This is in line with Cockyane and Shetret’s (2012) report
that refugees mainly remit to help family members left behind.
African Migrants’ Characteristics and Remittance Behaviour: Empirical Evidence from
Cape Town in South Africa
African Human Mobility Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (August 2018) pg. 1240
Table 1: Remittance Motives
Motive Support
the
family
Repay
the
family
Invest
and
save
Run
business
Respect
the
family
Other
motives
Total
Nationality
Zimbabwe 20% 5% 35% 20% 15% 5% 100%
DRC 17% 22% 13% 18% 26% 4% 100%
Rwanda 45% 30% 5% 20% 0% 0% 100%
Somalia 40% 25% 5% 30% 0% 0% 100%
Source: Nzabamwita (2015)
With regards to the values of remittances, out of 78 respondents who indicated
that they send cash, the majority (39%) noted that they send R1000–R2500,
and the rest of the remittance transactions vary as follows: 9% remit R500–
R1000, 32% remit R2500–R5000, and the remaining 19% remit R5000 and
above. As indicated in Table 2, the amount of cash remitted does not follow a
specific pattern based on nationality, however, Zimbabweans tend to remit the
highest amounts, followed by Congolese. This confirms other studies that
found that economic migrants remit more than refugees (Phyillis & Kathrin,
2008). A possible explanation is that conflict-induced migration happens to
save migrants’ lives rather than diversifying income (Lindley, 2008; Lindley,
2009) and forced migrants are not likely to have enough resources in the initial
period of their arrival compared to voluntary migrants, so they only tend to
remit long after full integration into the host country (Ghosh, 2006).
Table 2: Amount of Money Remitted Each Time
Amount < R500 R500–
R1000
R1000–
R1500
R1500–
R2500
R2500
–
R5000
> R5000 Total
African Migrants’ Characteristics and Remittance Behaviour: Empirical Evidence from
Cape Town in South Africa
African Human Mobility Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (August 2018) pg. 1241
Nationality
Zimbabwe 10% 10% 15% 25% 5% 35% 100%
DRC 0% 9% 27% 46% 0% 18% 100%
Rwanda 0% 15% 55% 5% 15% 10% 100%
Somalia 0% 0% 6% 12% 69% 13% 100%
Source: Nzabamwita (2015)
Regarding the value of goods, the majority of the respondents (66%) indicated
that they send goods worth R500–R3000 each time goods are sent, 12% remit
goods to the value of less than R500, 8% remit goods worth R5000–R8000 and
the remaining 8% remit goods worth R5000 or more. Table 3 indicates that
the Congolese and Zimbabweans remit relatively high values of goods
compared to the rest of the group. Goods remittances to Zimbabwe are
perhaps related to production that dwindled after the implementation of land
reform policies (see Kerzner, 2006; Kerzner, 2009; Polzer, 2010). Another
potential explanation is the close proximity between South Africa and
Zimbabwe (Makina, 2007; Makina, 2010; Chisasa, 2014) coupled with a
shortage of currency as acknowledged by two Zimbabwean participants
during an interview:
Let me tell you something, every time I sent money to my son for school
fees, he travels from the village to town to get it, he is always told to come
back the following day, because the bank does not have money (P1:
Participant from Zimbabwe).
With the lack of American Dollars in the Zimbabwean banks, I prefer to
buy stuff in South Africa, so that I can get cash when I re-sell them in
Harare (P2: Participant from Zimbabwe).
Table 3: Value of Goods Remitted Each Time
Amount (Retrieved
December 14, 2017).
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Cape Town in South Africa
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