Determinants of the Return Migration of Household Heads from South Eastern Zimbabwe to South Africa During Prolonged Crisis, 2000-16
Abstract
The study assessed return migration by heads of households that migrated during the prolonged crisis, 2000-16. It collected data among 166 households from four districts in South Eastern Zimbabwe. Most of the male household heads had previously migrated, half of them to South Africa. Non-migrant heads were mainly females who remained behind when their husbands migrated to South Africa or urban areas. Both heads who returned from migrating to South Africa and locally to urban areas came back during 2011-15 with the desire to reunite with families. This period was associated with severe retrenchments by Zimbabwean companies that attempted to survive the shrinking economy. Yet it was also an attractive period to return home for international migrants because of the stability brought by the adoption of multiple currencies. Xenophobic attacks in South Africa in 2015 also ‘pushed’ some of the heads into returning home. International return migrants were significantly younger and had lower levels of education than internal and non-migrants. Three-tenths of them returned into households having traditional huts as their main houses which suggested that migration was unsuccessful for them. There is a need for restoration of stability soon after a crisis since this helps attract back human capital.
Downloads
References
Creswell, J.W. (2011). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach, (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Crush, J. (2002). Zimbabweans who move: Perspectives on international migration in Zimbabwe. SAMP Migration Policy Series, 25.
Crush, J. & Tevera, D. (2010). Zimbabwe’s Exodus: crisis, migration, survival. Cape Town: Idasa or Ottawa: IDRC.
Hungwe, C. (2012). The migration experience and multiple identities of Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa, Online Journal of Social Sciences Research, 1(5), 132-138.
Iredale, R. Guo, F. & Rozario, S. (2003). Return migration in the Asia Pacific. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Kiwanuka, M. & Monson, T. (2009). Zimbabwean migration into Southern Africa: New trends and responses. Forced Migration Studies Program University of the Witwatersrand.
Lefko-Everett, K. (2004). Botswana’s changing migration patterns. Migration Information Source.
Makina, D. (2012). Determinants of return migration intentions: Evidence from Zimbabwean Migrants, living in South Africa, Development Southern Africa, 29(3), 365-378.
Manamere, K. T. (2014). Majoni Joni – Wayward criminals or a good catch? Labor migrants, masculinity & marriage in rural southeastern Zimbabwe. African Diaspora, 7, 89-113.
Mandiyanike, D. (2014). Zimbabwe’s return migrants – before and after challenges. SAMP Policy Brief, 29.
Massey, D. S., Arango, J., Hugo, J., Kouaouci, G., Pellegrino, A. & Taylor, J. E. (1993). Theories of international migration: a review and appraisal. Population and Development Review, 19(3), 431-466.
Mlambo, A. & Raftopoulos, B. (2010). The regional dimensions of Zimbabwe’s multi-layered crisis: an analysis. Election processes, liberation movements and democratic change in Africa conference.
Murisa, T. (2010). Social development in Zimbabwe. Discussion paper prepared for the Development Foundation for Zimbabwe.
Muzondidya, J. (2008). Majoni Joni: Survival strategies among Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa. Paper presented at the International Conference on the Political Economies of Displacement in Zimbabwe, Wits University, 9-11.
New Zimbabwe. (15 April 2015). SA: one Zimbabwean killed 800 displaced.
Pasura, D. M. (2008). A Fractured Diaspora: Strategies and Identities among Zimbabweans in Britain.
Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
Roman, M. & Goschin, Z. (2014). Return migration in an economic crisis context: a survey on Romanian healthcare professional.
Southern Eye. (6 May 2015). Companies retrench over 200,000 workers.
UNDP. (2010). The potential contribution of the Zimbabwe diaspora to economic recovery. Comprehensive economic recovery in Zimbabwe. Working Paper Series, 11.
Yabiku, S. T., Agadjanian, V. & Sevoyan, A. (2010). Husbands’ labor migration and wives’ autonomy. Population Studies, 64(3), 293-306.
Zimbabwe Youth Council. (2014). Harmful Cultural and Social Practices Affecting Children: Our Collective Responsibility.
Copyright (c) 2019 Dick Ranga
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of a revised paper, the editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.
