Browsing by Author "Singh, Anand."

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An analysis of the arrival, settlement and domestic arrangements of South Asian Muslim salon workers in Durban.
(2011) Khan, Aneesah.; Singh, Anand.
This study examines the arrival and settlement of a sample of South Asian Muslim male migrants who are salon owners and salon employees in Durban, South Africa. The increasing visibility of the expansion of Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi migrant communities in Durban led to an interest in focusing on those issues which constitute the core of this research, namely: why they migrate, who migrates, how they migrate and arrive here, as well as settle into the work that they do. The broader purpose of this research was to investigate their living arrangements and social dynamics of their working and domestic lives. It also explores the challenges and opportunities that migrants encounter from the time they decide to leave home up until arrival in the country of resettlement and the way in which transnational social ties assist in helping them transcend such obstacles and reap the benefits of available prospects. Central to this project was also the adoption of salon work as a livelihood strategy as well as issues of integration, identity construction and the perceptions of foreign migrants and their enterprises from the view of local salon owners and local customers of foreign owned salons. It shows how migrants remain who they are and how the host society becomes a terrain in which their normative social practices are recreated and enjoyed. The study is anthropological in nature and therefore aims to capture the complexities of the migrant experience from the individuals' perspectives through the use of case studies. As part of the qualitative approach, observations of foreign owned enterprises were conducted, random sampling was used to select participants, and semi-structured interviews made it possible to acquire data. The exploratory goal of the study aims to illustrate that migrants are individuals who leave home with the hope of transforming their dreams and ambitions into a brighter prosperous reality not only for themselves, but more importantly their families too.
Analyzing the inscribed body : an investigation of how the uniform inscribes the body of Zulu-speaking domestics workers in Queensburgh, Durban.
(2010) Harisunker, Nadene.; Singh, Anand.; Singh, Shanta Balgobind.
Domestic workers are commonplace in South African society, with most middle to upper-class homes employing a domestic worker. Recently the area of domestic work in South Africa has gained much needed attention with regard to legal issues. Many domestic workers in the past and even currently, are exposed to exploitation and abuse in many forms. The main concern of this dissertation, however, is the woman that does the domestic work. Women have always been concerned with their bodies – the form and shape, dieting, clothes worn, amongst many other things. Although many may not think so, this concern has not escaped domestic workers. This group of women are extremely concerned with their dress and how their clothes and bodies are perceived by the public. This study addresses this issue paying close attention to the woman behind the uniform. Domestic workers often travel daily to get to their place of work. Commuting to work holds a sense of occasion for them, where, since they do not have much in the way of social lives, they dress up to travel to work. This dressing up is two-fold. Firstly the domestic workers in this study dressed up to impress others (especially other domestic workers) and improve their self-esteem. Secondly, their dress is linked to their past and their future aspirations, many of these women have aspired to become professionals in certain fields, but their goals had become unachievable due to their unfortunate circumstances. These issues are explored and discussed in the dissertation below, situated within the context of the domestic workers lives in South Africa, both during and after work.
Nigerian migration in central Durban : social adjustment, voluntary association and kinship relations.
(2009) Sausi, Kombi.; Singh, Anand.; Singh, Shanta Balgobind.
This study examines social adjustment and renegotiation of identity through networking, arrival and settlement of Nigerian migrants in Durban. The focus of the study therefore was based on the interrogation of personal relationships and the varying experiences that the migrants had as newcomers to Durban. It examined the barriers and challenges that individual Nigerian migrants encountered, as well as the ways in which they sought to transcend them. Since the study is anthropological it seeks to describe the migration experience from individuals‘ perspectives. I used both overt and covert participant observation, as well as semi structured interviews as part of my qualitative research approach. The goal was exploratory with a view to understanding the human side to a group that is often tarnished by accusations of illicit activities. While the number of Nigerian migrants in South Africa has increased since 1994, the media has been selective in its reporting of this migrant population group in Durban, shaping and determining popular perception about them. Issues such as reasons for coming to South Africa, their challenges and coping strategies, and their personal living experiences in Durban were central to this project. The information will show that respondents to my research had different reasons for migrating and settling in Durban. As much as the individual case studies differed in many ways they converge towards at least one common goal – that is to uplift themselves and their communities back home in Nigeria.
Perceptions of and responses to transformation among people of Indian origin in post-apartheid South Africa: 1994-1999.
(2000) Singh, Anand.
The theme of this dissertation is reflected in its title and was written to capture this particular historical juncture in post-apartheid South Africa. It was inspired by a variety of factors, including the harsh historical experiences of the Indian population since their arrival as indentured labourers in 1860, the current reassertion of ethnic identities and widespread ethnically based conflicts throughout the world, and the minority rights campaign that is gaining momentum in Europe. The significance of the last point is that West European countries generally enjoy the status as trendsetters on social policy issues, and the rest of the developing world often tends to follow suit. In this respect, this dissertation attempts to illustrate how the views of the Indian minority on transformation, in between the 1994 and 1999 democratic general elections, have been influenced and shaped. Their experiences were important in ascertaining their perceptions and responses to transformation. Research was carried out in the Greater Durban Area across class boundaries, covering suburbs such as Reservoir Hills, Clare Estate, Asherville, Overport, Phoenix and Chatsworth. The outcome of this effort is contained in 229 pages consisting of ten chapters. It is viewed in the context of the circumstances that prevailed just before the county's first democratic general election of 27 April 1994, up to the period of the next general election of 2 June 1999. Of central concern here were the dynamics surrounding the inevitable transfer of power from the White minority to representatives of the Black majority, and how the smallest ethnic minority i.e. the people of Indian origin, were reacting to this process. Research was carried out on the issues about which respondents felt very strongly. These translated into chapters on the history of violence against Indians in South Africa, the widespread impoverishment that is overshadowed by the visibility of the Indian middle and upper classes, their perceptions of informal settlements, Indian priviledge versus African empowerment in the public transport sector in Durban, finding new schools, and emigration - viewed as a solution to some and a dream to others.
Perceptions of migration and ethnic marginalisation: a comparative study of Indian and White South African medical graduates.
(2022) Khan, Soomaya.; Singh, Anand.
This study examines the perceptions of migration among a sample of potential South African Indian and White medical graduate migrants in Durban, South Africa. The perceptions of migration among South African medical graduates to more developed nations were assessed in terms of the push and pull factors, their perceptions about themselves as South Africans and the impact that decision to migrate will have for their respective households. Aspects that constitute the core of this research include a) perceptions about migration, b) who will migrate and c) how decision-making occurs. The study highlighted the manner in which potential transnational movement in the contemporary period is likely to impact on respective families and households. The study further investigated the role of violence and affirmative action policies in the decision to migrate and its likely impact on households. It also explores the challenges and opportunities that potential migrants may encounter on making a decision to migrate. Central to this project was the notion of how medical graduates are influenced by a myriad of social and economic forces. The high rate of people leaving the country implied that South Africa is basically exporting human capital. Statistics in this study bear witness to the prevalence of the growing number of South African medical graduates abroad. Both Migration Theory and the Family Systems Theory were appropriate frameworks within which the study findings were contextualized. The former encapsulates why potential Indian and White medical graduate migrants desire to leave and how the decision to migrate is made, while the tenets of the latter is challenged to show that family structure need not be altered due to the age of globalisation which is associated with new forms of technology that permits for emotional bonds to be maintained despite geographical dispersion. The study is anthropological in nature and therefore aims to capture and highlight the complexities of the perceptions of migration through the use of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions which made it possible to acquire a wealth of data. The exploratory goal of the study aims to illustrate that South African Indian and White medical graduates are of the perception that leaving South Africa and going abroad will provide better opportunities for themselves and their careers. The findings of this study reveal that their reasons for wanting to migrate among the Indian and white participants include the following push factors which are poor working conditions, job dissatisfaction, low remuneration, long working hours, lack of resources, crime and challenges facing the South African economy. Most of the participants are keeping their options about seeking employment outside South Africa and will consider the common wealth countries and developed nations as the host country. Participants of the Indian descent are of the opinion that migration will impact on families and households and that the family plays a crucial role in the decision-making process. Participants of the White descent believe that migration will not affect the family structure and migration for them is mostly influenced by friends and families who have already migrated. Due to the nuclear family system and high levels of individualism amongst the white participants the decision-making process does not include their families.
Social policy on crime in democratic South Africa 1994-2001.
(2004) Osam, Ejukwa.; Singh, Anand.
The reported rate of violent crime tops the agenda on the mind of South Africans. It remains the main contending problem facing the current administration and the general populace. Its effect cut across race, class, sectors, provinces, cities, or locations. With violent crime against the individual and property continually escalating the very survival of the civil populace and the institution of democracy would remain undermined. Consequently, the effects of a high crime rate are presently affecting the image of the country abroad, as it is threatening other vital sectors of the economy such as: tourism, transport, construction and building projects and other domestic sectors of the economy. It leads to problems such as the brain drain and has a high cost associated with sustaining the criminal justice system. In the light of the above, the central thrust of this thesis is to identify the role and functions of organized criminal organizations that have proliferated and are greatly entrenched in South Africa. Although this thesis acknowledges the findings of victim surveys, which have shown that more than 50% of murders, assaults and sexual assaults in South Africa occur between people who know each other, the fact is that illicit and criminal activities such as thefts and smuggling extend beyond the shores of the country in an organized fashion. There seem to be no doubt that the activities of organized crime operate in a democratic dispensation that has adopted a broad range of rights including the right of privacy. The Government response through social policy documents has clearly failed to combat organized crime or reduce the levels of violent crime. The reason is that since organized crime is complex to observe, criminals have become more daring in their exploits. In addition this thesis would examine major policies starting with the South Africa National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS) and the White Paper for Safety and Security, recent budget increases to fight crime as well as a range of policies under the present ANC-led government. While not assuming that this research has a permanent solution to solving violent crime, it is a fact that income inequality, drug abuse, and poor socio economic conditions remain core problems facing the government. One is hopeful that the solution of South Africa crime problem may lie within the political leadership. That is if the political will power can be exercised and the leadership of the country and the security apparatuses become decisive in their relentless fight against crime.
Unfinished journeys : an exploration of agency within Somali women's lives and livelihoods in Johannesburg.
(2013) Jinnah, Zaheera.; Singh, Anand.; Hiralal, Kalpana.
No abstract available.
Women and water access in the Eastern Cape: an anthropological investigation into supply and sustainability in water scarce districts: with specail reference to: Mbelu, Ntilini and Cwebe.
(2017) Kombi, Sausi.; Singh, Anand.
This study looks at domestic water supply within the context of household dynamics in a rural area with a particular focus on the acquisition of water. The study examines the implications for women and gender through customary norms and practices, local institutions, ideologies and cosmologies, household structures and people’s practices. In the rural areas of Amatole District Municipality, women and men’s relationships to water and its acquisition are fundamentally different, and the differences have deep consequences for women’s status, standard of living and their survival. It also aims to explore the dynamic gender relations and women’s vulnerability and dangers they face while trying to access water. Twenty-three years after the introduction of democracy, the provision of water in rural South Africa remains elusive and prevails as a blot to the country’s legislature and their policy makers and advisers Thus this study is intended as a critique of this lack of provision and aims to provide an insight into some of the concealed realities in service delivery failures in post-apartheid South Africa. Water is the foremost human basic need and is crucial for sustainable development particularly in rural areas where there is limited access to clean and safe water. The internationally based Gender and Water Alliance (GWA) (2006) states that limited access to clean and safe water is associated with poor hygiene and sanitation at household level and that it widens the poverty gap, creates gender inequalities and fails to annihilate water borne diseases. The target area for this study was Amatole District Municipality, where piped water to each household is non-existent. Situated in the wild coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, scattered households are a characteristic feature of the undulating terrain in the area. The villages under study were Cwebe, Mbelu and Ntilini, where infrastructure development and employment opportunities remain equally non-existent. The demographics of the areas consist of mainly women, young children and older men. The younger and middle-aged men migrate to the mines in other provinces, especially Gauteng Province, where most of the country’s richest mines are located. Almost all of the residents in these three villages are unemployed and depend on remittances and social grants. Only a small number of the villagers depend upon working their land on a subsistence basis. Another small percentage is employed in the only tourist resort in the area, which can accommodate a maximum of 32 guests at a time, indicative of the rather limited employment opportunities in this soft industry. The villages are sparsely scattered, and the terrain is hilly, which makes it difficult for the local residents to access the distantly available water with the relative ease for which they constantly hope. The nature of the terrain and the alleged high costs of a reticulation system is often blamed by the local state for its absence. In Ntilini and Mbelu, for example, women and children source their water from the dangerously deep gorge linked to the Mhashe River which is also difficult to access. The area also has five dry boreholes, which are not maintained. The more distant Cwebe on the other hand get its water from the Nlonyane River and its tributaries and springs. A water tank in the area also exists, but for agricultural uses only. Localised belief systems and customary norms continue to prevail upon their existence in each of these villages, despite their relative hardships. At least three of repeated factors remain as justifications for their continued association with the land that they occupy viz. spatial identity, social identity and ancestral association. All of these factors remain interconnected by virtue of the obeisance they have towards the local leadership, and the spatial and social identities are conditioned by local marriage patterns, as well as their beliefs in the oversight of their ancestral spirits in their daily lives. By virtue of having them buried on their homestead properties the belief is that ancestral spirits 5 prevail as an omniscient and omnipresent force which requires permanent occupation by the living as an appeasement to their continued sustainable inter-relationships. The consequences of such a belief system is an unshakeable belief in an eternal association with the land, precluding any possibility of relocation for the sake of improved service deliveries, including piped water to their homes Women bear the brunt of this belief system in the area and therefore have to travel long distances to collect clean drinkable water, often under challenging if not dangerous circumstances. Women in rural areas such as Cwebe, Ntilini and Mbelu (notwithstanding other areas all over South Africa) do not feel the impact these policies have made on the lives of women in urban areas. Rural women still feel isolated in the development planning that is theoretically intended to benefit them, because their views and experiences are not caucused. While post-Apartheid South Africa lays claim to a constitution that matches the most progressive in the world, there remains startling inconsistencies in the ways in which ground realities are given due conscience.
Youth violence and the changing African family in an urban township : the case of Umlazi.
(2011) Zondo, Sabelo.; Singh, Anand.; Singh, Shanta Balgobind.
My interest in pursuing this study is based on the response to the frequent media reports with regard to antisocial behaviour in schools and a virtual breakdown of the moral fibre in society. There is a growing interest globally in the study of youth, especially because of the rise in anti social behaviour, with particular reference to crime and violence. Crime and violence being a cause for concern is also a subject of entertainment (films, novels), this is a reflection of the strong public interest they provoke. Crime and violence in South Africa understandably gives rise to anxiety and fear. Therefore it is important to gain perspective on the youths own perceptions of violence, crime and safety issues. This study is an attempt to analyse the changing nature of African youth in the township, with particular reference to Umlazi location. This thesis gives the details of youths and communities perception on the awareness of crime, perceptions of the level and degree of crime and violence and how these inform and influence people‘s feelings of safety. The objectives of this thesis are to answer questions relating to: * Individual and community perceptions of the level of crime in the community; * The role of the family in shaping and determining youth values and discipline; * The impact of the changing family and youth behaviour; * The perceptions of ordinary people, of the level of anti social behaviour.