Life across borders: a case study of Nigerian immigrant women in Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

Using Nigerian Immigrant Women in Durban as a case study, the work contributes to the existing literature on emigration, with appropriate consideration for contemporary complexities in Africa, including split families due to migration. By concentrating on this relatively microcommunity, the study acts as a probing ground for the verification of already established propositions and theories of migration at the macro-level. For instance, it re-examines the traditional theories, the push-and-pull within the Nigerian-South African context. The study is problematised from this perspective and the intricacies and complexities surrounding the current increasing rate of women emigration into South Africa from other African states. The theories of intersectionality and gendered geographies of power are employed to examine and the challenges of these women immigrants in the context of gender and migration. This study utilises, in addition to secondary sources, carefully conducted oral interviews of selected Nigerian women immigrants in Durban. Among others, the study reveals that the essential and underlying element in the migration of these women is a new development in grassroots communities resulting in a change of lifestyle and transformation, which the “push-and-pull” theory alone cannot totally explain. It reveals an immigrant lifestyle is sustained by coping mechanisms, which include entrepreneurship, resilience, reception of financial and psychological support from immigrants’ homeland, and a dedicated culture of remittance. These are primarily in response to challenges emanating from limitations posed by habitat, ethnicity, language and race. It recommends that the Nigerian-South Africa emigration scene can be improved upon and challenges of immigrants minimised through the adoption of the approaches identified and discussed under conclusion.