The Socioeconomic Incorporation of Immigrant and Native‐born Day Labourers in Tshwane, South Africa
| Author | Catherina Schenck,Nik Theodore,Derick Blaauw,Anmar Pretorius |
| Date | 01 February 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12311 |
| Published date | 01 February 2017 |
The Socioeconomic Incorporation of
Immigrant and Native-born Day Labourers in
Tshwane, South Africa
Nik Theodore*, Derick Blaauw**, Anmar Pretorius** and Catherina Schenck***
ABSTRACT
It has been widely documented that unauthorized immigrants experience adverse economic
incorporation in destination countries, particularly in the global North. Faced with restricted
employment opportunities, many are drawn into informalizing segments of the labour market
where earnings are low and unstable. Much less is known about how immigrant workers fare
in the informal economy of cities of the South. Using surveys conducted in 2004, 2007 and
2015, we examine the economic outcomes of immigrant and native-born workers who partici-
pate in the day labour markets of Tshwane, South Africa. In 2004 there were signs that for-
eign-born workers enjoyed modestly better outcomes than South Africa-born workers. In the
latter periods, however, these advantages have disappeared and there are indications of a
downward convergence of employment outcomes. The article concludes with a call for creat-
ing worker centres to regulate informal job markets for the benefit of workers, regardless of
immigration status.
INTRODUCTION
The South African economy is characterized by high rates of unemployment, widespread underem-
ployment, and deepening inequality (Beukes et al., 2016; Leibbrandt et al., 2012; Mlatsheni and
Leibbrandt, 2015). With roots in structural changes within key economic sectors, such as agricul-
ture and mining, along with the inadequate absorption of jobseekers by the services and manufac-
turing sectors (Di Paola and Pons-Vignon, 2013), weaknesses in South Africa’s labour markets
have catalysed a large-scale rural-to-urban migration among unemployed South Africans (Posel and
Marx, 2013). These internal migrants have relocated in large numbers to Cape Town, Johannes-
burg, Tshwane (formerly known as Pretoria), and other cities where employment prospects are pre-
sumed to be plentiful. However, these cities are also burdened by high unemployment rates, and
population growth in South Africa’s major urban centres has greatly outpaced job growth, worsen-
ing the unemployment problem. Encountering few avenues for stable work, many internal migrants
have turned to informal employment, including day labour –casualized jobs loosely connected to
the formal sector through unsecured, daily agreements with employers. There they compete with
the long-time residents of urban areas as well as with the growing ranks of foreign-born migrants
who, like the internal migrants, have been drawn to South African cities by the promise of eco-
nomic opportunity (Adepoju, 2004; Charman and Petersen, 2015).
* University of Illinois at Chicago
** North-West University, Potchefstroom
*** University of the Western Cape, Cape Town
doi: 10.1111/imig.12311
©2016 The Authors
International Migration ©2016 IOM
International Migration Vol. 55 (1) 2017
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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