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From South Africa with love: the malayisha system and Ndebele households' quest for livelihood reconstruction in south-western Zimbabwe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Vusilizwe Thebe
Vusilizwe Thebe*
Affiliation:
Department of Development Studies, National University of Lesotho, PO ROMA 180, Lesotho
*
Email: vusilizwe@yahoo.co.uk
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Abstract

In the 1980s and early 1990s, sending remittances from South Africa posed major challenges for Ndebele migrants. As a result households receiving remittances only did so at irregular intervals. With increased diasporisation into South Africa, it was to be expected that new channels would open up. This article explores what is known as the malayisha system, its role and significance as an informal channel of remittances into Ndebele society. It argues that the system bridged the geographical gap between Matabeleland and Johannesburg, averting food insecurity and poverty for semi-proletarian households in Matabeleland. By facilitating the movement of goods and people between Matabeleland and South Africa, the system became instrumental in the quest of households to reconstruct their livelihoods after the destruction of their rural–urban-based livelihoods in Zimbabwe due to perennial droughts and ESAP. As a result, the services of omalayisha are highly sought-after, by both the migrant community in South Africa and households in Matabeleland.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 647 - 670
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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Interviews [all names have been changed for security reasons]

Doreen: Ndebele migrant in Johannesburg, 30.10.2009

Dube: umalayisha, Beitbridge, 7.1.2009

Felicity Nhliziyo: Ndebele migrant working in the hospitality sector, Pretoria, 23.7.2008

Knowledge Nleya: Ndebele migrant working in the hospitality sector, Pretoria, 21.6.2008

Mabhena: Ndebele migrant working in the private education sector, Pretoria, 27.6.2008

Mangena: one of the pioneers of the cross-border cargo service, Plumtree border post, 16.12.2008

Manjobo Ncube: returning migrant, Bulawayo, 17.12.2008

Mathema: umalayisha servicing both the Bulawayo & Plumtree routes, 21.12.2009

Mathonsi: umalayisha servicing the Madlambuzi area, Plumtree District, 16.12.2008

Mbambo: umalayisha, Beitbridge, 7.1.2009

Mpofu: umalayisha, Plumtree, 16.12.2008

Mpungose: umalayisha servicing the Mangwe area, Plumtree District, 21.12.2009

Ncube: Ndebele migrant working in the hospitality sector, Johannesburg, 30.10.2009

Ndlovu: umalayisha, Beitbridge, 7.1.2009

Nkomo: umalayisha, Plumtree, 16.12.2008

Nkonjeni: umalayisha servicing the Johannesburg/Bulawayo route, 24.12.2009

Nkosi: umalayisha, Pretoria, 02.06.2008