South African-Based African Migrants' Responses to COVID-19, livre ebook

This edited volume interrogates the intersection between viral pandemics, transnational migration and the politics of belonging in South Africa during COVID-19. The chapters draw on theoretical conceptions such as biopolitics, necropolitics, xenophobio/afrophobia and autochthonous citizenship to understand how South Africa has responded to the devastating effects of COVID-19 and the implications for the lives and livelihoods of African migrants. The book is written against the backdrop of deepening socioeconomic and political problems in South Africa, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic, exclusionary response strategies employed by the government and populist discourses about the dangers of hosting an increasing population of African migrants. Drawing on the experiences of migrants from Cameroon, DRC, Nigeria, Somalia and Zimbabwe, this book explores the challenges of these diaspora communities during lockdowns, their survival strategies and the effects on their social existence during and post the pandemic. From these case studies, we are reminded about the paradoxes of belonging and how COVID-19 continues to reveal different forms of global inequalities. They also remind us about the burdens of displacement and emplacement and how they are repeatedly politicised in South Africa, as the government grapples with endemic socioeconomic and political problems. The conclusion of the book examines the implications of COVID-19 for migration across the African continent and particularly for South Africa, as we witness new waves of xenophobic/afrophobic vigilantism driven by Operation Dudula.

Chapter 1: Introduction Viral pandemics, transnational migration and the politics of belonging in South Africa

Chapter 2: COVID-19 and its effects on the lives and livelihoods of female Congolese asylum seekers and refugees in the city of Cape Town

Chapter 3: The experiences of undocumented female Zimbabwean migrants in South Africa before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Chapter 4: Mitigating the multidimensional impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on African migrant-owned hospitality businesses in Cape Town: Strategies, successes and failures

Chapter 5: COVID-19 lockdown and peri-urban livelihoods: Migrants' contribution to the South African food system

Chapter 6: Exclusionary business relief practices undermine South Africa's COVID-19 interventions: Insights from Gauteng-based entrepreneurs of Cameroonian descent

Chapter 7: The need to include the voices of migrants with disabilities within conversations about migration

Chapter 8: A tije a timu of the Yoruba diaspora in South Africa as a Survival Strategy during COVID-19 lockdown

Conclusion: Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic: strategies, opportunities, challenges and implications for the lives of African migrants in South Africa