Silence and Invisibility: Exploring Labour Strategies of Zimbabwean Farmworkers in Musina, South Africa
Date
2017
Authors
Jinnah, Zaheera
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
South African Review of Sociology
Abstract
Commercial farms in South Africa have relied on cross-border migrant workers for decades.
In this article the author explores how social relations on farms in Musina, Limpopo, South
Africa, shape the employment conditions of Zimbabwean farmworkers. Drawing on empirical
fieldwork with 134 workers, the author argues that within a context of unequal social power
on farms and conditioned by a labour migration regime that has strong informal patterns,
workers use silence and invisibility as tactics of self-preservation, and everyday survival. The
author locates these actions within the political economy of Musina; and the strong desire
amongst farmworkers to ensure access to livelihoods in the face of compounded precarity.Commercial farms in South Africa have relied on cross-border migrant workers for decades.
In this article the author explores how social relations on farms in Musina, Limpopo, South
Africa, shape the employment conditions of Zimbabwean farmworkers. Drawing on empirical
fieldwork with 134 workers, the author argues that within a context of unequal social power
on farms and conditioned by a labour migration regime that has strong informal patterns,
workers use silence and invisibility as tactics of self-preservation, and everyday survival. The
author locates these actions within the political economy of Musina; and the strong desire
amongst farmworkers to ensure access to livelihoods in the face of compounded precarity.
Description
Keywords
migrant farmworkers, mobilisation, precarity, resistance, Musina, South Africa
Citation
Jinnah, Z. (2017). Silence and Invisibility: Exploring Labour Strategies of Zimbabwean Farmworkers in Musina, South Africa. South African Review of Sociology, 48(3), 46-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/21528586.2017.1327822.