From all over the continent, immigrants come looking for a better life in the south.
Ijeoma Uche-Okeke (37): Nigerian art manager — Africore Galleries
Ever heard of Nigerian visual artists Olorunisomo, Obi Ekwenchi, Ayoola or Elijah Ekunam?
Possibly not, but works by these artists currently dress the wide walls at Africore Galleries in Rosebank, Johannesburg.
In her small office, Ijeoma Uche-Okeke waits patiently for the next art aficionado to step into her gallery for a dose of inspiration.
It is a lonesome occupation, but Uche-Okeke, who left Nigeria for South Africa in 2003 to study for a qualification in heritage and art management at the University of the Witwatersrand, thinks that ”business is better organised here than in Nigeria”.
After a short visit here before moving, Uche-Okeke says she was left with the impression that in South Africa things seemed to work better and that it was a place in which she could establish herself.
”I moved to South Africa alone. I left my entire family behind but I still see them once a year,” she says.
”I came here with an open mind. No country is perfect.
”I love Nigeria, though I feel it has a long way to go in terms of infrastructural development and corporate professionalism.”
At the top of her wish list is to create solid links between South African-based visual artists and artists from around the Âcontinent.
”We’ve only started with this programme and I only joined Africore in June this year,” she says.
But she relishes the chance her job has given her to shape arts and culture trends and policies.
African countries, she says, South Africa included, lag behind when it comes to producing qualified managers in the arts sector.
There are no easy gains or quick profits in this business, as Uche-Okeke points out. ”You need to love it and enjoy it.”
She sums up her South African experience as an enlightening journey with few culture shocks because ”we are the same people”, apart from the fact that the locals ”mind their own business and keep to themselves”.
She says, chuckling: ”And also — there’s no food in South Africa, but I seldom miss home because there is such a huge contingent of Nigerians living in Johannesburg, it feels almost like home.” — Monako Dibetle
George Makubalo (30): Zambian-South African — languages lecturer, University of Johannesburg
George Makubalo has a South African father and a Zambian mother, which makes him South African by custom. But Makubalo, who has spent most of his life in Zambia, growing up in Ndola in the Copperbelt and in Kapiri Mposhi, north of Lusaka, still feels like an outsider – despite recently acquiring permanent residence here. He moved to South Africa in 2004, after completing undergraduate studies at the University of Zambia.
”Since part of my family is based in South Africa, I moved here — more for the change of environment than anything else,” he says, to the lilting sounds of the mbira from an Oliver Mtukudzi tune.
After his masters degree, Makubalo found a lecturing job at the University of Johannesburg. He wants to keep studying, though his academic aspirations are not confined to working in South Africa.
”What I love most about South Africa is the diversity and multiculturalism of Johannesburg. At the same time, crime needs to be controlled.”
A self-described global citizen who has travelled widely, Makubalo says South Africa presents opportunities that he would not find in Zambia.
Thanks to his mixed parentage, he has always been aware of what is happening here and therefore arrived knowing ”exactly what to expect”. Still, he is sensitive about his Âinability to communicate in the local African languages and people still ask him: ”Where are you from?”
”This question used to upset me, but I have realised that the locals have become aware of the many foreign cultures coexisting with theirs — that they tend to ask where Âothers come from out of curiosity and interest.” — Monako Dibetle
Antony Kaminju (37), Kenyan photoÂjournalist
Antony Kaminju lives in Yeoville, Johannesburg, with his wife and son. Kaminju, a former picture editor of The Nation in Nairobi, moved to South Africa to pursue long-term projects away from the hustle of the newsroom. In 2005 he applied for – and got – on to a programme at the Market Theatre Workshop.
Fours year on, Kaminju ”talks, walks and thinks” like a South ÂAfrican. But there are ample reminders that make him miss Kenya.
”After one late night in Newtown I took a metered taxi to Edenvale, where I used to stay. The taxi driver and I started talking and I mentioned to him that ‘we the Bantu’ have a lot of things in common regardless of where we come from, like the languages we speak. He got very upset with me and asked me to get out of his car.”
This incident and many others, says Kaminju, should not discredit South Africa as a beautiful country with beautiful people and a great culture of professionalism.
”When I arrived here I was met with a lot of professionalism in the media industry and a lot of vibrancy and warmth from the people — and for that I don’t regret taking the decision to move to South Africa.”
Still, he was shocked by South Africa’s closed-after-dark culture that means no late shopping. ”Back home, 5pm is the beginning of [another day],” he says.
Kaminju now facilitates photographic lessons at the University of Witwatersrand. He also mentors photographers and does freelance work for big media organisations, such as the BBC and Bloomberg.
”I don’t think I would be where I am today if I had not left my previous job to start a new life in South Africa,” he says. — Monako Dibetle