In post-apartheid South Africa, the system has evolved but has fundamentally stayed the same, triggering an inter-generational cycle of displacement. (Fredrik Lerneryd)
The migrant labour system, a deeply entrenched legacy of South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past, has left permanent scars on the fabric of black communities.
For centuries, the migrant labour system did not just disrupt family structures; it systematically dismantled them, setting in motion inter-generational cycles of poverty and displacement.
The expansion of the migrant labour system took place as the colonial authorities sought cheap labour for the burgeoning mining and other industries.
Black men were forcibly removed and some voluntarily left their homes, often in rural communities, in search of work opportunities in mines, farms, and urban factories, where they worked under appalling conditions. This system was designed to extract maximum value from black bodies while ensuring they remained on the fringes of economic power.
The social cost of this system was immense, as families were torn apart, children grew up without fathers, and entire communities were left to fend for themselves, devoid of male leadership and economic support. Children born into these disrupted families inherited not only the trauma of absent fathers, but also the economic disadvantages that came with it.
The migrant labour system did not merely end with the collapse of apartheid. While the apartheid’s formal structures were dismantled in 1994, the socio-economic systems that upheld it persist. This has ensured that the internal labour migration within South Africa continues unabated, further dislocating many black families.
The inter-generational effects of forced migration, broken families, and economic exclusion continue to ripple through black communities. The socio-economic position of these communities remains precarious, as the systemic barriers to wealth and stability that were erected during the apartheid era have not been fully dismantled.
In post-apartheid South Africa, the migrant labour system has evolved but remains fundamentally the same as it was in the past. Economic opportunities in rural areas remain scarce.
Every year, tens of thousands of black people are forced to leave their communities, homes, families and children in search of employment opportunities in the country’s big cities or economic hubs, perpetuating the cycle of broken families and community disintegration.
Despite increased access to education, the lack of industrialisation, infrastructure development, and sustainable economic growth in some provinces means that young people, university graduates and professionals are dependent on a neocolonial migrant labour system to earn a living. This dependency keeps the cycle of migration alive, as local economies fail to provide viable alternatives.
Research by Kleinhans and Yu (2020) shows that in South Africa two provinces, Gauteng and Western Cape, stand out as the most attractive destinations for internal labour migrations.
These two provinces contribute the most to the country’s economy, accounting for 49% of the gross domestic product in 2019. According to a study conducted by Kleinhans and Yu, using the 2011 Census 2011 data, Kleinhans and Yu show that most relocations into the Western Cape were from the Eastern Cape (53.64%) and Gauteng (20.95%). In contrast, relocations into Gauteng were more evenly spread. They came mostly from Limpopo (30.92%), KwaZulu-Natal (19.30%), the Eastern Cape (14.22%) and Mpumalanga (11.15%) provinces.
Relocation patterns in the Eastern Cape, for example, reveal a grim reality: the province, once a hub of agricultural production and a cradle of black intellectualism, has been reduced to a labour reservoir.
The promises of economic development and job creation that accompanied the end of apartheid have not materialised for many in the Eastern Cape. Instead, the province remains one of the poorest in the country, with little to no industrial development, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of sustainable means of production outside a few urban centres.
The land question, deeply intertwined with the migrant labour system, further complicates the plight of rural black communities. Land, which was systematically taken from black people and given to white settlers, represents generational wealth and security that was denied to the majority of South Africans.
In the Eastern Cape, land claims and the subsequent payments to black families have significantly fallen short of true reparations. The amounts paid out are frequently divided among large families, reducing their impact and failing to provide the economic upliftment that land ownership would have afforded.
Land reform and redistribution efforts have been slow and fraught with challenges. The Expropriation Bill, which seeks to address these historical injustices, has been met with resistance and delays. Meanwhile, the promise of land as a means of production, as a source of food and job security, remains out of reach for many in rural provinces. The failure to adequately address land reform perpetuates the economic marginalisation of black communities, keeping them dependent on a migrant labour system that was designed to exploit them.
The relationship between the government and black citizens is complex and fraught with contradictions. While legislation aims to rectify historical wrongs, the slow pace of implementation, the lack of political will, and corruption have created a sense of betrayal and disillusionment among many. The government’s failure to develop the economy, particularly in rural areas, has reinforced the very systems of exclusion that apartheid relied upon.
In rural provinces, the government’s promises of infrastructure development, job creation, and economic upliftment have largely gone unfulfilled. Rural provinces remain underdeveloped, with poor infrastructure, limited access to basic services, and a lack of investment in agriculture and industrialisation. This has left many black families trapped in a cycle of poverty, unable to escape the legacy of apartheid’s migrant labour system.
The migrant labour system may have been born out of colonialism and apartheid, but its legacy endures in post-apartheid South Africa.
The failure of the government to develop the economy, promote industrialisation, and provide the infrastructure necessary for sustainable growth outside the major urban centres has perpetuated the very structures and systems that colonisers and apartheid architects relied upon to subjugate black communities.
The generational effects of this system are evident in the continued poverty, displacement, and broken families that plague many black communities, particularly in rural provinces. Until the government fully commits to addressing these issues through comprehensive land reform, economic development, and infrastructure investment, the shadows of the past will continue to loom large over the future of many of South Africa’s black citizens.
Awethu Fatyela is a writer and scholar. She is writing in her personal capacity.