Political instability and economic decline in Zimbabwe have accelerated migration to South Africa within the last twenty years. Because of the overriding socio-economic focus of the migration, people often fail to grasp the consequences on the migrants and their families. This extract from the book Transnational Families in Africa shows how migrants mitigate the disruption to bonds with the families they leave.
The impact of migration on individuals and families is complex, with many challenges and constraints, in addition to some opportunities. One necessary dimension of this complexity requires us to grasp the impact of migration on transnational family relationships, in each the destination country and the country of origin.
This is the form of disruption we see within the story of Chipo, who reported one underlying paradox within the phenomenon of Zimbabwean migration to South Africa: the breakdown of the family system as a consequence of the try and rescue this same family. This phenomenon is illustrated throughout our datain order that the story of one among the 20 participants we tell here is, in some ways, representative of the opposite families within the study.
This story began as one among hope for a greater future and pride in with the ability to maintain family members. But the parent-child bond was put under great strain due to separation and distance.
Chipo’s story
Forty-year-old Chipo’s story gives the angle of a parent forced to depart a child behind with a purpose to provide for him. She had to depart her seven-year-old son within the care of her elderly mother to search for work and further her studies in South Africa. She consistently agonises over what the impact on her relationship along with her son might be within the years to return.
She describes her move as follows:
It was mostly looking for greener pastures.
Her words reiterate the idealised and aspirational view that many Zimbabwean migrants initially have of South Africa. She stressed the necessary role of technology in maintaining relationships with family left behind. WhatsApp is the popular technique of staying connected with the family:
We’ve got a a family WhatsApp group for myself, my mother and my brother so we consistently keep updated on any family issues. Even within the morning, if it’s good morning, if it’s Scripture, if it’s anything … that’s how we all know that we’re connected. So every morning we are saying good morning, how did you sleep? And things like that after which within the afternoon or if there’s anything, any issues or if there’s … yeah, any issues, that’s how we keep connected and communicate.
The role of technology
WhatsApp groups appear to be a strategy to recreate family interactions in transnational families and facilitate on a regular basis family interactions. They have been shown to be highly effective in constructing and maintaining kinship relationships at a distance.
Their use indicates what it means to be a family existing in a digital habitat. Virtual proximity could also be achieved through these groups, which helps to fulfil the need to stay a connected family despite physical distance.
However, technology isn’t without its challenges. In many cases, these are related to cost. Chipo described how she used text messaging and voice recording as an alternative of video calling due to the high cost of information:
It’s mostly texting and voice recordings like let’s say for … especially in Zimbabwe where data is a bit expensive. So, video calls they are usually not … really, we don’t use them that much.
Profound asymmetries were noted between the house country and destination country, with communication being cheaper for migrants than for his or her families.
Different forms of information and communication technology (ICT) can be found primarily to affluent families and other people who live in urban areas. The result’s that the migrants’ ability to remain connected with left-behind family could also be compromised by prohibitive costs and a scarcity of ICT infrastructure.
It can also be that the high cost of information potentially affects relationship-building, especially in situations where children are usually not sufficiently old to grasp text messages, and would profit from video and voice calling, which provide a vital visual presence and a neater strategy to share emotional connection.
Despite these difficulties, there was a shared sense among the many 20 participants that ICT allowed migrants to proceed a relationship of care with their distant members of the family. Different levels and forms of care are exchanged by participants. For example, Chipo found it easier to supply medical care to members of the family via ICT, because she was in a position to hunt down medical advice and other types of practical care in South Africa. It can also be more convenient for her to coordinate all the pieces, as she doesn’t wish to overwork her elderly mother, who’s already caring for her son. This includes arranging for a pharmacy in South Africa to offer medical advice to her family in Zimbabwe:
Let’s say for instance … up to now weeks my son had a little bit of a temperature and a runny tummy … So I needed to co-ordinate … the medication.
ICT can also be used for providing other practical types of care corresponding to access to groceries.
What isn’t said
Thus the exchange of care in transnational families goes beyond sending financial remittances, because it includes health and practical needs. What is alleged and what isn’t said through virtual communication can also be a key issue – as an act of care, people may hide information from each other. Chipo describes how once, when her son was unwell, her mother didn’t tell her. Such silence was particularly stressful looking back, given the COVID-19 pandemic:
And then I used to be told that my son had a relentless cough and all. And that was before I understood any thing about COVID-19 and things like that … But my mother told me possibly every week later that your son has got this constant cough and … so I got so upset to say you’re only telling me now, my son could possibly be dying and also you’re only telling me now – why didn’t you tell me the primary day that he had?
A growing gap
Chipo deemed visits very necessary to shut the knowledge gap, which she didn’t consider could possibly be easily bridged by means of ICT:
But for holidays I’d prefer that he comes through, and in addition they come through and since you would possibly do video calls, you would possibly do voice notes but there’s still that gap. You have to see them physically and spend time with them so yeah. So it’s each.
In a time of world distress and uncertainty, it appeared that families needed to remain connected more steadily and more urgently. Generally, despite some great benefits of ICT and the creative ways wherein technology has been used, there was a way of loss in Chipo’s relationship along with her son:
And possibly one thing … in as much as technology is assisting … I feel that even the bond between me and my son will (change) over time if things remain like this … The gap might be greater and larger over time.
Why this matters
Chipo’s story speaks of migrants leaving their family members behind with a purpose to rescue the family from financial difficulties. Their leaving causes an inevitable sense of rupture within the very family they wish to protect. This implies that, although the youngsters of migrant parents appear to receive higher financial support than the youngsters of non-migrant familiesthere are also heart wrenching challenges in coping with distance, in addition to a sensible worry that the separation will damage relationships.
Siko Moyo, a counselling psychologist on the University of the Witwatersrand, contributed to the research and this text.