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Globalization in the South, Myth or Reality? Critic Analysis of Congolese Migration into South Africa
Patrick Kabeya Mwepu, Foreign Languages Department, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
pmwepu@uwc.ac.za
It has been common to assert that new
South Africa today is a multicultural universe where meet, without
conflicts, various cultures from Europe and Asia, adding some extra
values to the African indigenous culture in its diversity. The actual
access of South Africa to the World, from 1994, allows tourists and
migrants, for one reason or another, to converge on this country.
Anyone who visits South Africa today after many years of absence, is,
in some ways, surprised to observe many changes: it has became easier,
for instance, to hear in some areas people using French on the streets,
having a new hair style, for ladies and youngsters, not used before
in South Africa. This would suggest a presence of new communities in
the land. In this case, it is essentially the influence of Congolese
culture into South Africa that will be approached.
What is, indeed, the place of these migrants in this universe already
full of cultures? What is its impact on the Macrocosm that is already
multicultural?
Our analysis will be based on the survey we are conducting now in Cape
Town, South Africa. We will be focusing on Congolese community based
in the Cape from 1994, its culture and its insertion into a new culture.
We will also establish if there is any shifting resulting from the
interconnection. We will focus also on the South African media, its
use and its perception by the migrants and their effort to transform
or adapt it to their own perception.
Although the samples used in this survey are limited quantitatively
to reflect the global environment on the ground, the findings of our
research may lead to the positive conclusion and open the new field
for further research on that issue.
The respondents to the questionnaire will be men and women, Congolese
and South African who have been interacting for a while. This research
will be conducted by two researchers from both countries, South Africa
and the DRC, based in Cape Town.
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