Between Informality and (Il)legality: Congolese Migrants’ Survival Mechanisms in South Africa

• Published date: 01 September 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00027162241248063
• Author: Dostin Mulopo Lakika
• Date: 01 September 2023

202 ANNALS, AAPSS, 709, September 2023

DOI: 10.1177/00027162241248063

Between

Informality and

(Il)legality:

Congolese

Migrants’

Survival

Mechanisms in

South Africa

By

DOSTIN MULOPO LAKIKA

1248063ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYBETWEEN INFORMALITY AND (IL)LEGALITY

research-article2024

Drawing on interviews with Congolese in Johannesburg,

this research explains some of the impact of the dis-

criminatory immigration laws in South Africa that

expose refugees to various forms of precarity. I show

that precarity becomes a driving force for these people

to engage in illegal or unauthorized activities, and I

analyze how Congolese refugees attempt to obtain legal

status and adapt to intensified discriminatory immigra-

tion policies and practices. I argue that the criminaliza-

tion of migration creates a paradox: it subjects migrants

to increased vulnerability due to restrictive policies, but

it also empowers them to assert their agency in

response. Yet due to the generally illegal nature of their

chosen activities, migrants are exposed to more exploi-

tation, perpetuating their criminalization and vulnera-

bility. I demonstrate the adverse outcomes of

government antimigrant policies that push people into

precarity without necessarily endorsing the illegal

activities migrants may employ.

Keywords: restrictive policies; criminalization of

migration; precarity; (il)legality; agency;

work

In this article, I discuss how Congolese

migrants, including refugees and undocu-

mented migrants, navigate an immigration

environment in South Africa that is often hos-

tile to them. Discrimination against migrants is

widespread, irrespective of their documenta-

tion status. While not all Congolese migrants in

Correspondence: dostinlakika24@gmail.com

Dostin Mulopo Lakika is a postdoctoral fellow at the

African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at the

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He

studies militarization, violence, and memories; (ir)regu-

lar migration, resilience, and (mental) health among

refugees; as well as food and illness. Lakika is also a

guest lecturer and a reviewer for various peer-reviewed

academic journals.

NOTE: The support of the Economic and Social

Research Council (ESRC) (UK) is gratefully acknowl-

edged.

BETWEEN INFORMALITY AND (IL)LEGALITY 203

South Africa are undocumented, their status can shift rapidly due to the short

validity of many residency permits and the challenges associated with renewal.

For that reason, I take a wider view on migrants with a precarious status, under-

stood as “individuals who lack a regular immigration or residence status or, having

a conditional or temporary status, are vulnerable to the loss of that status. They

are therefore deprived of or run the risk of losing their most basic social rights

and access to services” (Homberger et al. 2022, 96). My analysis thus sheds light

on individual survival strategies in the face of circumstances exacerbated by fluc-

tuating legal statuses between documented and undocumented and the ensuing

precarity this situation creates.

I explore the ways in which these migrants grapple with discriminatory legal

constructs, such as “illegality” or “irregularity,” two terms used here synony-

mously, and demonstrate in particular how Congolese migrants react to often

unfair stigmatizations as criminals who seemingly do not belong and who have

wronged officials and local residents alike. I also rely on the terms “illegality” and

“irregularity” to encompass not only (un)documented migrants but also the

activities they engage in, which are sometimes labeled as illegal or unauthorized

because they operate outside the boundaries of established state laws and regula-

tions. My findings reveal that the restrictive definitions of legality and the docu-

mentation required to be deemed a legal migrant often lead to the exclusion of

Congolese migrants from the provision of basic socioeconomic rights in South

Africa (Alfaro-Velcamp 2017; Amit and Kriger 2014; Khan and Lee 2018; Landau

and Freemantle 2010; Vigneswaran 2008). Being forced to live in the shadows by

criminalization and marginalization and being exposed to precarity, some

Congolese migrants, but by no means all, adapt to these constraints by adopting

illegal practices as means for survival.

In this article, I contend that the criminalization of migration in South Africa

engenders a self-perpetuating paradox. Restrictive immigration policies increase

migrants’ vulnerability, pushing them towards survival strategies that are often

illegal (Bacon 2008; Palidda 2005; Vecchio and Gerard 2015; Vuilleumier, this

volume). While these practices allow migrants to assert their agency and secure

their livelihoods, they also unwittingly reinforce the cycle of criminalization. This

dynamic not only exacerbates their marginalization but also entrenches their

status as outlaws, creating a perpetual loop where survival strategies and crimi-

nalization feed into each other. The article will shed light on these dynamics by

closely examining Congolese migrants’ engagement with survival strategies in

South Africa. Throughout my explanations, I remain cautious not to romanticize

these survival strategies. I acknowledge the often ambiguous implications,

including the exacerbation of social inequalities and the creation of resentment

toward successful migrants.

Data Collection and Methodological Reflections

This work is grounded in two rounds of fieldwork with the Congolese community

in South Africa.1 I carried out the first fieldwork as part of my PhD work from