Migrant Labour and Social Construction of Citizenship in Lesotho and Swaziland

Abstract

South Africa has always been the economic power of the southern region of Africa. It is therefore not surprising that some countries such as Lesotho and Swaziland (amongst others) have been integrated into the South African economy as mere labour appendages. This practice, whose origin dates back to colonial times, also witnessed the integration of citizens of these countries into the South African social ranks. It is from this perspective that this chapter interrogates the impact of migrant labour in Lesotho and Swaziland. It questions the implications of this practice on the development and construction of citizenship in these countries. In pursuing this line of diagnosis, the author largely depended on desktop research and used documented evidence to provide insight into these developments. Centring its arguments on the dependency theory, observations from this evidence show that migrant labour has positive and negative connotations on countries that ‘export’ labour. Whilst it can economically empower migrants, it can also destroy social ties amongst communities, thus resulting in identity crisis. It concludes by arguing that migrant labour practices can be beneficial to both countries if concerted effort is undertaken by both countries to regularise and harmonise the whole practice.