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Profile of migrant Zimbabweans in South Africa: A pilot study
Professor Daniel Makina, MPOI/ Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum Research Report
August 31, 2007

http://www.zimcsoforum.org/index.php?module=Pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=40

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Summary of main findings

Introduction
The political and economic meltdown in Zimbabwe has led to large numbers of Zimbabweans migrating to neighbouring countries and abroad. Unverified estimates put the population of Zimbabweans in South Africa alone at between two and three million, the upper range being close to a quarter of the country's population. It is against this background that the Mass Public Opinion Institute in partnership with the Zimbabwe Diaspora Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Forum and in co-operation with IDASA conducted a pilot study in Johannesburg to ascertain the profile of migrant Zimbabweans in South Africa.

The primary rationale for the exercise was that its results would feed into the design of policy, civic interventions and eventually harness a pool of skilled Zimbabweans critical for the country's future reconstruction.

A pilot survey was conducted from the beginning of June 2007 to mid-July 2007 in three suburbs of Johannesburg -Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville - an area covering 2.9 square kilometres. A total of 4 654 [target sample was 5 000] migrant Zimbabweans who had relocated to earn a living in South Africa (excluding mere visitors) were interviewed face-to-face using non-probabilistic sampling methods. Probability sampling techniques could not be used because there is no sampling frame of Zimbabweans in South Africa.

There are large number of undocumented migrant Zimbabweans in South Africa that renders the target population to be hidden. Reliance on non-probabilistic sampling meant that field researchers could only interview those individuals who were available and willing to participate in the study after being appraised of its merits. Willingness to participate depended on trust and persuasion by Zimbabwean civil society activists working with communities in the surveyed areas who had been trained to undertake the study.

The absence of a sampling frame of Zimbabweans in South Africa suggests that caution should be exercised in generalizing the results of the survey to the entire population.

Notwithstanding, the suburbs surveyed are well-known resident areas for migrant Zimbabweans in Johannesburg so that the results could confidently be treated as fairly giving a glimpse of the broader picture. What follows are highlights of the main findings.

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