Labour Export Policy in the Development of Southern Africa

409 Pages·1995·45.125 MB·English

by  Bill Paton (auth.)

LABOUR EXPORT POLICY IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
Also published in association with the Institute ofSocial Studies,
The Hague
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Labour Export Policy
in the Development
of Southern Africa
Bill Paton
M~/
MACMILLAN Plagrave Macmillan
© BillPaton 1995
SofteoverreprintofthehardcoverIstedition 1995
All rights reserved.Noreproduction,copy ortransmissionof
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First published 1995by
MACMILLANPRESS LTD
Houndmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG212XS
and London
Companiesandrepresentatives
throughouttheworld
ISBN978-1-349-13501-1 ISBN978-1-349-13499-1(eBook)
00110.1007/978-1-349-13499-1
Acataloguerecordforthisbook isavailable
from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95
This book is for the two 'Kens' whom I came to know while I was
writing it. Ken became my teacher and my friend, and Kan became
my love, and my wife
Contents
List ofFigures x
Abbreviations, Acronyms and Glossary xi
1 Introduction: Labour Export inTheory and in
Southern Mrica 1
Individual/equilibrium approaches to migration theory 4
Historical/structural approaches to global
migration theory 6
Labour export policy in the study of
Southern Africa 9
States in migration theory 16
2 Malawi:The Power to Control Recruiting 26
Some early acts of governments 27
Early regulation 28
Formalization 33
The Lacey Report 38
Multilateral agreements 39
Federation 44
Independent labour export 48
The boycott and post-boycott era 53
Conclusion 60
3 Zambia: Labour Export and the Creation ofa State 71
The charter period, 1899-1924 72
A protectorate and a colony 82
Bargaining and bureaucracy 85
Control, shortage and interdependence 89
Federation and surplus 93
Independent labour retention 97
Conclusion 99
4 Zimbabwe: The Maintenance ofa
'Labour Account Surplus' 107
Government by company 1899-1923 108
Self-rule and interterritorial labour management,
1923-66 115
vii
viii Contents
Post-UDI labour export 125
Conclusion 133
5 Mozambique: Labour Export Policy and International
Conflict 139
The Modus Vivendi with South Africa 141
Second fiddle: labour export to the Rhodesias 147
Labour migration to Tanzania and Malawi 153
The coming of control 156
Independence: war and labour export 158
Labour export to the GDR 168
Conclusion 171
6 Tanzania: A Successful Labour-Retention Policy 181
The British mandate 184
Migration to Zanzibar 186
Labour retention policy 188
A decade of labour export 195
Self-reliance for jobs 199
Conclusion 201
7 Lesotbo: Labour Export, Domestic Politics and
Foreign Relations 208
The subjugation of a kingdom 209
Underdeveloping a labour enclave 212
Employment abroad but politics at home: Lesotho's
political straight jacket 218
Detente 228
Conclusion 231
8 Swaziland: Managing a 'Labour Account Deficit' 238
Partition, monarchy and labour export 239
Chamber of Mines recruiting 242
Governing migration with labourer shortfalls 245
The surplus sixties 248
Independence 251
Sparing precious labour 254
Bucking the tide 258
Conclusion 260
Contents ix
9 Botswana:From Goromente to the Government of
LabourExport 267
Early labour migration 268
The ban period 270
Moderate regulation 274
Independence: growth and the changing political
economy of foreign jobs 278
The 1980s 284
Conclusion 289
10 Conclusion:The Struggleto Control LabourExport in
Southern Africa 296
Setting the scene 296
Labour export and emerging states 298
Interterritorial cooperation, conflict and control 304
Comparative labour export 309
Southern African migration theory 315
Global migration theory and the Southern African
example 320
Appendix 1: The Southern African Labour Supply
Commission (SALe) 323
Appendix 2: Statisticson Migrant Labourers Working
Abroad in Southern Africa 328
Bibliography 351
Index 388
List of Figures
(Graphs of the estimated population working abroad)
1 Malawi 31
2 Zambia 74
3 Zimbabwe 114
4 Mozambique 142
5 Tanzania 185
6 Lesotho 212
7 Swaziland 245
8 Botswana 273
9 Southern Africa - seven countries 311
10 Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi 312
11 Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe 314
12 Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania 314
x