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Routes and Rites to the City pp 61–89Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Migration and the Sacred in Greater Rosettenville, Johannesburg

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Part of the book series: Global Diversities ((GLODIV))

Abstract

This chapter examines various waves of migration and their processes of settlement in Greater Rosettenville in south Johannesburg from a historical and contemporary perspective. We explore how various migrant groups have gained access to sacred spaces and this exploration leads to an analysis of these spaces as pivotal in the process of place making. We discuss here the process of place making, examining the case of a longstanding but dwindling Jewish community residing in the area and contingently sharing the synagogue space with a more recently settled Congolese Pentecostal congregation. We begin from the standpoint that when communities move to a new area, the manners in which they claim these spaces are as diverse as people themselves. By exploring the ways in which the Jewish and the Congolese migrant community occupy the same religious space, we hope to shed light on the relationship between mobility, diversity, and politics of the sacred in the city.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Torah : handwritten parchment scrolls consist of “five books of Moses, or the Jewish Pentateuch, or a parchment scroll on which the Pentateuch is written for use in services in Synagogues” (Encarta Dictionary).

  2. 2.

    Interview with Prince Kennedy, a Nigerian resident, 15 December 2012.

  3. 3.

    http://www.rense.com/general43/torah.htm

  4. 4.

    Synagogue ’s hand manuscript archives.

  5. 5.

    When Dr Krengel says it is not a monument, he emphasizes the sacred nature of the place that is maintained through the labour of ritual .

  6. 6.

    Interview with Bishop Ladi, 22 February 2010.

  7. 7.

    For Vasquez, imaginistic modes of religion today, including African and Latin American Pentecostalism, are circulating through other media. “Their worldwide diffusion is rather the result of the practices of transnational networks of missionaries that rely heavily on the widespread use of electronic, image-heavy media, like TV, videos, films, and the Internet. Through this media these religious actors render the imaginistic mode of religiosity translocal, no longer only the province of small-localised communities, but rather of transnational networks ‘community of sentiment’” (Vasquez 2009).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen, Germany

    Peter Kankonde

  2. African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS), University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Peter Kankonde

  3. Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), Johannesburg, South Africa

    Lorena Núñez

Authors
  1. Peter Kankonde
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  2. Lorena Núñez
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon

  2. Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Lorena Núñez

  3. Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen, Germany

    Peter Kankonde Bukasa

  4. Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Bettina Malcomess

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Kankonde, P., Núñez, L. (2016). Migration and the Sacred in Greater Rosettenville, Johannesburg. In: Wilhelm-Solomon, M., Núñez, L., Kankonde Bukasa, P., Malcomess, B. (eds) Routes and Rites to the City. Global Diversities. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58890-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58890-6_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58889-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58890-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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