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The Construction of ‘Otherness’: A History of the Chinese Migrants in South Africa

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Book cover Migration and Agency in a Globalizing World

Part of the book series: International Political Economy Series ((IPES))

Abstract

This chapter presents a micro-narrative of the Chinese in South Africa highlighting a multifaceted othering that is integral to such a diverse cultural societal mix. It adopts an achronological approach by beginning in the wake of the new democratic dispensation and traverses back through four distinct political epochs of the South African past. It reflects on the indelible ‘otherness’ and perpetual ‘othering’ of the small Chinese community in a multicultural, yet racially stratified, South Africa. It thus traverses the full extent of the South African past, emphasizing the extended trajectory of the phenomenon of Chinese otherness.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘China in Africa: Never too late to scramble’, The Economist, 28 October to 3 November 2006. See also Park (2016).

  2. 2.

    ‘Chinese girl fought for street-spot’, The Sunday Star, 6 September 1992.

  3. 3.

    Transvaal Chinese Association Newsletter, 1 January 1998.

  4. 4.

    Transvaal Chinese Association Newsletter, 1 December 2000.

  5. 5.

    ‘South African unemployment rate, 1994–2015’, Business Tech, 21 January 2015. See also Kings (2014).

  6. 6.

    Employment Equity Act, No. 55 of 1998, Government Gazette, Vol. 400, no. 19370.

  7. 7.

    Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, No. 53 of 2003, Government Gazette, Vol. 463, no. 25899.

  8. 8.

    Annual Survey of South African Law, 1998 (2004) Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand; Annual Survey of South African Law, 2003 (2004) Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003, Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand.

  9. 9.

    Employment Equity Act, No. 55 of 1998, Government Gazette, Vol. 400, no. 19370.

  10. 10.

    https://apps.statssa.gov.za/census01/Census96/HTML/Metadata/Metadta/introduction.htm (accessed on 12 February 2016).

  11. 11.

    Statutes of the Union of South Africa, Population Registration Act, No. 30 of 1950.

  12. 12.

    The Chinese Association, Gauteng Newsletters, August 2000, June 2002, July 2002, August 2002.

  13. 13.

    ‘The status of South Africans of Chinese descent’, Prepared for Empowerdex and the Department of Trade and Industry, Cliffe Dekker Incorporated, 2004.

  14. 14.

    ‘Chinese Association of South Africa: Chronological timeline’, 18 June 2008, Edward Nathan and Sonnenbergs.

  15. 15.

    Affidavits: M. Yap and D.L. Man, case no. 59251/07, High Court of South Africa (Transvaal Provincial Division), Pretoria, 18 June 2008, Edward Nathan and Sonnenbergs.

  16. 16.

    Notice of Motion: Case no. 59251/07, High Court of South Africa (Transvaal Provincial Division), Pretoria, 18 June 2008, Edward Nathan and Sonnenbergs.

  17. 17.

    Second Applicant’s founding affidavit: V. Chong, case no. 59251/07, High Court of South Africa (Transvaal Provincial Division), Pretoria, 18 June 2008, Edward Nathan and Sonnenbergs.

  18. 18.

    Affidavit: L.H. Hoy, case no. 59251/07, High Court of South Africa (Transvaal Provincial Division), Pretoria, 18 June 2008, Edward Nathan and Sonnenbergs.

  19. 19.

    ‘Labour Minister rockets Chinese’, The Star, 25 June 2008.

  20. 20.

    Statutes of the Union of South Africa, Population Registration Act, No. 30 of 1950.

  21. 21.

    Statutes of the Union of South Africa, Group Areas Act, No. 41 of 1950.

  22. 22.

    Statutes of the Union of South Africa, Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, No. 49 of 1953.

  23. 23.

    Statutes of the Union of South Africa, Proclamation no. 73, March 1951.

  24. 24.

    Statutes of the Republic of South Africa, Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, No. 55 of 1949.

  25. 25.

    Statutes of the Union of South Africa, Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, No. 49 of 1953.

  26. 26.

    Yoon Jung Park (chapter “Liminal Spaces: Ethnic Chinese in the Borderlands of Southern Africa”, in this volume) refers to examples of the Chinese sometimes being able to take advantage of the Chinese-Japanese confusion to circumvent these constraints. However, this did not ameliorate their legally entrenched position.

  27. 27.

    See Kumiko Makino’s chapter on “Travelling for Solidarity: Japanese activists in the transnational anti-apartheid movement” in this volume.

  28. 28.

    ‘The twilight people who deserve better’, Evening Post, 18 March 1980.

  29. 29.

    ‘Chinese community—rising star’, Financial Mail, 17 October 1980.

  30. 30.

    Ibid.

  31. 31.

    Statute Law of the Transvaal 1839–1910, The Gold Law of the South African Republic, No. 15 of 1898.

  32. 32.

    ‘Introduction of Chinese’, South African Native Opinion, 8 December 1903.

  33. 33.

    Ordinances of the Transvaal , Labour Importation Ordinance, No. 17 of 1904.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Historical and Heritage Studies, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Karen L. Harris

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  1. Karen L. Harris
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa

    Scarlett Cornelissen

  2. Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

    Yoichi Mine

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Harris, K.L. (2018). The Construction of ‘Otherness’: A History of the Chinese Migrants in South Africa. In: Cornelissen, S., Mine, Y. (eds) Migration and Agency in a Globalizing World. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60205-3_6

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