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2 "China's industrial colonialism in Africa," Zapiro, published in the Mail & Guardian and the Times, February 20, 2014.
Citations
... If narratives in relation to the Chinese were openly ethnicised, raising questions about where they fit in within South Africa's society (e.g. Harris 2018; Dittgen & Anthony 2018), this also invites a broader discussion about renewed forms of collective life in these in-between (sub)urban environments, characterised by a growing diversity (both racially and socio-economically) amid reduced public funding for infrastructure upgrades. Alterations such as those along Derrick Avenue (as well as in other 'migrant spaces') are driven by spatial efficiency and ideal usage of space in a city where this is challenging. ...
Derrick Avenue in Cyrildene, is a striking example of clichéd Chinese (street life) atmosphere in Johannesburg. Owing to its visible markers and demographics, this activity node sparks visions of a spatialised elsewhere. Standing in sharp contrast to a surrounding quiet and mostly residential neighbourhood, Derrick Avenue has been viewed as exceptional, different and closed, resulting in a spatial and cognitive divorce from the rest of the area. These representations, largely associated with Chinese spaces, not only shape the ways in which such spaces are commonly examined, understood and conceptualised, but also contribute to side-lining the existence of transversal urban processes and realities. This article moves away from entering Derrick Avenue through the lens of ethnicity and othering, in an effort to read this street as a holistic object of research. Through (un)writing this space, we unpack its complexities as well as explore the coexistent tension between specific characteristics of a lived and constructed differentiation and geographies of the 'familiar'. Once decoupled from predetermined analytical categories and conceptual frameworks, the articulation between 'migrant space' and 'host city' is not merely confined to a study of relational ties (whether parallel, contentious or complementary), but becomes one of entanglement in terms of city-making processes and broader societal dynamics.
... As mentioned previously South Africa xenophobia has tended to target other African migrants more than the smaller Chinese populations (Park and Rugunanan 2009;Kuo 2017). However, members of the Chinese business community, especially its small traders, have become 'soft targets' of criminals and corrupt officials alike; several of these attacks over the years have been particularly brutal (Dittgen and Anthony 2018;Huang 2015;Park and Rugunanan 2009). ...
Chinese migration to Africa has been limited both in size and scope until relatively recently. It was only in the late 1990s and the 2000s that significant numbers of Chinese migrants began arriving in Africa, with the first significant waves hitting South African shores. Chinese entrepreneurs, fortune seekers, and professionals, together with temporary workers – from across China – made their way in increasing numbers to destinations across the African continent. Many entered Africa with or following Chinese state-owned and private companies, on contracts to work on construction, oil, and mining projects. Beyond these large state-sponsored and private-sector projects, reports of the development of Chinatowns, Chinese shops, and Chinese farms and factories across the African continent have been circulating for nearly three decades. This paper examines these new, intensified Chinese flows to Africa and explores the possibilities of their future on the continent. Based on my in-depth examination of developments in South Africa, I argue that while the Chinese state's global ambitions and African ambivalence towards these latest arrivals influence Chinese migrant lives and destinies, the migrants themselves are also having impacts on their African host nations and changing the way we understand human flows.
Comedy shows are an acute barometer of social contexts as they are embedded in power relations and often constructed as a space of resistance. With the increasing presence of China in Kenya, China has been a recurring theme in one of the most popular Kenyan stand-up comedies, the Churchill Comedy Show. In 2018, a clip circulated widely of a Chinese female comedian on stage with Churchill and Sleepy. In the clip they discuss the debt issue between Kenya and China through romantic metaphors of an “engagement” ceremony before the wedding, including both expressions of love and bargaining about bride price. This article argues that humour and laughter help in carving out a space for open discussions and critical reflections on the debt issue within Kenya–China relations. It inserts agency and expresses resistance and moral critique of Chinese engagements in Kenya, especially from socio-economically marginalised publics. At the same time, the humour jointly generated through a reiteration of tropes of nationhood, separation of languages and gendered expressions runs the risk of taking interpersonal relations back to rigidly divided national, ethnic and gendered categorisations and representations.
Over the past several years there have been a number of racially-tinged incidents in South Africa involving ‘the Chinese.’ Simultaneously, the love affair between Chinese and South African government leaders has expanded to include local Chinese community leaders and local ANC officials. Based on ongoing research on Chinese communities in South Africa I examine these conflicting phenomena and explore the various ways in which the three main ethnic Chinese communities – Chinese South African, Taiwanese South African, and mainland Chinese migrant – and other South Africans respond to these often conflicting social and political messages. I argue that China’s global ascendance and South Africa’s increasing national-level dependence on China encourages some actors (both Chinese and non-Chinese) to opportunistically wield the China card while other non-Chinese South Africans respond with fear and racism, invoking Yellow Peril narratives.
