Key Takeaways:
- The annual homecoming of "injiva" (migrants) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, is a significant event that highlights the country’s historical and ongoing migration patterns.
- The festive return of migrants is often a performance of success and achievement, but it also conceals the struggles and hardships faced by migrants in South Africa.
- The repatriation of deceased migrants is a vital act that reinforces ties between generations and restores the deceased to their lineage.
- The process of repatriation is shaped by bureaucracy, cost, and intergenerational care, and is often a financial burden on families.
- Formal and informal burial societies play a crucial role in managing transnational death and providing support to families.
Introduction to the Homecoming of Injiva
Each December, the city of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe comes alive with the sound of laughter, music, and the hum of cars with South African number plates. This is the time of the year when "injiva" (migrants) return home for Christmas, bringing with them gifts, stories, and a sense of accomplishment. The old industrial city, which has struggled to survive in recent years, is filled with people dressed in trendy clothes, signaling their urban South African lifestyles. The atmosphere is festive, with jumping castles, popular music, and restaurants filled with people enjoying good food and company. However, beneath the surface of this festive atmosphere lies a more complex story of migration, struggle, and hardship.
The Historical Context of Migration
The migration pattern between Zimbabwe and South Africa has its roots in colonial-era labor migration, which has intensified since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980. The economic collapse of Zimbabwe in the early 2000s, marked by hyperinflation, political violence, and mass unemployment, drove millions to seek economic opportunities and protection in South Africa. Estimating the number of Zimbabweans in South Africa is difficult due to the largely unregulated nature of this mobility, but figures generally range between one million and three million. The migration experience is often marked by economic and legal uncertainties, discrimination in the labor market, low wages, and difficulty in sending remittances home.
The Moral Duty and Economic Headache of Return
The return of deceased migrants to Zimbabwe is a vital act that reinforces ties between generations and restores the deceased to their lineage. However, this process is often a financial burden on families, who must navigate the complex and costly process of repatriation. The cost of repatriation can be prohibitively expensive, and families often have to collect and borrow money to cover the expenses. Burial societies and other forms of collective support play a crucial role in making repatriation possible. The respectful return in death, like the festive Christmas return of the able-bodied injivas, reinforces ties between generations and is a moral duty that is deeply ingrained in Zimbabwean culture.
Formal and Informal Burial Societies
The funeral industry in Bulawayo has expanded in recent years, with many funeral parlors and burial societies operating in the city. These institutions play a crucial role in managing transnational death and providing support to families. Formal burial societies, such as Doves, Kings & Queens, and African Pride, offer a range of services, including embalming, transportation, and funeral arrangements. Informal money pooling societies also exist, where people collect money collectively to cover the cost of death. These societies often blur the boundaries between formal and informal systems, with many "undocumented" migrants participating through friends or relatives with legal status.
Bureaucracies of Transnational Death
The process of repatriation is shaped by bureaucracy, cost, and intergenerational care. Between the death and the burial, numerous legal and bureaucratic steps must be completed, from obtaining death certificates and health clearances to coordinating with South African and Zimbabwean authorities. Identity documents from Zimbabwe often need to be collected to prove that the deceased is a Zimbabwean national. When the deceased has not revealed their identity to the South African authorities and remains "undocumented", or has two legal identities, the disparity needs to be explained in affidavits. These administrative steps are not simply procedural; they are part of the politics of death, where care, legality, and belonging intertwine.
Conclusion
The homecoming of the dead mirrors, in reverse, the December journeys of the living. Both are seasonal movements that bind families across generations, space, and time. The same routes that carried migrants south in search of work now carry their bodies northward, accompanied by papers, payments, and prayers. The bureaucracies that regulate transnational death are not merely state procedures, but central to how families remake connection, dignity, and belonging under precarious conditions. The story of the homecoming of injiva is a complex and multifaceted one, marked by both joy and hardship, and highlights the importance of understanding the experiences of migrants and their families in all their complexity.