Combattants and Baswahili: Beyond Ethno-regional Tensions among Congolese Immigrants of Cape Town, South Africa

Rosette Sifa Vuninga

doi:10.25159/2663-6689/10629

Authors

Rosette Sifa Vuninga University of the Western Cape

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6689/10629

Keywords:

Combattants, collabos, Congolese immigrants, ethno-regionalism, eastern Congolese, western Congolese, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cape Town

Abstract

This paper focuses on the combattants (French for “fighters”), a diaspora group from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and their activities in Cape Town, South Africa. While the combattants publicly identify as socio-political activists, for ordinary Congolese (especially eastern Congolese) they are simply a Congolese gang because of the violence that characterises their modus operandi. This research focuses on understanding the combattants’ antagonism toward eastern Congolese, especially in the last term of President Joseph Kabila in office. While acknowledging that the politics of the DRC largely shape the everyday lives of Congolese migrants in South Africa, this paper looks more into the role played by the host country—South Africa—in intra-Congolese migrants’ identity conflicts and the formation of gang-like groups such as the combattants. This paper stresses the links between the South African migration system that favours some Congolese ethno-regional groups (mainly those from the war zones—the eastern region/Kivu) over others (from the relatively peaceful western region that Kinshasa incarnates) and the hatred the combattants have towards eastern Congolese. Focusing roughly on the period between 2011 and 2018, the paper argues that feuds between the combattants (from western Congo) and eastern Congolese are also a struggle between the “winners” and the “losers” produced and reproduced through South African migration laws and policies.

References

Adamson, Fiona B. 2006. “Crossing Borders: International Migration and National Security.” International Security 31 (1): 165–199. https://doi.org/10.1162/isec.2006.31.1.165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/isec.2006.31.1.165

Adamson, Fiona. 2012. “Constructing the Diaspora: Diaspora Identity Politics and Transnational Social Movements.” Politics from Afar: Transnational Diasporas and Networks, 25–42.

Ansoms, An, Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka, and Susan Thomson (Eds). 2021. Field Research in Africa: The Ethics of Researcher Vulnerabilities. New York: Boydell & Brewer. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800101562. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800101562

Baird, Rosemary. 2012. “Constructing Lives: A New Approach to Understanding Migrants’ Oral History Narratives.” Oral History 40 (1): 57–66.

Banegas, Richard, and Bogumil Jewsiewicki. 2001. “Vivre dans la guerre: Imaginaires et pratiques populaires de la violence en RDC.” Politique Africaine (84): 5–15. https://doi.org/10.3917/polaf.084.0005. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/polaf.084.0005

Bank, Andrew. 2016. Pioneers of the Field: South Africa’s Women Anthropologists, vol. 51. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316584187. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316584187

Baser, Bahar. 20016. Diasporas and Homeland Conflicts: A Comparative Perspective. London: Routledge.

Baser, Bahar, and Ashok Swain. 2008. “Diasporas as Peacemakers: Third Party Mediation in Homeland Conflicts.” International Journal on World Peace, 7–28.

Boisselet, Pierrot. “RDC: La Lucha lance une section à Paris pour mobiliser la diaspora.” Jeune Afrique, 14/12/2017. Accessed July 17, 2021. https://www.jeuneafrique.com/502601/politique/rdc-la-lucha-lance-une-section-a-paris-pour-mobiliser-la-diaspora/.

Bokamba, Eyamba G. 2008. “DR Congo: Language and ‘Authentic Nationalism’.” In Language and National Identity in Africa, edited by A. Simpson. London: Oxford University Press.

Bozzini, David. 2015. “The fines and the Spies: Fears of State Surveillance in Eritrea and in the Diaspora.” Social Analysis 59 (4): 32–49. https://doi.org/10.3167/sa.2015.590403. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/sa.2015.590403

Bozzoli, Belinda. 1991. “Women of Phokeng: Consciousness.” Life Strategy and Migrancy in South Africa 1900–1983: 216–243.

Brown, Cynthia. 2006. “Moving on: Reflections on Oral History and Migrant Communities in Britain.” Oral History 34 (1): 69–80.

De Villers, Gauthier. 1998. “Identifications et Mobilisations Politiques au Congo-Kinshasa.” Politique Africaine (72): 81–97.

Demart, Sarah. 2013. “Riots in Matonge and… the Indifference of Public Authority?” Brussels Studies. La revue scientifique électronique pour les recherches sur Bruxelles/Het elektronisch wetenschappelijk tijdschrift voor onderzoek over Brussel/The e-journal for academic research on Brussels. https://doi.org/10.4000/brussels.1168. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/brussels.1168

Demart, Sarah, and Leïla Bodeux. 2013. “Postcolonial Stakes of Congolese (DRC) Political Space: 50 Years after Independence 1.” African Diaspora 6 (1): 72–96. https://doi.org/10.1163/18725457-12341242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18725457-12341242

Demmers, Jolle. 2007. “New Wars and Diasporas: Suggestions for Research and Policy.” Peace, Conflict and Development (11): 1–26.

Dhupelia-Mesthrie, Uma. 2006. “Tales of Urban Restitution, Black River, Rondebosch.” Kronos: Journal of Cape History 32 (1): 216–243.

Englund, Harri. 2002. “Ethnography after Globalism: Migration and Emplacement in Malawi.” American Ethnologist 29 (2): 261–286. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.2002.29.2.261

Fassin, Didier. 2005. “Compassion and Repression: The Moral Economy of Immigration Policies in France.” Cultural Anthropology 20 (3): 362–387. https://doi.org/10.1525/can.2005.20.3.362. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/can.2005.20.3.362

Fassin, Didier. 2011. “Policing Borders, Producing Boundaries. The Governmentality of Immigration in Dark Times.” Annual Review of Anthropology (40): 213–226. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145847. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145847

Garbin, David, and Marie Godin. 2013. “‘Saving the Congo’: transnational social fields and politics of home in the Congolese diaspora.” African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal 6 (2): 113–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2013.793133. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2013.793133

Gayer, Laurent. 2007. “The Volatility of the ‘Other’: Identity Formation and Social Interaction in Diasporic Environments.” South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. http://samaj.revues.org/document36.html. https://doi.org/10.4000/samaj.36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/samaj.36

Godin, Marie, and Giorgia Doná. 2016. “‘Refugee Voices,’ New Social Media and Politics of Representation: Young Congolese in the Diaspora and Beyond.” Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees 32 (1). https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40384

Inaka, Saint Jose. 2016. “Combattants and Anti-Combattants (collabos): Congolese Transnational Politics in Pretoria.” Strategic Review for Southern Africa 38 (1): 5–28. https://doi.org/10.35293/srsa.v38i1.273. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35293/srsa.v38i1.273

Jackson, Stephen. 2006. “Sons of which Soil? The Language and Politics of Autochthony in Eastern DR Congo.” African Studies Review 49 (2): 95–124. https://doi.org/10.1353/arw.2006.0107. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/arw.2006.0107

Jackson, Stephen. 2007. “Of ‘Doubtful Nationality’: Political Manipulation of Citizenship in the DR Congo.” Citizenship Studies 11 (5): 481–500. https://doi.org/10.1080/13621020701605792. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13621020701605792

Jackson, Stephen, and Claire Médard. 2001. “Nos richesses sont pillées! Économies de guerre et rumeurs de crime au Kivu.” Politique Africaine (4): 117–135. https://doi.org/10.3917/polaf.084.0117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/polaf.084.0117

Jessee, Erin. 2019. “The Limits of Oral History: Ethics and Methodology amid highly Politicized Research Settings.” The Oral History Review 38 (2): 287–307. https://doi.org/10.1093/ohr/ohr098. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ohr/ohr098

Lemarchand, René. 2006. “Consociationalism and Power Sharing in Africa: Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” African Affairs 106 (422): 1–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adl041

Lyons, Terrence, Harald Svein Ege, Birhanu Teferra Aspen, and Bekele Shiferaw. 2007. “The Ethiopian Diaspora and Homeland Conflict.” Power 44 (2): 215–231.

MacGaffey, Janet, and Rémy Bazenguissa. 2000. Congo-Paris: Transnational Traders on the Margins of the Law. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.

Mbu-Mputu, Norbert, and Joe Trapido. 2020. “Les Combattants—Ideologies of Exile, Return and Nationalism in the DRC.” Journal of Refugee Studies: 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fez115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fez115

McConnell, Christy. 2009. “Migration and Xenophobia in South Africa.” Conflict Trends (1): 34–40.

Morris, Alan. 1998. “‘Our Fellow Africans Make our Lives Hell’: The Lives of Congolese and Nigerians Living in Johannesburg.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 21 (6): 1116–1136. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419879808565655. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419879808565655

Munyakazi, Justin B. 2018. “Examining the Role of Youth in the Maï-Maï Yakutumba Insurgency.” Accessed December 10, 2021. https://kujenga-amani.ssrc.org/2018/02/01/examining-the-role-of-youth-in-the-mai-mai-yakutumba-insurgency/.

Neocosmos, Michael. 2008. “The Politics of Fear and the Fear of Politics: Reflections on Xenophobic Violence in South Africa.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 43 (6): 586–594. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909608096655. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909608096655

Ngonga, Maindo and, Monga Alphonse. 2001. “Survivre à la guerre des autres: Un défi populaire en RDC: RDC, la guerre vue d’en bas.” Politique Africaine (84): 33–58. https://doi.org/10.3917/polaf.084.0033. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/polaf.084.0033

Nzongola-Ntalaja. 2002. The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People’s History. London, New York: Zed Books. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350223004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350223004

Owen, Joy. 2015. Congolese Social Networks: Living on the Margins in Muizenberg. Cape Town, Maryland: Lexington Books.

Perera, Suda, Victor Anas Kambale, and Josaphat Musamba Bussy. 2018. “Youth Participation and Non-violent Resistance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: The Case of LUCHA.” Uongozi Institute, Research Paper no 57, 201).

Phinney, Jean, Gabriel Horenczyk, Karmela Liebkind, and Paul H. Vedder. 2001. “Ethnic Identity, Immigration, and Well-being: An Interactional Perspective.” Journal of Social Issues 57 (3) 493–510. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00225

Pugh, Sarah. 2014. “Human Mobility in South Africa.” In Africans on the Move. Cape Town: The Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa, edited by Fabio Bagio. Cape Town: SIHMA.

Pype, Katrien. 2020. “Stones Thrown Online. The Politics of Insults, Distance and Impunity in Congolese Polémique.” In Theorising Media and Conflict, edited by Philipp Budka, John Postill, and Birgit Bräuchler. New York: Berghahn Books, 237–254. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1tbhqdw.15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1tbhqdw.15

Reyntjens, Filip. 2009. The great African War: Congo and Regional Geopolitics, 1996–2006. New York: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511596698. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511596698

Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora. 2010. “Unpacking World Refugee Day: Humanitarian Governance and Human Rights Practice?” Journal of Human Rights Practice 2 (2): 287–298. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huq003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huq003

Thomson, Alistair. 1999. “Moving Stories: Oral History and Migration Studies.” Oral History 27 (1): 24–37.

Thompson, Paul. 2017. The Voice of the Past: Oral History. Oxford University Press.

Thomson, Susan. 2010. “Getting close to Rwandans since the Genocide: Studying everyday Life in highly Politicized Research Settings.” African Studies Review 53 (3): 19–34. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0002020600005655. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0002020600005655

Thomson, Susan. 2021. “Scholar-activist? On Relational Accountability and Ethic of Dissemination.” In Field Research in Africa. The Ethics of Researcher Vulnerabilities, edited by A. Ansoms, A. Nyenyezi, and S. Thomson. New York: Boydell & Brewer, 117–135. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1grbb5w.13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1grbb5w.13

Turner, Simon. 2008. “The Waxing and Waning of the Political Field in Burundi and its Diaspora.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 31 (4): 742–743. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701784505. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870701784505

Vlavonou, Gino. 2021. “Skin Connections: Negotiating Institutional Ethics alongside Insider Identities.” In Field Research in Africa. The Ethics of Researcher Vulnerabilities, edited by A. Ansoms, A. Nyenyezi, and S. Thomson. New York: Boydell & Brewer, 11–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1grbb5w.7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1grbb5w.7

Vuninga, Rosette Sifa. 2017a. “Combattants: Activists or Criminals? A Reflection on Ethnoregionalism and Political Violence among Congolese Immigrants in South Africa.” Accessed April 29, 2020. http://forums.ssrc.org/kujenga-amani/2017/03/14/combattants-activists-or-criminals-a-reflection-on-ethnoregionalism-and-political-violence-among-congolese-immigrants-in-south-africa/#.WQO7styxWM9.

Vuninga, Rosette Sifa. 2017b. “Congolese Social Networks: Living on the Margins in Muizenberg, Cape Town, by Joy Owen.” Refuge. Canada’s Journal on Refugees 33 (2): 104–106. https://doi.org/10.7202/1043070ar. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1043070ar

Vuninga, Rosette Sifa. 2021. “Establishing Kinship in the Diaspora: Conducting Research among Fellow Congolese Immigrants of Cape Town.” In Field Research in Africa. The Ethics of Researcher Vulnerabilities, edited by A. Ansoms, A. Nyenyezi, and S. Thomson. New York: Boydell & Brewer, 63–83. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800101562.007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800101562.007

Xiang, Biao, and Mika Toyota. 2013. “Ethnographic Experiments in Transnational Mobility Studies.” Ethnography 14 (3): 277–281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138113491655

Zetter, Roger. 1991. “Labelling Refugees: Forming and Transforming a Bureaucratic Identity.” Journal of Refugee Studies 4 (1): 39–62. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/4.1.39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/4.1.39

Zetter, Roger. 2007. “More Labels, Fewer Refugees: Remaking the Refugee Label in an Era of Globalization.” Journal of Refugee Studies 20 (2): 172–192. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fem011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fem011