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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Acculturation and Botswana migrant miners in South Africa, 1930-1980
Author:Morapedi, Wazha G.ISNI
Year:2007
Periodical:Afrika Zamani: revue annuelle d'histoire africaine = Annual Journal of African History (ISSN 0850-3079)
Issue:15-16
Pages:45-62
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:Botswana
South Africa
Southern Africa
Subjects:migrant workers
acculturation
miners
workers' housing
labour migration
History, Archaeology
Immigrants--Botswana--History
Abstract:This paper analyses the acculturation of migrant workers from Botswana who worked in the South African mines between 1930 and 1980. It shows how the compound mine system affected Botswana cultural practices. It argues that some Botswana men ended up living permanently in South Africa, taking up the languages and cultural practices of South Africans. They came to be known in Botswana as 'makgwelwa'. However, the paper reveals that most Botswana men kept contact with their families and relatives back home and that complete acculturation was not pronounced. On average, about 6 out of 100 Botswana migrants were classified by their relatives as having become 'makgwelwa'. The paper argues that on the whole, Botswana men in the South African mines maintained their language and cultural practices, and that no dominant language existed in the compounds. The compound system also helped lessen acculturation because men were housed separately according to their ethnicities. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]
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