ABSTRACT
South Africa, and especially Cape Town, is one of the ‘most cosmopolitan regions of the world’. Despite having one of the most liberal constitutions in the world, South Africa has acquired a reputation for illiberal, xenophobic and nationalist attitudes and practices in both the state and civil society. In South Africa as elsewhere, the number of ‘illegal aliens’ or undocumented migrants is sensationally raised to more than 20 per cent of the population by security officials, without any evidence to back their claims. In this chapter, the author focuses on a case study which examines the skills and resources that are deployed when migrants are away from home. Ishmael had refugee status, was married to a Cape Town woman – and thus welcomed to the city – and was well-established as a street vendor on Durban Road, Mowbray, when Pascal introduced him to the author as a fellow East African.
