South Africa has millions of immigrants from African countries. Some legal, some illegal. What is it like to leave your home country and go to another country with little money and high hopes?
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Edgar do Nascimento came to South Africa six years ago. For many immigrants, this country seems to provide many more opportunities than many other countries further north in Africa. He had to face xenophobia, as many South Africans feel threatened by these immigrants, as jobs are already scarce, and resources also sometimes stretched to the limit.
My story
I flew from Luanda to the north of Namibia and spent 16 hours on the bus to get to Cape Town.
I had a hundred dollars in my pocket when I arrived in South Africa from Angola. I was nineteen years old, could not speak English and had never been out of Angola. It was July 1, 1999 and it was pouring with rain in Cape Town.
But I wanted to do something with my life.
At least it was still in Africa. Unlike Brazil, to which I had also tried to emigrate. I knew that I had to stay focused, grab all the opportunities that came my way and that only I was responsible for my future. Not that knowing this made things any easier.
It seemed like arriving in a totally different world – with a different language and a different culture. I had a big job ahead of me trying to acclimatise to these things. It was either that, or returning home and being regarded as a failure.
Initial impressions
Before I arrived, I had an idea of what to expect. After all, South Africa is often in the news. And often not for good things – racism and discrimination, rape, murder and assassination. There is also a perception in Angola that there are no jobs here and that disease is rampant. So I was scared when I arrived, to say the least.
On arrival I went to a friend's house in Rondebosch East, but I could only stay there for a couple of days. I was given food by a wonderful woman in Woodstock, but we had to go there very early in the morning to get it.
Within a month my money was running out, and my situation was getting desperate.
Major obstacles
I couldn't speak the language, I was far away from home, my money was finished and the stress started getting to me. I got to a point where I just wanted to give up.
I was smoking too much, drinking too much and not eating properly. I really needed my mother, but she was far away and I had to accept that. It was very difficult. It is very difficult to be in a new country where you have no support structure.
There is also quite a lot of xenophobia in South Africa, and if you do not know where you are going, you could get into serious trouble. In certain areas, there is also a lot of violence. Often, people do not like it if you get involved with South African women and I got myself into trouble once or twice over that.
Getting a job
I got a job at a petrol station – getting to work was tricky, though, as I had no money by this time. I took the train and when I was asked for my ticket, simply spoke Portuguese and pretended not to understand.
Shortly after that I started working at a seafood restaurant in Paarden Island. It was very interesting, but the pressure was very high. I couldn't even relax when I was off-duty. But it was a job and at least I could pay rent and buy food.
I got to cook for all sorts of celebrities, like Patrick Swayze, Samuel L. Jackson, and Nicholas Cage. I really learnt in this job that there were no excuses – things had to happen on time and that was that.
Things started improving and I no longer felt so depressed. I managed to overcome my addictions and started to get some focus in my life. Things were improving.
Things I miss the most
Not having family around is very difficult. I could phone every now and then, but sometimes not even this would help to suppress the emptiness inside me.
I also really missed the food of home. It is so difficult to learn to eat completely different food than that which you are used to. In Angola we ate a lot of Portuguese food, which included things like fish and stew. We used few spices in cooking our food and tended to cook things like rice and spaghetti in the sauces with which they were served.
But I now share a flat in Mowbray with four other guys – two from Angola and two from Zimbabwe. It makes things a little easier.
Thoughts on emigration
All in all, emigrating to South Africa has been a great experience. I miss Angola and I miss my family, but Angola had had a civil war for 25 years (it was still on when I left) and it was difficult to plan a future there. I now know that I have a good chance of making it. I am studying to be a journalist and am now working as an intern at the largest media company in Africa.
In the beginning I thought that leaving Angola was stupid and risky, but now I know that, for myself, I did the right thing. I now have confidence in my future.
But living out of the country in which I was born, is not easy. It is not a decision to be taken lightly, as emigrating really does have many drastic consequences on anyone's life. In the beginning it is very difficult, but you have to accept the realities of the new country in which you are living.
I also am losing the ability to speak my mother tongue properly and have had to adapt to and adopt the culture of the Cape. There was no way around this. Unless you are prepared to accept this, it will be very difficult to emigrate. And a great deal of maturity is also required.
But it also gave me a very different perspective on life. There are so many different kinds of people here and things are really happening. And this is now my home.
A psychologist's take on immigration
What makes one person's experience of settling in another country a more positive experience than someone else's?
"The most important thing when arriving in a new country, is whether you have a place to go to," says Ilse Pauw, Cape Town psychologist. ""If you have a support structure of friends and/or family in place in your new country, it also makes things a lot easier. Having a job to go to also contributes to one's sense of security."
"Not having a job, or a home, or friends and family in your new country, could make someone feel very isolated. Not being able to speak the language in the new country also contributes to this sense of isolation. Many immigrants, when faced with a fight for survival, can become depressed," says Pauw.
(Three years after this story was written, Edgar, who worked as a journalism intern at Health24, is working in the retail sector, after spending some time with a magazine in Johannesburg. He received his National Diploma in Journalism from the Peninsula Technikon in 2006.)
(Edgar do Nascimento, 2005, updated 2008)
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