In-depth 2013: Chinese Joburg
Every major city in the world has at least one Chinatown. Many, like Johannesburg, have two. The Chinese community, sometimes seen as reticent and insular, is often forgotten in the narrative of Johannesburg’s immense, dynamic diversity. But this community is woven into the city’s social, economic and cultural fabric. With assistance from the China-Africa Project, Wits Journalism students have – with this project – sought to understand and reflect many different views about this frequently misunderstood community.
History and future
The Chinese in Johannesburg are part of a long history of migration going back to the city’s first days, following the discovery of gold. It’s a rich past that informs the present and future of the Chinese in South Africa. Ray Mahlaka ventured into Soweto to find an old Chinese community, often overlooked in the history of the township. Prelene Singh tells the story of one of the oldest Chinese families in Johannesburg, whose personal history shows the community’s part in the city’s fabric. Emelia Motsai dug into the Chinese and apartheid and found a group of people still struggling to cope as the “in-between race”. Pheladi Sethusa set out to do a simple account on Chinese infrastructure development and found much more than she bargained for.
An appetite for family: The story of a Chinese family bound by history and values
By Prelene Singh
The long relationship the Chinese community has with South Africa can be traced as far back as the early 1600s. Their presence surged in the late 19th century following the discovery of gold.
The Pon family, a well-known South African Chinese family in Johannesburg, first arrived here at this time. The history of this family can be seen as a microcosm of the larger history of the Chinese people in South Africa.
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Lost in translation: Chinese migrants and the language barrier
By Palesa Radebe
Chinese migrants who arrive in South Africa with a lack of English depend on local shop assistants to help them speak to their customers.
For shop owners and their assistants to understand each other, they have to come up with creative ways to communicate. Wishes Kondowe has been working at China Multiplex for over a year now, but she still does not know the name of the general store she works for and only refers to it as “shop number 46”.
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“I’m pretty much South African” – Identity and culture among Chinese youth in South Africa
By Sibusisiwe Nyanda
The dynamics within immigrant societies are complex and difficult to navigate.
The Chinese community in Johannesburg is an example of this complexity. Within the Chinese South African community exists a group of young people who consider themselves more South African than Chinese. We meet this group and find there is no real balance between traditional heritage and the “modern” present – as they are unapologetically in tune with the latter.
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‘Lover of literature and all things art. Music is my therapy. Self-proclaimed fashion enthusiast.’
‘Life is a collage of beautiful moments. I choose to document mine with faith, love and laughter’
‘Music, food and literature make me happy’
More than a merchant, more than a migrant
By Caro Malberbe
What do we really know about small Chinese businesses in Johannesburg? We might think of red lanterns, black-bean pastries, herbal teas, doll-like chiffon dresses and a fat, golden cat with a metronome paw.
We delve a little deeper and speak to Chinese business owners about their struggles to fit in – and their struggles to get out. Johannesburg is home to a vast number of small Chinese businesses.
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We too, are black
By Emilia Motsai
The Chinese South African community is small and keeps a low profile. Very little is said about their history in the country, about their history during apartheid.
Emelia Motsai asks how they were affected by apartheid? Did they suffer like black groups or did they enjoy benefits bestowed only on white people? Shue Chee Pon immigrated to South Africa from China in 1939 and took up a position as a teacher at a Chinese school in Johannesburg.
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Chinese in the kasi
By Thuletho Zwane
The Chinese journey to South Africa is well documented. However, their story in parts of the country like Soweto is largely untold.
The township was an area where the Chinese could settle and set up shop after the passing of the Group Areas Act of 1950. Since then, the Chinese presence in Soweto has flourished with the arrival of foreign nationals.Soweto’s rich history, particularly during the struggle against apartheid, is well documented since the first settlements in 1904.
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‘Anything is possible. Preach spontaneity. Adventure chaser’
‘I love writing, I want to help and to travel. So I will write to help, to travel’
‘Struggling to find the edges of the box we live in. Obsessed with anything African. Wits Journalism Honours. MComm candidate. A luta continua.’
The shifting sands of tradition
By Nomatter Ndebele
The Sens are a family of Chinese heritage who reflect their South African roots in all they do. This story explores the life of this family that navigates its way between three distinct attitudes towards tradition and finds a middle ground that allows them to remain connected.
The Sens are a Chinese family whose contemporary house in Johannesburg’s affluent northern suburbs gives no obvious indication of the origin of its inhabitants, save for the red Chinese tea set gleaming in the entrance hallway. On every family occasion, this family of three grapples with either loosening the ties of tradition or holding them firmly in order to preserve their history for future generations.
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‘A little bit of this and that, with love, ambition and a lot of faith in between.’
Click here to view the 2014 In-depth reporting project: Yeoville