Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
The right to work and rights in the workplace: securing the socio-economic rights of foreign migrant workers in the construction sector in Cape Town
Human rights claims are primarily directed at the state, which is seen as holding the perfect obligation to ensure the realisation of rights, however, other actors who hold imperfect obligations may be more directly responsible for helping rights claimants realise their rights entitlements. This is...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | Eng |
| Published: |
Department of Sociology
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613763747708928 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Lorgat, Aisha |
| author2 | Sitas, Ari |
| author_browse | Lorgat, Aisha Sitas, Ari |
| author_facet | Sitas, Ari Lorgat, Aisha |
| author_sort | Lorgat, Aisha |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Human rights claims are primarily directed at the state, which is seen as holding the perfect obligation to ensure the realisation of rights, however, other actors who hold imperfect obligations may be more directly responsible for helping rights claimants realise their rights entitlements. This is apparent when it comes to migrants, specifically cross-border migrants, who I argue are especially vulnerable or precarious because of their migrant status and lack of access to citizenship rights. Migration is a contentious issue in much of the world and South Africa is no exception. Migrants form part of the precariat in the host society and are exposed to a range of insecurities that can be tied to and aggravated by their migrant status. They are understood to be denizens (Standing, 2011) who lack citizenship and, as such, their entitlement to some or all rights is denied or at least, called into question. They are also workers who nevertheless do not have a recognised right to work, and should they manage to access employment despite this, their entitlement to workplace rights is frequently undermined if not outright denied. My main question therefore asks how migrants negotiate their lived reality with regard to access to work and rights in their workplaces in South Africa, and what role organisations with indirect rights obligations, such as trade unions and NGOs play in these negotiations. What implications does this have for trade unions as the recognised representatives of workers in South Africa? The research that contributed to this dissertation took place in three separate but related projects, beginning with the African Diaspora project, followed by research conducted specifically for this dissertation and, lastly, research aimed at developing a labour migration policy for Cosatu. The research methodology applied was principally the extended case method along with Orunmila epistemology to help make sense of the data. My research shows that while trade unions have an obligation to help migrants realise their rights to work and rights in the workplace, they face challenges in meeting this obligation. As a result, migrants rely more on themselves and other organisational forms to try to realise these rights. Nevertheless, continued failure of unions in this regard is untenable and reflective of a broader failure to adequately represent precarious workers, a failure that will result in continuing decline for trade unions if they are unable to rise to the challenge. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41074 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | Eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:41:19.453Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Department of Sociology |
| publisherStr | Department of Sociology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41074 The right to work and rights in the workplace: securing the socio-economic rights of foreign migrant workers in the construction sector in Cape Town Lorgat, Aisha Sitas, Ari Gama Nomkhosi Sociology Human rights claims are primarily directed at the state, which is seen as holding the perfect obligation to ensure the realisation of rights, however, other actors who hold imperfect obligations may be more directly responsible for helping rights claimants realise their rights entitlements. This is apparent when it comes to migrants, specifically cross-border migrants, who I argue are especially vulnerable or precarious because of their migrant status and lack of access to citizenship rights. Migration is a contentious issue in much of the world and South Africa is no exception. Migrants form part of the precariat in the host society and are exposed to a range of insecurities that can be tied to and aggravated by their migrant status. They are understood to be denizens (Standing, 2011) who lack citizenship and, as such, their entitlement to some or all rights is denied or at least, called into question. They are also workers who nevertheless do not have a recognised right to work, and should they manage to access employment despite this, their entitlement to workplace rights is frequently undermined if not outright denied. My main question therefore asks how migrants negotiate their lived reality with regard to access to work and rights in their workplaces in South Africa, and what role organisations with indirect rights obligations, such as trade unions and NGOs play in these negotiations. What implications does this have for trade unions as the recognised representatives of workers in South Africa? The research that contributed to this dissertation took place in three separate but related projects, beginning with the African Diaspora project, followed by research conducted specifically for this dissertation and, lastly, research aimed at developing a labour migration policy for Cosatu. The research methodology applied was principally the extended case method along with Orunmila epistemology to help make sense of the data. My research shows that while trade unions have an obligation to help migrants realise their rights to work and rights in the workplace, they face challenges in meeting this obligation. As a result, migrants rely more on themselves and other organisational forms to try to realise these rights. Nevertheless, continued failure of unions in this regard is untenable and reflective of a broader failure to adequately represent precarious workers, a failure that will result in continuing decline for trade unions if they are unable to rise to the challenge. 2025-03-03T13:19:09Z 2025-03-03T13:19:09Z 2024 2025-03-03T13:11:37Z Thesis / Dissertation Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41074 Eng application/pdf Department of Sociology Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Sociology Lorgat, Aisha The right to work and rights in the workplace: securing the socio-economic rights of foreign migrant workers in the construction sector in Cape Town |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | The right to work and rights in the workplace: securing the socio-economic rights of foreign migrant workers in the construction sector in Cape Town |
| title_full | The right to work and rights in the workplace: securing the socio-economic rights of foreign migrant workers in the construction sector in Cape Town |
| title_fullStr | The right to work and rights in the workplace: securing the socio-economic rights of foreign migrant workers in the construction sector in Cape Town |
| title_full_unstemmed | The right to work and rights in the workplace: securing the socio-economic rights of foreign migrant workers in the construction sector in Cape Town |
| title_short | The right to work and rights in the workplace: securing the socio-economic rights of foreign migrant workers in the construction sector in Cape Town |
| title_sort | right to work and rights in the workplace securing the socio economic rights of foreign migrant workers in the construction sector in cape town |
| topic | Sociology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41074 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lorgataisha therighttoworkandrightsintheworkplacesecuringthesocioeconomicrightsofforeignmigrantworkersintheconstructionsectorincapetown AT lorgataisha righttoworkandrightsintheworkplacesecuringthesocioeconomicrightsofforeignmigrantworkersintheconstructionsectorincapetown |