Diasporas and remittances: exploring the determinants of remittance behaviour of Rwandan diasporas in South Africa: a case study of Rwanda South Africa Alliance (RSAA)

摘要

AbstractudMigration and remittance studies have focused on the volume and impact ofudremittances in the migrant sending countries. The present study explores theuddeterminants of the remittance behaviour of Rwandan diasporas in South Africa. Thisudis a qualitative case study of the Rwandan diasporas in South Africa under theudRwanda South Africa Alliance (RSAA). The present study established that socialudlinkages/networks are the primary motivational factors that shape the remittanceudbehaviour of the Rwandan diasporas’ in South Africa. More particularly, the studyudrevealed that Rwandan diasporas remit mainly to first family and extended familyudmembers because there exist sustained social linkages and pre-established networksudbetween the former and the latter.udWith regard to intended use of remittances to Rwanda, it was found out that some ofudthese remittances were destined to pay for school fees and medical bills for extendedudfamily kids and other family members like parents and sisters. The desire to remit wasudmotivated by perceived obligation to help needy family members left home as a wayudto keep close to them and maintain participation in family affairs as a responsibility toudshare with loved ones. Primary data was collected through face-to-face interviewsudwith fifteen Rwandan diasporas’ members and the 2003 FMSP dataset was used toudmake a comparative analysis on migrants’ transnational practices and the motivationsudof migrants’ remittance behaviour in Johannesburg.