Abstract
M.Ed.
This study dealt with the perceptions of unemployed males migrating to Umtata in
the Eastern Cape. These males migrated from various Transkei districts to Umtata,
hoping to get jobs. Most of them had been retrenched from different work places in
the Republic of South Africa, and have decided to come to Umtata which, according
to them, is economically better off than their small towns.
Attempts to accommodate them were made by the Umtata Holy Cross Roman
Catholic Church sisters, together with the Umtata Municipality. They unanimously
agreed to accommodate the migrants at the Municipality's Jubilee Hall. Since then it
has been the Welfare Organisation's concern to supply them with food. The
Municipality's other contribution has been to offer them free training towards life
skills, such as, bricklaying, welding, painting and carpentry.
The researcher has attempted to discover how unemployment and migration has
affected the migrants' personalities and has tried to find a possible remedy for this.
In her findings, she has also discovered that they came to Umtata hoping for
permanent employment, as Umtata is the largest town in the former Transkei. When
this did not materialize, they were emotionally disturbed and their social esteem also
changed as their marriages ended.