Migration, xenophobia, barriers and rights to education have emerged as a significant issue in recent South African history. While there is a growing body of work on migrants and refugees within South Africa, little is known of the histories and contexts from which migrants come and how these have shaped their educational trajectories. Using in-depth interviews with seven female migrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a complex notion of context, the article provides a comparative, relational 'assemblage' of the political economies framing educational experiences in the DRC and South Africa. Two main themes are explored: violence and school fees. Differences in the nature of fee-extraction and privatisation across the two societies are highlighted. The article further argues that NGOs and individual schools' initiatives in South Africa mitigate dominant trends to some extent.