Browsing by Author "Hwati, Roseline"

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    Oversight of and access to education for undocumented international child migrants in South Africa
    (2022) Hwati, Roseline
    A huge number of people migrate internationally every year because of different ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors ranging from socio-economic challenges and lack of respect for political rights. Among the people who migrate internationally, there are also children involved who migrate with their families and there are many unaccompanied children. Due to the different challenges that are experienced in African countries including exorbitant passport fees, many people, including children, end up migrating illegally. This study interrogates the oversight role and support of the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) on ordinary public primary schools in Johannesburg East District. This is because undocumented child migrants’ approach ordinary public primary schools in townships to access education. Research has shown that undocumented child migrants still experience challenges in accessing education regardless of the international and regional instruments that are in place to safeguard their rights. This study showed that oversight by the GDE is at play in the Alexandra township. There is an “open door” policy in which school officials can easily consult in the event that they do not understand something about the Schools Act and the Admission Policies that are adopted to allow undocumented international child migrants access to education. The study showed that schools generally tolerate undocumented child migrants as they are not turning them away on the basis of lack of documentation or inability to pay school fees. The study showed that a positive relationship exists between implementation of policy and understanding of policy and support from the Gauteng Department of Education which shows that it is not the understanding of policy that matters when it comes to admitting undocumented international child migrants but support received from the Gauteng Department of Education.
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    Treatment experiences of HIV positive temporary cross-border migrants in Johannesburg : access, treatment continuity and support networks.
    (2013-10-03) Hwati, Roseline
    As the economic hub of South Africa, Johannesburg attracts cross-border migrants in search of improved livelihoods; over half the population of some of its inner-city suburbs are made up of cross border migrants. Globally as well as locally, foreigners have been blamed for the spread of diseases such as HIV. As a result, they have suffered challenges in accessing public healthcare, particularly antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV. Studies have shown that despite these challenges - foreigners experienced better ART outcomes than nationals. There is a need to explore the ways in which cross border migrants use to access and to stay on treatment, given the wide-range of challenges that they face during their stay in Johannesburg. Semi-structured interviews with five nurses and ten cross-border migrants currently receiving ART, along with non-participant observations, were used to collect data from two public clinics in inner-city Johannesburg. Analysis suggests that the family network in the country of origin remains critical, as cross border migrants are not disclosing their status in the city in which they live, but do so to their families in their countries of origin. Data shows that when it comes to accessing and staying on treatment, cross-border migrants go to the clinic every month as do nationals; ask for more treatment from nurses when going home temporarily; eat healthily; but hide when taking medication, and negotiate confidentiality and trust within their families in countries of origin. Some are found to access treatment in their countries of origin while staying in Johannesburg. Despite the lack of social networks in the inner city, this data suggests that cross-border migrants are successful in accessing and continuing with ART. There is need for future research to look at social networks for internal migrants, so as to compare results.