African Centre for Migration and Society

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    Giving birth in a foreign land : maternal health-care experiences among Zimbabwean migrant women living in Johannesburg, South Africa.
    (2014-09-11) Makandwa, Tackson
    The republic of South Africa has a “health for all” policy, regardless of nationality and residence status. However, challenges still exist for non-nationals and little is known regarding migrants’ maternal healthcare experiences. This study explores the maternal healthcare experiences of migrant Zimbabwean women living in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on the lived experiences of women aged 18years and above, who engaged with the public healthcare system in Johannesburg during pregnancy and childbirth. A desk review of the literature was undertaken. The theoretical framework in this study draws from three concepts (1) the Social determinants of health framework (WHO 2010), (2) the Access to healthcare framework (McIntyre, Thiede and Brich 2009) and (3) the “three-delays (Nour 2008). Primary data was collected through the use of open-ended semi-structured interviews with a sample of 15 migrant Zimbabwean women who have been in Johannesburg for a minimum of 2 years, and have attended and given birth or are currently attending antenatal care in inner city Johannesburg. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse data since it helps to extract descriptive information concerning the experiences of Zimbabwean women in Johannesburg and to construct meaning in order to understand their perceptions and opinions about the healthcare system in the city. Although the findings indicate that documentation status is not a key issue affecting access to healthcare during pregnancy and delivery, a range of other healthcare barriers were found to dominate, including the nature of their employment, power relations, language, and discrimination(generally) among others. Language was singled out as the major challenge that runs throughout the other barriers. More interestingly the participants raised their desire of returning home or changing facilities within the Public sector or to private institutions in case of any further pregnancy. This study concludes that the bone of contention is on belongingness, deservingness and not being able to speak any local language, that runs through the public health care institutions and this impact on professionalism and discharge of duties.
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    The claim for urban space and the problem of exclusion: the perception of outsiders' rights by communities affected by xenophobic violence in contemporary South Africa
    (2012-08-21) Ogunyemi, Samson
    This research is located in the broader body of literature and activity that have sought to comprehend the xenophobic violence of 2008 in South Africa and the persistence of this phenomenon, especially in poor locales of the main urban areas. The primary objective is to explore the perceptions that South Africans have of the rights of those people designated as outsiders and/or foreigners who live in areas that have experienced xenophobic violence targeting foreigners as well as people of South African minority ethnic groups. This study attempts to unpack the discourse of insider versus outsider rights within South African communities in relation to South Africa’s recent history - the xenophobic violence of 2008. Notably, it examines the challenge brought about by the crushing of space and time as an effect of globalization and how this has contributed to the process of multi-culturalism and multi-ethnicity that local communities are largely unprepared to cope with. This study contributes to the understanding of “otherness” as a key issue to design and implement better policies and practices that are necessary to promote the social and spatial inclusion of international migrants in Africa and the world. The empirics of this study give credence to the view that migrants’ rights operate at the rhetorical level, largely due to the lack of political will to translate them into actual benefits. The study specifically looks at two communities affected by xenophobic violence - Tembisa and Alexandra. Focusing on South Africans, the study draws on information gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews and group discussions carried out from July through October 2011. The findings are examined through thematic content analysis.