Kuda Vanyoro


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Kudakwashe Vanyoro is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa interested in migration, temporality, borders, humanitarianism and governance in Africa. His doctoral research explored how temporal disruptions at international borders shape (im) mobile bodies’ experiences and modes of waiting by focusing on irregular Zimbabwean migrant men at the Zimbabwe-South Africa border who have arrived in South Africa but are restricted in moving further into the interior. Through this inquiry, his work reveals how waiting is a component of both governing Zimbabwean migrants as well as seeking agency through the relationship between time, space, and humanitarianism in the Zimbabwe-South Africa border regime. He has also been conducting research uptake work for ACMS since 2014. As part of this role, Kudakwashe is responsible for stakeholder engagement in South Africa and is regularly called upon to brief decision-makers in government and civil society, including the creation of synthesis documents and other communication products to make evidence more accessible and applicable.


Posts by Author

Activism for Migrant Domestic Workers in South Africa: Tensions in the Framing of Labour Rights

February 11, 2021 0 Comments

In this article, maHp/ACMS postdoctoral researcher Kuda Vanyoro explores tensions in the ways in which non-governmental activism, as represented by trade unions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), frames the concerns of migrant domestic workers (MDWs) living in South Africa.

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VIDEO: Borders, mobilities and immobilities in southern Africa

January 22, 2021 0 Comments

maHp/ACMS doctoral researcher Kuda Vanyoro was recently part of the Migration Policy Centre webinar on ‘Borders, mobilities and immobilities in southern Africa’. Catch his presentation by watching the full webinar here.

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PODCAST: Academic Digest: Exploring cross-border migration policies, ARV treatment continuity

December 19, 2019 0 Comments

Aldrin Sampear of PowerFM 98.7’s Power Talk/ Academic Digest show recently spoke to maHp/ACMS doctoral researcher Kudakwashe Vanyoro, whose MA study sought to understand the practices that frontline healthcare workers adopt to navigate a space of blurred policy, in relation to migration.

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Telling the complex story of “medical xenophobia” in South Africa

December 17, 2019 0 Comments

maHp/ACMS doctoral researcher Kuda Vanyoro shares insights from his recent research on “medical xenophobia”, conducted in Musina. His study findings suggest that the experiences of non-nationals in South Africa’s public health care system are more complex and varied than implied by the dominant discourse on “medical xenophobia”.

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‘When they come, we don’t send them back’: counter-narratives of ‘medical xenophobia’ in South Africa’s public health care system

September 5, 2019 0 Comments

This article argues that there is more complexity, ambivalence, and a range of possible experiences of non-nationals in South Africa’s public health care system than the current extant literature on ‘medical xenophobia’ has suggested.

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Challenges of the Migration and Integration of Ethiopian Entrepreneurs to South Africa

July 7, 2019 0 Comments

This ACMS policy brief gives an overview of a study undertaken under the auspices of the Migrating Out of Poverty Research Consortium (MOOP) at the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), which explored the migration industry that attends the migration of Ethiopians to South Africa.

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‘Skeptics’ and ‘believers’: anti-trafficking, sex work, and migrant rights activism in South Africa

April 23, 2019 0 Comments

Very little is known about activism, as it relates to the issue of migration in South Africa. This paper fills this gap by exploring multi-level policies and advocacy experiences of activists working on migration in a post-colonial context of South Africa through the lens of key contestations around the trafficking discourse in South Africa from 2005 to 2018.

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Zimbabwean migrant domestic worker activism in South Africa

January 18, 2019 0 Comments

In this paper, maHp doctoral researcher Kuda Vanyoro, seeks to understand how Civil Society Organisations in South Africa facilitate the stay and protection of Zimbabwean migrant domestic workers (MDWs) through their activism.

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‘We have the research but where is the influence?’ Constraints and opportunities for evidence-based policy impact in South Africa

May 7, 2018 0 Comments

This paper explores the research uptake and advocacy experiences of researchers and activists working on three unpopular and politically contentious causes; immigration, human trafficking and sex work – in a post-colonial context of South Africa.

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[Re]-presenting knowledge: The coverage of xenophobia research in selected South African newspapers, 2008 -2013

May 3, 2018 0 Comments

This study explores the [re]-presentation of xenophobia research findings in two popular South African newspapers: the Mail & Guardian and the Sowetan from 2008 to 2013.

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40 000 words completed: My MA journey with maHp

January 29, 2018 0 Comments

My MA studies in Migration and Displacement came to a happy ending when I submitted my thesis in March 2017, after one good year of reading, writing and fieldwork.

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Semantics in migration policy making and why they (should) matter

July 13, 2017 0 Comments

Researcher Kuda Vanyoro blogs about the recent Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), which was themed ‘Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration Now: Mechanics of a Compact Worth Agreeing to’.

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What could go wrong in this year’s GFMD?

December 9, 2016 0 Comments

By KUDAKWASHE VANYORO and KELLYNN WEE The 2016 Global Forum on Migration and Development just opened in Bangladesh. Two return delegates from civil society explain what would make this year’s conference, in their eyes, better than the last.

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[Re]-presenting knowledge: Critical reflections on the coverage of xenophobia research in the South African media, 2008 to 2013

June 28, 2016 0 Comments

This presentation was made at the 23rd Annual South African Sociological Association (SASA) Conference at Rhodes University on 28 June, 2016. maHp researcher Kuda Vanyoro argues that there is a tendency by South African newspapers to merely report ‘using’ findings, and not ‘on’ them.

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