Posts In: South Africa
OP-ED: HIV care for migrant women in South Africa – the gaps and 5 steps towards offering better services
maHp/ACMS doctoral researcher Melanie Bisnauth identifies the gaps in HIV care for migrant women in South Africa, and goes on to recommend five steps towards offering better services.
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JOURNAL: An analysis of migration and implications for health in government policy of South Africa
Following an analysis of migration and its implications for health in South Africa’s government policies, the authors of this paper provide suggestions on how to advance engagement with these issues, in order for the country (and others of a similar context) to meet the goal of inclusion and equity for migrant and mobile groups in public health systems.
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Addressing the migrant gap: maternal healthcare perspectives on utilising prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services during the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa
In this article, maHp/ACMS doctoral researcher Melanie Bisnauth qualitatively explores the experiences of 40 migrant women utilising PMTCT services in a high mobility context of Johannesburg, and how belonging to a specific typology might have affected the health care received and their overall experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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OP-ED: COVID affected access to HIV treatment: the stories of migrant women in South Africa show how
South Africa has made massive strides in the fight against HIV. One of the country’s flagship interventions has been the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. Nevertheless, South Africa still has the world’s largest HIV epidemic. It’s estimated that 7.5 million people in the country have HIV. Women of reproductive age account for more than half of this number – 4.8 million.
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Five key take home messages from the high-level dialogue on Covid-19 vaccine access for migrant and mobile populations in South Africa
The Migration and Coronavirus in Southern Africa Coordination Group (MiCoSA) recently (on 25th August) held a high-level dialogue on the access of the Covid-19 vaccine for migrant and mobile populations in South Africa.
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Research on the Move: Exploring WhatsApp as a tool for understanding the intersections between migration, mobility, health and gender in South Africa
In this paper, the authors reflect on a four month pilot project which explored the use of WhatsApp Messenger – a popular mobile phone application used widely in sub Saharan Africa – and assessed its feasibility as a research tool with migrant and mobile populations in order to inform a larger study that would address these challenges.
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MiCoSA Issue Brief #3 – Migration and Disability in South Africa: Considering the impacts of Covid-19
This is the third in a series of issue briefs that explores the implications of Covid-19 and the South African response to the pandemic on migration and for migrant and mobile communities in South Africa.
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Activism for Migrant Domestic Workers in South Africa: Tensions in the Framing of Labour Rights
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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WEBINAR INVITE: Present And Imminent: Crises And Complexity In Mexico And South Africa
maHp/ACMS director Professor Jo Vearey will be taking part in this South-South dialogue titled ‘Present and Imminent: Crises and Complexity in Mexico and South Africa’, organised by UNAM-Sudáfrica Centro de Estudios Mexicanos.
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VIDEO: Borders, mobilities and immobilities in southern Africa
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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Negotiated Precarity in the Global South: A Case Study of Migration and Domestic Work in South Africa
In this journal article maHp/ACMS associate Zaheera Jinnah explores precarity as a conceptual framework to understand the intersection of migration and low-waged work in the global south.
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PHOTO-ESSAY: The Endless Journey
The African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) is excited to launch The Endless Journey, a photojournalism project documenting the experiences of migrants with disabilities in South Africa.
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Option B+ Program for the Prevention of Vertical Transmission of HIV: A Case Study in Johannesburg, South Africa
The purpose of this research project by maHp/Wits Public Health doctoral student Melanie Bisnauth et al. was to explore the impact of the Option B+ PMTCT program on the work of healthcare professionals, and to also understand pregnant HIV-positive women’s views and experiences with ART for life, as a way to better manage the Option B+ PMTCT program.
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WEBINAR: Migrants and Vulnerabilities during the Covid-19 Pandemic
The University of the Witwatersrand’s Humanities Graduate Centre and the RReal Covid Project will be hosting this webinar titled Migrants and Vulnerabilities during the Covid-19 Pandemic on Monday, 12 October 2020, 14:00-15:30 SAST.
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MiCoSA Issue Brief #2 – Migration and Covid-19: A review of South Africa’s policy response to the pandemic
This is the second in a series of issue briefs that explores the implications of Covid-19 and the South African response to the pandemic on migration and for migrant and mobile communities in South Africa.
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How is the Corona pandemic affecting the lives of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in South Africa and Canada? Two Protect researchers share their insights.
This is one of two blog posts where Protect researchers reflect upon how the Corona pandemic is affecting people on the move across the world. In this post, Professor Jo Vearey from Wits University and Professor Idil Atak from Ryerson University share their insights from South Africa and Canada.
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COVID-19 Corona Virus South African Resource Portal
The South African government has set up an online resource portal to specifically share information about the Covid-19 / coronavirus pandemic, as it relates to the country.
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‘It’s about being safe and free to be who you are’: Exploring the lived experiences of queer migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa
In this article, maHp/ACMS doctoral researcher John Marnell, Elsa Oliveira and Gabriel Hoosain Khan draw on participant-created visual and narrative artefacts to offer insights into the complex ways in which queer migrants, refugees and asylum seekers living in South Africa negotiate their identities, resist oppression and confront stereotypes.
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Telling the complex story of “medical xenophobia” in South Africa
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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The personal is political: a feminist reflection on a journey into participatory arts-based research with sex worker migrants in South Africa
maHp/ACMS postdoctoral researcher Elsa Oliveira offers a personal reflection of their journey into participatory arts-based research with sex work migrants in South Africa.
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OP-ED: South Africa is burning: femicide, xenophobia and protests
Over the past few days South Africa’s major cities have burst into flames. This is not new. Co-ordinated and sporadic acts of violence linked to service delivery protests, xenophobic sentiments and public outrage are part of the DNA of post-apartheid South African politics.
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Responding to the health needs of migrant farm workers in South Africa: Opportunities and challenges for sustainable community‐based responses
This paper highlights the ways in which local interventions that mobilise community members can improve the access that rural, migrant farming communities have to healthcare.
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Towards a framework for multisector and multilevel collaboration: case of HIV and AIDS governance in South Africa
Informed by the findings of the research on implementation of the multisectoral response to HIV in South Africa, and drawing from the existing literature; the authors propose a framework for multisector and multilevel collaboration.
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Sex Work, Migration, and Human Trafficking in South Africa: From polarised arguments to potential partnerships
This paper draws on research with sex workers and a sex worker organisation in South Africa, as well as reflections shared at two Sex Workers’ Anti-trafficking Research Symposiums. In so doing, the authors propose the further development of a Sex Work, Exploitation, and Migration/Mobility Model that takes into consideration the complexities of the quotidian experiences of migration and selling sex.
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After the handover: Exploring MSF’s role in the provision of health care to migrant farm workers in Musina, South Africa
Using qualitative methodology and a case study approach, this paper traces the development of the Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) mobile clinic programme in Musina, exploring the changing relationship between MSF and the state.
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The globalisation of trafficking and its impact on the South African counter-trafficking legislation
In this article, the authors consider what influenced the development of South Africa’s 2013 Prevention and Combatting of Trafficking in Persons Act (TiP Act) as just one example of migration policy-making.
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Sex work and condom use in Soweto, South Africa: a call for community-based interventions with clients
Despite public health interventions targeting sex workers in an attempt to increase condom use, HIV still remains a significant health issue for those involved in the sex industry in many countries. In this paper, the authors analyse data collected as part of an ethnographic study of sex work in Soweto, South Africa.
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How Unpopular Policies are Made: Examples from South Africa, Singapore and Bangladesh
In this article the authors contribute to the emerging knowledge on migration policy-making in two ways. Firstly, they address the relative lack of research on the gendered nature of migration policy-making. Secondly, they contribute to understanding migration policymaking in postcolonial contexts.
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‘If this isn’t for my children, who is it for?’ Exploring experiences of structural violence among migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg
This article examines the vulnerabilities and forms of structural violence experienced by migrant mothers who sell sex.
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Labels, victims, and insecurity: an exploration of the lived realities of migrant women who sell sex in South Africa
Based on research work among cross-border migrant women who sell sex in South Africa, this paper examines the ways in which the label ‘victim’ of human trafficking ignores the complex realities of human mobility.
Read moreMigrant Workers Union of South Africa
The Migrant Workers Union of South Africa (MIWUSA) is an advocacy group to help migrants in South Africa enjoy decent working conditions.
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Amnesty International South Africa (AISA)
Amnesty International South Africa, is the South Africa office of Amnesty International, the global movement of members, activists and supporters working together to fight and end injustices across the world and promote the realisation of human rights.
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Implementing a multi-sectoral response to HIV: a case study of AIDS councils in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
This paper assesses the implementation of a multi-sectoral response to HIV in South Africa, through a case study of the Mpumalanga Province.
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Fact sheet on migration and health in the South African context
In this fact sheet, members of the Migrant Health Forum (MHF) provide journalists and other interested parties with information about the number of non-nationals, unequal distribution, the healthy migrant effect, as well as the law on access to health care services.
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Towards a migration-aware health system in South Africa: a strategic opportunity to address health inequity
This article provides an overview of the associations between migration and health in South Africa, and calls for the urgent development of ‘migration-aware’ health systems.
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Negotiating the city: Exploring the intersecting vulnerabilities of non-national migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg, South Africa
This article explores the intersecting vulnerabilities of non-national migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg, South Africa – one of the most unequal cities in the world.
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Xenophobic Violence Reveals a Crisis in Policing and Leadership
The ongoing unrest and violence in South Africa’s urban areas and townships emphasises, once again, the breakdown in the rule of law. As has often been the case in post-apartheid South Africa, protests and community anger have been mobilised against the outsider, the black foreigner who is the target of wrath and fury. But this round of violence goes deeper, revealing fractures and issues of credibility in elected political leadership.
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‘If this isn’t for my children, who is it for?’ Exploring experiences of structural violence among migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg
This paper examines the vulnerabilities and forms of structural violence experienced by migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg. It argues that to develop a greater understanding of this group of migrant mothers there is a need to further explore the challenges that they face as well as the multiple roles negotiated in everyday life.
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The Limpopo River and the Mediterranean Sea: Asylum Seeking and Migration Policing in South Africa and Europe
How is policing and securitising of refugee and migration policy in both South Africa and Europe creating new social divides and exclusions and exacerbating insecurity?
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