Suffering and surviving beyond home borders: experiences of Zimbabwean migrant women in accessing health care services in Giyani, South Africa

This dissertation explores documented and undocumented Zimbabwean migrant women's experiences in accessing public health services in South Africa. It unpacks migrant women's vulnerability and subsequent coping strategies they improvise against the shocks and stresses they face. Data in this study was collected over two and a half months using qualitative anthropological techniques. I used key informant interviews, unstructured interviews, life-histories and focus group discussions. The data was analysed using Chabal's (2009) model of ‗suffering and surviving'. Findings in this study reveal that Zimbabwean migrant women in South Africa are excluded from accessing public health services, despite them being accommodated in policy frameworks and the South African Constitution. The excluded women improvise various strategies in accessing health services. In coping with exclusion, they use strategies such as marriage, social capital, local institutions and indigenous knowledge. These strategies act as safety nets in times of health shocks and stresses for both women and their unborn and born children. In terms of indigenous knowledge, women depend on traditional medicines from traditional midwives. In some cases they consult spiritual healers as a strategy of anticipating danger and coping with various health ailments. Vulnerable women also utilise their linking capital and receive assistance from local institutions such as NGOs. On the horizontal level, they invest in bonding capital as a coping strategy to deal with health challenges. Furthermore, excluded women's horizontal relationships in civic informal institutions, such as money rotating clubs and burial societies, reduce their vulnerability to exclusion and help them fortify their resilience.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Social Anthropology

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Chekero, Tamuka

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ross, Fiona C

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29185

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/29185