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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/29185 |
| Date | 25 January 2019 |
| Creators | Chekero, Tamuka |
| Contributors | Ross, Fiona C |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Social Anthropology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MSocSc |
| Format | application/pdf |
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