Disability and Migration: Religious and Traditional Disability Beliefs as Causes of Migration of Zimbabwean Mothers of Children with Disabilities to South Africa

This chapter explores how religious and traditional disability beliefs in Zimbabwe towards mothers of disabled children contributed to their migration to South Africa. The authors used a qualitative approach to explore these religious and traditional disability beliefs, which are abusive to these Zimbabwean mothers. Data collection took place in the Western Cape Province of South Africa and participants were recruited from a local non-profit human rights organization in Cape Town known as People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) which fights for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in South Africa. Voluntary sampling was used to recruit study participants. Although the majority of Zimbabwean refugees living in South Africa have been forced to migrate due to the political and economic challenges, this study establishes that Zimbabwean refugee mothers of children living with disabilities in the Western Cape Province of South Africa were forced to migrate to South Africa because of discrimination and persecution related to traditional disability beliefs and practices. This study also finds out that, although these mothers were happy to be in South Africa after fleeing from their country, they still face some challenges in caring for their disabled children in South Africa. This study recommends awareness campaigns in Zimbabwean communities that support mothers of children living with disabilities. There is a need to form support groups amongst mothers of children living with disabilities themselves and introduce interventions to address issues of religious and traditional beliefs towards the mother of a disabled child, and also the religious and traditional methods of curing child disability. Lastly, the study recommends that frontline workers need training to be conversant with current best practices around disabilities.