When the Pasture Runs Thin: Drought & Mobility in the Karoo Region Opening: A pastoral crisis in motion In South Africa’s arid heartland, the Karoo stands out. The Central Karoo alone recorded a mere 53 mm rainfall in 2019 and 66 mm in 2020, marking one of its driest stretches in memory. agriorbit.com Over the same period livestock […]
Are South African Cities Ready for Climate-Induced Migration? Lessons for Johannesburg and Cape Town from Global Climate-Mobility Strategies Opening: Floods, droughts, and urban pressures In June 2025, heavy floods in the Eastern Cape displaced hundreds of families. Extreme weather events like this are not isolated. Climate change is already driving internal migration across South Africa.
Water Scarcity and Cross-Border Migration: Health Policy Implications for South Africa When the Land Runs Dry: Water Scarcity as a Migration Driver In 2024, over 50% of people leaving Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe, cited repeated drought as a key push factor. The Africa Climate Mobility Initiative estimates 200,000–800,000 Southern Africans may migrate by 2050 due to
Climate Change and Rural-Urban Migration: Health Policy Implications for South Africa’s Eastern Cape and Limpopo When the Land Runs Dry: The Human Face of Migration Thembisile’s Journey Thembisile, a 34-year-old mother of three from rural Limpopo, spent two decades cultivating maize and vegetables on her family’s land. Between 2020 and 2024, successive droughts destroyed her
Governance Reforms to Manage Zimbabwean Migration Flows Opening: Migration, Instability and Health in Southern Africa Migration from Zimbabwe has risen sharply in recent years due to political instability, economic collapse, and failing health services. Afrobarometer (2024) reports that nearly 60% of Zimbabweans considered leaving, with four in ten targeting neighbouring South Africa. (afrobarometer.org) Statistics South
Reducing Migration via Cross-Border Economic Zones Opening: the migration–economy–health nexus Each year, thousands of Mozambicans travel to South Africa seeking better livelihoods. Recent estimates suggest more than 800,000 Mozambican migrants live in South Africa, concentrated in Gauteng, KwaZulu‑Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo (scielo.org.za). Limited formal employment in southern Mozambique drives this migration, while South Africa’s mining,
How Reforming South Africa’s Immigration Policies Can Support Regional Economic Development While Managing Migration Opening: Setting the Scene In 2023, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) documented that migrants face a distinct “urban health penalty” in South Africa—settling in major cities yet experiencing poorer access to services and worse social determinants of health than citizens (statssa.gov.za). Consider
Economic Development Initiatives for Congolese Migrants Opening: A Story of Choice and Opportunity In the busy streets of Lubumbashi, Marie (a pseudonym) repairs mobile phones in a small workshop. She once planned to migrate to Johannesburg in South Africa. Instead, she accepted a local youth-skills training in digital repair and micro-enterprise support. Now she earns
Creating Fair Labour Migration Frameworks in Southern Africa The Human Face of Labour Migration Labour mobility within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is more than statistics — it’s people’s lives. According to Stats SA (2023), South Africa hosts millions of foreign-born individuals, many of whom work in insecure and informal settings. Consider “M.” (anonymised),
Addressing the Brain Drain of Skilled Professionals from Zimbabwe and Zambia to South Africa Policy Solutions for Health Workforce Retention and Regional Collaboration 1. A Human Story Behind the Numbers In 2023, Mbali, a nurse from Lusaka, left her district hospital for a private facility in Johannesburg. She had been the only midwife trained in
