Zimbabwean women have few choices when it comes to eking out a livelihood, leaving most with the option of either staying in their country and watching their children starve, or illegally seeking a new life in South Africa. Juma Donke looks at how these women are affected by South Africa’s immigration policies, drawing on the work of Sally Peberdy, author of Selecting Immigrants: National Identity and South Africa’s Immigration Policies.

Though in the past female migrants where often considered “baggage” of their male counterparts due to their legal status, things are changing. Because the nature of industry is moving away from mining and the type of work available is more suited to women, husbands stay at home to look after the family while the wife acts as the primary bread-winner.

Sally Peberdy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town. She is teh 2007 winner of the Wits University Reserach Committee Publication Award.

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