Events

SEMINAR: Informal Governance from Below: Hybrid Authority,  Legitimation, and Migration DATE: 16 September 2026 TIME: 12:30 - 13:30 (GMT+2) VENUE: ACMS Seminar Room (2163), Solomon Mahlangu House (2nd floor), East Campus, Wits University (directions) and ONLINE (Meeting ID: 96111762177. Password: @jnG99yKA4) Dr. Balkissa Daouda Diallo (Postdoctoral Fellow, African Centre for Migration & Society) will present a hybrid seminar exploring how international migration politics shape regional and domestic mobility governance, informal governance, and the precarity of movement in Africa. Drawing on her research on African migrations and governance, this seminar examines the tension between constructed borders and the lived realities of those navigating them. It asks: How do borders, both formal and informal, shape the lives of migrants? And what does hybrid authority mean for governance, belonging, and survival? Abstract: This paper explores the tension between constructed borders and the lived realities of those navigating them in Africa. Drawing on research on African migrations and governance, it examines how international migration politics shape regional and domestic mobility governance, informal governance, and the precarity of movement. The paper argues that borders are not merely physical lines but are produced and reproduced through legal, political, and social processes that shape migrants' lives. Bio: […]

INVITE: Young Migrants' Candidacy for Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Two Urban Communities in Zambia Presenter: Melvin Simuyaba (PhD Candidate, African Centre for Migration & Society, Wits University) DATE: 30 September 2026 TIME: 12:30 – 13:30 (GMT+2) VENUE: ACMS Seminar Room (2163), Solomon Mahlangu House (2nd floor), East Campus, Wits University (directions) and Online (Meeting ID: 92528515079. Password: o_yjP42MH6) Abstract: This study describes mobile adolescents and young people's (mAYP) experiences accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in two urban communities in Zambia. Qualitative research data collected between September 2023 and June 2026 were used to understand how mAYP's eligibility for SRH services is negotiated using the seven stages of the candidacy framework. The study findings revealed that despite mAYP expressing a need for SRH services, factors such as communication barriers, documentation requirements, healthcare workers' attitudes, lack of essential medicines and lack of youth friendly services result in them not believing the services in public health facilities are intended for them. Improving mAYP's access to SRH services requires addressing structural and service level barriers responding to their unique needs. Bio: Melvin Simuyaba is a PhD candidate at the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS), at the University of […]

When the Compound Was the Classroom: Parenthood Without a Template in Nigeria's Middle Belt Presenter: Adetola Oyenubi (PhD Candidate, African Centre for Migration & Society, Wits University) Date: Wednesday, 07 October 2026 Time: 12:30 – 13:30 (GMT+2) Venue: ACMS Seminar Room (2163), Solomon Mahlangu House (2nd floor), East Campus, Wits University (directions) and Online (Meeting ID: 96263184553. Password: *4ovg2LyFs) Abstract: In December 2023, coordinated attacks across Bokkos, Plateau State, killed hundreds and displaced thousands, leaving many caregivers to rebuild family life without the people who once taught them how. This presentation introduces the concept of "transmission breach" to highlight how displacement severs the everyday apprenticeship through which caregiving knowledge passes between generations. Drawing on fieldwork with twenty-five caregivers in Bokkos and one father's account of losing his wife and returning alone to an unrecognisable village, the study uses situated learning theory and feminist care theory to examine this rupture, alongside the anthropology of African childhood to consider what is lost when the relationships through which children learn to care are broken. Bio: Adetola Oyenubi is a PhD candidate at the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand. Her doctoral research examines how caregiving is reconfigured and […]

Musina in Motion: Mapping Mobility, Settlement and Everyday Life in a South African Border Town Presenters: Dr. Kabiri Bule (Wits), Dr. Sostina Matina (Wits), and Isabella Mockridge (MA Candidate, Barcelona School of Economics) Date: Wednesday, 21 October 2026 Time: 12:30 – 13:30 (GMT+2) Venue: ACMS Seminar Room (2163), Solomon Mahlangu House (2nd floor), East Campus, Wits University (directions) and Online (Meeting ID: 98754671628. Password: tqeo*x86sG) Musina is often understood as a border town, a point of entry into South Africa and a place through which migrants pass. Musina in Motion offers a different spatial reading. Drawing on the GEMMS survey, sampling coordinates, and mapping layers, the presentation examines the town as part of a Southern African system of migration, circulation, settlement, and cross-border connection. It brings together birthplace, most recent migration origin, frequency of cross-border movement, settlement histories, and neighbourhood location to show how mobility is organised across Musina. Rather than treating people as migrant or settled residents, the analysis reveals overlapping forms of residence, repeated movement, regional connection, and local attachment. It asks what becomes visible when migration data are put back into space, and what spatial analysis adds to understanding border-town life. About the Presenters: Dr. Kabiri Bule […]