This paper examines at the role of grandparents in Black South African families in raising their grandchildren. The available literature indicates that caregiving patterns and the underlying causes of grandparent caregiving could be very different between grandparents in Black families in African countries and those in Western societies. In the West, grandparents often step in to assume responsibility for their grandchildren when their children are dysfunctional from such things as alcohol, drug abuse, and mental or emotional problems. In African cultures, Black grandparents are more commonly involved in the care of young children, and that is why Black grandparents do not view grandparenting as stressful. In South Africa, where high HIV prevalence among younger-to-middle aged adults has led to a heavy burden on Black grandparents, especially grandmothers, to care for their grandchildren who are orphans. These Black grandmothers view grandparenting as ‘natural’ for them, amidst the escalating AIDS epidemic, to assume additional family responsibilities.
This paper explores the changing role of grandparents in rural Black families in pre and post-apartheid South Africa since the legacy of apartheid has resulted in some unique employment and family formation patterns in both urban and rural Black communities. The draconian apartheid laws, particularly the Group Areas Act, forced Black people to live far away from the city and men had to migrate far away from rural families in order to work in the cities. As a result, men’s inability to meet their obligations as breadwinners affected their interactions with their families, in particular, their children. Post-apartheid South Africa is also marked by the increased female labor migration from rural areas to small towns and cities to look for employment. Their children are left behind in the grandmothers’ care who then assumes the task of child rearing. The literature also indicates that it is common for Black children in rural areas to have regular, and sometimes, intensive daily contact with adults who are not their parents. Patterns of caregiving within families and between generations are being challenged and reconfigured by the HIV epidemic. The literature indicates that in South Africa, those living with HIV/AIDS are under the age of 50 years. Younger generation that is supposed to be providing care for elderly people (particularly grandmothers) are no more longer able to do so due to their own HIV/AIDS related illness, and 60% of orphans in South Africa live in grandparent-headed households. As a result, many older people have taken on the role of sole caregiver to the younger generations due to HIV/AIDS deaths among young adults. Therefore, Black grandmothers play a pivotal role in child rearing and parenting support, yet there is very little literature available on the role of rural grandparents in black families in raising their grandchildren. Black grandmothers’ involvement in child care is related to parents’ need for help. Grandmother care-giving is very crucial particularly when the well-being of children is in jeopardy, families have low-incomes and limited resources, and parents are experiencing social problems.
The research productivity of scholars is ordinarily affected by a combination of factors such as their age, gender, academic age, rank, qualification, experience, discipline, collaboration and co-authorship. A factor not often included in the analysis of research productivity is race. We examined the inter-relationship between race and other pertinent variables of research productivity of scholars in South Africa, drawing data from two waves of study. We found that there was an increase in the proportion of African respondents and in the productivity of both African and Indian respondents. Compared to 2008, African respondents had higher mean values than the rest in measures such as papers written in the last year, papers published in foreign journals, combined measure of journal publications and in total productivity in 2014. A significant proportion of African respondents has been moved to South Africa.
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