2 hours 30 minutes

Aims | To help us to:

• Broaden our understanding of the South African healthcare system, looking at its trajectory from Apartheid to today
• Build a timeline of the key events that have shaped health in South Africa
• Work out how race, gender, class and other structural and systemic dynamics have shaped the country’s health system 

Task 1 Group work

Reading for an overview of South Africa’s health history

(1 hour)

We will have four (4) reading groups, with each assigned a period in our South African history as indicated below. Each group will receive Reading Resources to explore one period in South Africa’s health history. We also have a guest facilitator to draw on when you have gaps and need advice or help.  

Remember to refer back to the ‘Deepening our Critical Reading Skills’ guidance at the end of Activity 6 before you begin this task. Collectively agree how your group wants to approach this ‘rapid research’ that needs quick skimming of the readings in search of your period’s focus. You will also have access to laptops with wifi for quick online searches where you have gaps or feel the need.     

You have a maximum of 45 minutes to do your rapid research and then, depending on how long your skim-reading took, the remainder of your 1 hour (around 15 minutes) for a short discussion to share the key ideas that you have found for the period that you are assigned. You will see below each reading below, some pointers to the dates covered by that reading. Feel free to mark the readings (they are take home copies) and to use highlighter markers provided, to pick out key points for sharing within your group: 

Group 1: Apartheid – 1994

Group 2: 1994 – 2004 (two elections)

Group 3: 2004 – 2014 (20 years of the ANC in power)

Groups 4: 2015 – today

For the period that you are assigned, scan the documents you are given and use the internet to search for answers to the following questions: 

1.  What was happening in the political context at this time? 
2.  What were the critical health policy interventions and critiques of these during this period? 
3.  What social justice organising was happening around health? What was being demanded? What were the popular slogans and/or images? 
4.  Were there any victories or critical achievements for public health during this period? 

 

READINGS FOR GROUP WORK: 

Task 2 Group work

Timeline Poster-making on South Africa’s health history

45 minutes

Now it’s time to get creative in your group and to collectively make a colourful and educative Timeline Poster that you can use to teach the other groups about the period that you were assigned. You will have magazines, cards, pastel crayons, paints, brushes, glue, scissors to use on huge brown-paper sheets and other such creative resources available to help in creating your poster. 

You have 45 minutes to complete your timeline poster and be ready to present your posters to the other groups in plenary.  Design your poster to answer the questions above that are four angles: 

In creating the Timeline Poster, remember that it must speak to the questions above under Task 1. These are the features the poster should have. Consider how race, gender, class and other structural and systemic dynamics have shaped the particular period when drawing out the:     

• Political context of this time period
• Health policy interventions and critiques
• Social justice organising 
• Victories or key achievements 

Task 3 Plenary:

Group presentations of our History of Health in South Africa from 1948 to date

45 minutes

Each group will have a maximum of 10 minutes to present their Timeline Poster in plenary. There will be time for questions of clarity. 

[The guest facilitator’s engagement will take place in the next session.]