Research and community interaction are two of the strategies that are fundamental to the Africa Centre’s vision of broadening the skills of leaders, managers and communities in order to strengthen health systems and reduce inequality. Our newly concluded partnership with community-based organisation Imijeloyophuhliso (Imijelo) speaks directly to these strategies by bringing together the Africa Centre’s research capabilities and Imijelo’s community engagement expertise.
Promoting inclusion through mentoring and research
Imijelo, which is based in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, focuses on promoting economic empowerment and disability inclusion through mentoring and research, with a strong emphasis on community engagement and mobilisation. It was established in 2018 to address the socioeconomic challenges families of children with disabilities face. According to Dr Ntombekhaya Tshabalala, director, Imijelo acts as a bridge between households, communities and local institutions to strengthen inclusive support systems, livelihoods and participation in local schools and communities.
Initially, Imijelo’s programmes focused on financial inclusion as one of the pillars of inclusivity, with savings and investments groups, income-generating activities and financial management for children making up some of the key programmes. Tshabalala explains that, when Imijelo was established, financial vulnerability was one of the most visible challenges families faced. However, the organisation’s work evolved over time to consistently addressed broader dimensions of inclusion relating to social, emotional and wellbeing. “The partnership with the Africa Centre reflects a natural and intentional alignment [with our broader focus], strengthening our work by explicitly integrating inclusive health and wellbeing into existing community-based empowerment and mobilisation efforts.”
An inclusive health strategy that leaves no one behind
According to Dr Chioma Ohajunwa, senior lecturer at the Africa Centre, the partnership’s overarching aim is to conduct collaborative research on more inclusive health systems management while facilitating knowledge exchange with local communities. It aims “to include the experiences and narratives of people with disabilities in rural indigenous contexts as part of an inclusive health strategy that leaves no one behind”.
The five-year partnership will involve collaboration in the following areas: African indigenous health knowledge systems, critical community-led and participatory research approaches and initiatives, community empowerment, policy reviews, disability inclusion and the management of health and socioeconomic challenges in rural and marginalised communities – all with a strong focus on translating knowledge into critical spaces of practice and learning
This will be achieved through joint, cross-disciplinary research activities, knowledge exchange (including academic materials, community health practices and publications) and the organisation of joint workshops, seminars and lectures, among others. According to Tshabalala, these joint activities will complement Imijelo’s existing initiatives by deepening how communities understand, access and support inclusive health and wellbeing through participatory, locally grounded approaches.
Placing the community at the core
A community-centred approach – with research owned, supported and driven by the needs of the community – is central to the partnership activities. “Imijelo has a strong focus on youth skills development and community empowerment, and this will be brought into this collaboration, as we will seek to involve youth in the community practically in various aspects of research,” Ohajunwa said.
This is in line with Stellenbosch University’s focus on socially impactful research and will contributes to vital skills development. Tshabalala added that the collaboration creates opportunities to strengthen community-based programmes with inclusive health perspectives, while bringing community voices and lived experience into research, training and practice.
Incorporating inclusive practices and principles in community systems is not without its challenges. From Tshabalala’s experience, persistent stigma, limited resources, fragmented services and weak coordination between community systems and formal institutions are some of the hurdles to inclusivity in general. She added that inclusivity in health can pose additional challenges, particularly where health systems feel inaccessible or intimidating. Nevertheless, there is a flipside: “When approached through trusted community structures, inclusive health becomes a powerful entry point for strengthening participation, care and wellbeing more broadly.”
This won’t be the first time that Tshabalala and Ohajunwa collaborate. In 2025, they published an article on disability inclusion in the Mail & Guardian, together with Dr Mapheyeledi Motimele, a postdoctoral fellow at the Africa Centre. This year, their paper on indigenous wellbeing practices during the Covid-19 pandemic was published in Rural and Remote Health. They also wrote a policy brief on the indigenous communal response to the pandemic and developed an indigenous resource and response strategy for crisis guideline (IRRS) with the indigenous community they were working with.