No, photo of pregnant woman doesn't show Zimbabwean mom who 'came to South Africa in a wheelbarrow and left with R17 million'
IN SHORT: A photo of a pregnant woman being carried in a wheelbarrow has been shared on social media in South Africa, with the claim that the woman pictured is Zimbabwean and was awarded over R17 million by a South African court. But this claim mixes up a number of different events to present a false narrative.
"CAME TO SA ON A WHEELBARROW AND LEFT WITH R17 MILLION!"
That's the common caption for a photo of a man carrying a heavily pregnant woman in a wheelbarrow, circulating on social media in South Africa since late May 2024.
The caption continues: "The court has awarded R17,2 million to an undocumented Zimbabwean woman whose newborn suffered cerebral palsy as a result of negligence by hospital staff at public hospital in Limpopo."
One user making the claim is the X (formerly Twitter) account Dudula News, which is allied to South Africa's anti-migrant social movement Operation Dudula. Its post has been liked more than 1,000 times.
Zimbabwe lies on the northern border of South Africa's Limpopo province. Operation Dudula opposes the migration of people from elsewhere on the continent into South Africa. In isiZulu, "dudula" means "force out" or "push back".
Supporters of the movement complain that migrants take local jobs and use public services such as healthcare.
But does the photo really show a pregnant woman who came to South Africa in a wheelbarrow and left with R17 million after her newborn was brain-damaged?
Photo snapped in Zimbabwe capital in 2008
A reverse image search reveals that while the pregnant woman in the wheelbarrow was Zimbabwean, the photo doesn't show her "coming to South Africa". More than this, the photo was shot in December 2008 - almost 16 years before the photo went viral in 2024.
It was taken by veteran Associated Press photographer Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi. On the AP Newsroom website, its caption reads: "Misheck Bunyira carries his wife, Janet in the late stages of pregnancy to hospital by wheelbarrow in Epworth, Harare, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008."
The woman was being taken by wheelbarrow to a hospital in Zimbabwe's capital Harare, not South Africa.
In April 2024 Dudula News posted the same photo on X with the caption: "ZIMBABWE: MAN TRANSPORTS WIFE TO SA HOSPITAL! A Zimbabwean man with a good education wheeled his pregnant wife to a hospital in Musina."
Musina is a town in Limpopo on the Zimbabwe border. This claim is not true.
North West high court orders damages for 2013 negligence
There is some truth to the claim that a woman originally from Zimbabwe whose newborn was left brain-damaged by hospital negligence was recently awarded R17 million in damages by a South African court.
But the negligence was in 2013 and the hospital in North West, the province to the west of Limpopo. The woman is not "undocumented" and she's not the woman in the photo.
On 16 May 2024 the North West high court ordered the head of the province's health department to pay the mother of a severely brain-damaged 12-year-old child R17.3 million for the negligence of the hospital where the child was born.
The child suffered oxygen deprivation at birth, cannot sit unsupported and cannot speak. The court found the health department was "100% responsible" for the child's disability.
The mother came to South Africa from Zimbabwe in 2005. She has had her Zimbabwean exemption permit since 2010, and so is not "undocumented".
The health department's lawyers had argued that she should be paid lesser damages because she is a Zimbabwean citizen. This was rejected by the judge, who said South Africa's constitution gave equal protection under the law to all.