Meet the Team


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I am an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cape Town. I am the author of Generation, Gender and Negotiating Custom in South Africa (Routledge, 2022), Divorce, Families and Emotion Work (Palgrave, 2017) and (with Chuma Himonga) Reform of Customary Marriage, Divorce and Succession in South Africa (Juta & Co. 2015). My work has appeared in the Journal of Family Issues; Gender & Society; Critical Social Policy; Current Sociology, Feminist Economics, Families, Relationships and Societies; and the Journal of Southern African Studies. I am a recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award 2021, University of Cape Town. I am co-editor for the journal Families, Relationships and Societies and I am on the editorial board for Sociology. My current research focuses primarily on family caregiving and intergenerational relationships of support in Southern Africa.
Gabby is a researcher at the Samson Institute for Ageing Research. Her work focuses on the health, wellbeing and long-term care of older persons, as well as health and social policy for older persons and persons with disabilities. She has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Cape Town. Prior to joining SIFAR, Gabrielle was a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Social Science Research at UCT. She has also worked as a research associate in the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health and spent a year as a Fox International Fellow at Yale’s MacMillan Centre for International and Area Studies.
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Prof Dolly Ntseane is currently serving as Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Botswana. She completed her undergraduate degree majoring in Sociology & Political Science in 1981. She then obtained MSc Social Policy from Columbia University, New York (1985-1987) and in 1997 she graduated with PhD in Social Policy from Brandeis University. In 2018, she obtained post graduate Certificate in Bio-Ethics from Johns Hopkins University, Maryland. In the area of research, Prof Ntseane has published numerous journal articles, book chapters, and monographs. Key among these is the Botswana Social Protection Framework which has now been adopted by government as a road map for social protection system in Botswana. Other evaluation studies include: Evaluation of UNDP Country Programme, Evaluation of Socio-Economic Programmes, Review of Social Safety Nets, Impact evaluation of HIV and AIDS to mention a few. Prof Ntseane is member of the University of Botswana Institutional Review Board (IRB). She also serves as one of Board of Directors in the Southern African Social Protection Experts Network (SASPEN). Finally, Prof Ntseane brings to this project expertise in qualitative research. She has worked closely with government and Non-State-Actors in the area of social protection for older persons in Botswana.
Dr Lesetedi holds a PhD (Sociology) from University of Cape Town, South Africa; MA (Demography) from Georgetown University, Washington DC., USA; Post-graduate Diploma, Regional Institute of Population Studies, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; and BA (Sociology and Public Administration) University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia. She started her working career as a demographer at the then Central Statistics Office. She was responsible for compiling social statistics on the general population and participated in a couple of population and housing censuses as well as demographic surveys. She worked for the CSO for ten years and left to join the University of Botswana. Her research interests are in Gender and Development; Urban Development and Poverty and Social Inequalities. She has conducted extensive research in the area of gender; gender based violence and HIV and most of which have culminated in co-authored publications. Dr Lesetedi is a staunch gender activist and after over three decades of activism she still remains passionate about gender issues. She served as a part time research associate with Women and the Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) from 1994, an action-oriented research organization focusing on socio-legal research with the to bring about legal reforms in the region.
Nonzuzo Mbokazi holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Cape Town (UCT). In the befallen year she completed her postdoctoral fellowship which focused on two qualitative studies on improving the care and support for diabetes patients and HIV-positive patients who have comorbidities in South Africa; with the Chronic Disease Initiative for Africa, Department of Medicine at UCT. Nonzuzo has a strong interest in social and public policy; and she is of the view that the social sciences can help to better understand how institutional inertia affects policy initiatives, which is pertinent to a developing country such as South Africa.
Vayda Megannon is a doctoral candidate at The University of Cape Town, her research focuses on social protection, specifically cash transfers and the Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD) in South Africa. From multidisciplinary approach, her doctorate investigates the SRD grant, highlighting the experiences of potential beneficiaries within family and household settings. Within the field of social protection, her broader areas of interest include transformative justice, women’s rights (improved access to and realisation of socio, economic and cultural rights), and household interdependencies. Vayda has extensive experience working with various institutes and multi-country projects as a research communications coordinator and media manager. The convergence of her research, communications and public engagement skill set afforded Vayda the Quote This Women+ Voice of Year 2022 award for politics and law in South Africa.
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Zeenat is a master’s student in the department of Sociology at the University of Cape Town. She holds a Bachelor of Social Science Degree in Sociology, Gender Studies, and Religious Studies. Her research at honours level focused on the Non-Recognition of Muslim Marriages in South Africa, particularly concerned with the rights of Muslim Women. Her master’s, similarly, looks at the experiences of divorce as experienced by Muslim Women in South Africa. Her research areas of interest are women, women’s rights, and the family.
Lindeka Mrengqwa completed her BA degree majoring in Linguistics, Psychology and Social Science. She proceeded to do her Honours degree in Anthropology at the University of the Western Cape. The honours thesis investigated infertility among black married women living in Khayelitsha. In addition to that ,she completed a data analysis course at the University of Cape Town. She is currently working as a research associate at the Samson Institute for Ageing Research, for the past 4 years. Lindeka has a wealth of knowledge and experience in research design as well as implementation. Some of her work has been published in BMC geriatrics and community newspapers across Cape Town. She is passionate about health issues affecting under-privileged groups ,specifically black women. Prior to joining SIFAR she worked at the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) based in Johannesburg and for the Anthropology department at the University of the Western Cape.
Lulamile was born and raised in Maclear, Eastern Cape. He moved to Cape Town in 2009 to pursue his career in electrical engineering. While he was studying electrical engineering, he discovered his passion for social science. He went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Anthropology and Women and Gender studies at the University of the Western Cape. He joined SIFAR team in 2018 as an assistant. In the future, he aims to pursue honours degree in Development Studies. Lulamile is passionate about making a difference in the lives of those who are less fortunate. Before joining SIFAR he worked at Capital Growth as a trainee.
Charis Sass studied Anthropology, Sociology and Organisational Psychology and then continued and specialised in Industrial Sociology during her honours at the University of Cape Town. She is currently completing her Masters degree in Sociology. She is passionate about community development and working towards upskilling individuals to enable a sustainable and enriching environment. She is also passionate about marketing, content creation and creative initiatives that align and improve organisations.