Research Team

Siviwe Mhlana completed her MA in Social Policy and Labour Studies at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Rhodes University. Her MA research explored the changing nature of labour-intensive production in post-Apartheid South Africa and the gendered individualisation of risk associated with non-standard, informal and precarious employment.

Siviwe holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Economics Honours from Rhodes University. She has worked as a consultant for organisations such as the International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC) and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing. Currently, Siviwe serves on the board of the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ).

David Francis is the Deputy Director at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies. His research interests focus on labour market economics, the informal economy, and inequality.

He was the researcher for the Advisory Panel on the minimum wage in South Africa. He has previously worked as a development consultant, and a policy and budget analyst at South Africa’s National Treasury, where he worked in health and social policy. He has a PhD in economics from Wits University, an MA in development studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a bachelor of social sciences in economics and history from the University of Cape Town.

Professor Imraan Valodia, an economist, is Pro Vice-Chancellor for Climate, Sustainability and Inequality, and Director of the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits).

His research interests include inequality, competition policy, employment, the informal economy, gender and economic policy, and industrial development. Imraan has played a central role in establishing and leading the SCIS. He is recognised nationally and internationally for his research expertise in economic development.

Avela Njwambe is an Associate Researcher on the Intersectionality research project at SCIS. A feminist and gender activist, she has previously worked for JASS (Just Associates), as a Monitoring, Evaluations, and Learning ( MEL) coordinator and has supported the building of feminist movements by collecting data that focuses on women’s lived experiences. Avela has also previously worked as a research officer for the South African Social Policy Research Institute SASPRI) and the National Planning Commission under the Enhancing Quality of Life  (EQL) workstream (a custodian of the National Development Plan).  She has also worked for the frontline service delivery monitoring under the Citizen-Based Monitoring Unit – a unit that empowers citizens to demand transparency and accountability from leadership in government. She holds an MA in Anthropology from Rhodes University.