Challenging Economic Orthodoxies in Africa
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Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) is a progressive economic policy think tank committed to advancing economic justice, systemic change, and the equitable distribution of resources to ensure rights realisation and planetary wellbeing.
© 2024 Institute for Economic Justice
Adrian Chikowore is a Researcher in the IEJ’s Resourcing for Rights Realisation project where he focuses on climate financing. Adrian’s academic journey has been driven by an interest and commitment to the financing of infrastructure across the continent, with a specific and critical focus on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and the sustainability of health infrastructure financing. Currently pursuing a PhD, Adrian hopes to contribute meaningfully to these areas of research. He holds a Master of Science degree in African Studies from the University of Edinburgh and an Honours Degree in International Studies from Midlands State University. His educational background reflects his dedication to exploring and understanding the complex challenges and opportunities in African infrastructure finance and development.
Adrian has recently also been selected as one of the co-facilitators of the C20 Brazil Working Group on Fair, Inclusive, and Anti-Racist Economies. The C20 – one of the official engagement bodies of the 2024 G20 Summit to be held in Brazil – provides a platform for civil society organisations and social movements around the world to share the aspirations of people across the globe with world leaders.
Email: adrian.chikowore@iej.org.za
Dr Basani Baloyi is a Programme Co-Director at the IEJ. She is a feminist, development economist and activist. She gained her research experience while working on industrial policy issues in academia, at the Centre For Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED) and Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development (CSID) Unit. She is the former Inequality Programme Lead at Oxfam South Africa where she infused her research and management experience with movement building and coordination, campaigning and advocating for economic and social justice, in partnership with social movements.
Dr Baloyi is also the former Director of Industrial Policy and Acting Chief Director in the Industrial Procurement Unit at the Department of Trade and Industry. Dr Baloyi holds a PhD in Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, an MA in Public Policy and an MCom in Economics from Wits University. As a former drama student and child actress, Dr Baloyi has a strong fiery passion for the arts, and is in constant pursuit of using that artistic background in her advocacy work for social change.
Basani has recently also been appointed as an advisory council member of the C20 Brazil – one of the official engagement bodies of the 2024 G20 Summit to be held in Brazil. The C20 provides a platform for civil society organisations and social movements around the world to share the aspirations of people across the globe with world leaders.
Email: basani.baloyi@iej.org.za
Thobani Khumalo is a research assistant at the IEJ. Thobani’s research experience spans from being an ethnographer at HEARD, where he worked in informal settlements, participating in workshops of Stepping Stones and Creating Futures. He has previously been a field operations officer for Statistics South Africa and a content producer for ACCORD in the department of applied knowledge and learning. Thobani is also a visual activist presenting evidence and raising socio-political issues of water apartheid through photography. He is affiliated with the photography collective called Contemporary Archive Project. He also holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences Honours in Media and Cultural Studies, plus a Masters in Development Studies, both attained from the University of KwaZulu- Natal. Topics of interest range from gender studies, water apartheid, and conflict.
Dr Thato Setambule is a Social Scientist/Researcher. She has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Pretoria where she was a recipient of the Andrew E. Mellon Foundation Scholarship. Dr Setambule also holds a Master of Arts in Development
Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Environmental Science. Moreover, she has more than a decade of professional work experience, including over seven years of research specific experience specific in various fields. Her research interests span the interconnected areas of, but are not limited to, youth development and empowerment, livelihoods, food security, unemployment, employment, climate change and variability, potable-water scarcity, social protection, social inequality, sustainable development, HIV and AIDS, and migration.
Lupumlo joins the IEJ as an intern in the Climate Ambition to Accountability Project (CAAP). She holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Economics Honours from Rhodes University. She is an aspiring developmental economist concerned about addressing socioeconomic challenges and passionate about making change. As a result, she has an interest in policy, sustainable development, inequality, and poverty. The Climate Ambition and Accountability Project (CAAP) aims to increase civil society participation in climate governance.
Email: lupumlo.ngcukana@iej.org.za
Siyanda Baduza joins the IEJ as an intern in our Basic Income project. He holds a BSc in Economics and Mathematics, an Honours degree in Applied Development Economics, and is currently completing a Master’s degree in Applied Development Economics at the University of the Witwatersrand. Siyanda’s research focuses on the impacts of social grants on wellbeing, with a particular focus on the gendered dynamics of this impact. His interests include applied micro-economics, policy impact evaluation, labour markets, gender economics, and political economy. He is passionate about translating economic research into impactful policy.
Siyanda has joined the IEJ as part of our ongoing collaboration with the Canon Collins Trust. This collaboration entails the IEJ hosting Siyanda, the recipient of a Canon Collins Trust Masters scholarship in Applied Development Economics at Wits University, as an IEJ intern for 6-months.
Email: siyanda.baduza@iej.org.za
Itumeleng Mahabane is a partner at the Brunswick Group where he focuses on advising leaders on developing social value and collaborative, people-centred institutions and systems. In addition to now serving on the IEJ Board, Itumeleng also previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC). In 2020, he volunteered for three months as executive head of communications for South Africa’s Solidarity Fund – a private sector initiative aimed at supporting the South African government’s Covid-19 response. Prior to that Itumeleng advised a leading South African coal producer communicating one of the country’s first energy transition plans and advised several other clients on their energy transitions. Formerly a financial journalist, he has contributed to the Mail and Guardian, the Sunday Times, the Business Times, the Financial Mail, and Business Day. He has also written extensively on the South African political economy for some of these publications.
Lyn Ossome is an Associate Professor at, and the Director of, the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) at Makerere University. Previously she was Associate Professor of Political Studies at Wits University, Senior Research Fellow at MISR, and Visiting Presidential Professor at Yale University. In addition to now serving on the IEJ Board, Lyn also serves on the editorial boards of Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, and Feminist Africa; and the boards of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE), and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). Lyn is not new to the IEJ having previously contributed as a Senior Research Specialist and Feminist Economics Lead at the IEJ.
Dr Gilad Isaacs is the Executive Director at the IEJ. He is also an economist at Wits University, where he coordinates the National Minimum Wage Research Initiative, and lectures. Gilad has a Ph.D. and Masters in Economics from SOAS University of London, and a Masters in Political Economy from New York University. He has worked as a consultant for the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) and Global Labour University. He has a background in civil society activism working for the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and founding the Social Justice Coalition (SJC). His research expertise are in financialisation, macroeconomics, and labour markets.
Gilad has recently also been appointed as an advisory council member of the T20 Brazil – one of the official engagement bodies of the 2024 G20 Summit to be held in Brazil. The T20 is an assembly of think tanks and research centres which aims to inform G20 policy processes. Gilad has also recently been appointed, through the Department for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, to government’s Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) Reference Group.
Email: gilad.isaacs@iej.org.za
Dr James Musonda is the Senior Researcher on the Just Energy Transition at the IEJ. He is also the Principal Investigator for the ‘Just Energy Transition: Localisation, decent work, small, micro, and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs), and sustainable livelihoods project’, covering South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya. James is a winner of the Journal of Southern Africa’s 2021 Terence Ranger Prize for the best article by a first-time author for his article, ‘Modernity on Credit: The experience of underground miners on the Zambian Copperbelt’. In 2020 his article, ‘Undermining Gender: Women mine workers at the rock face in a Zambian underground mine’, in Anthropology Southern Africa, was a featured article in the journal’s centenary edition. James holds a PhD from Liege University. His PhD thesis drew on his ethnography in two mining communities, and on his work as a helper in two underground mines, on the Zambian Copperbelt. His thesis dealt with the question – what does it mean to have a job and be a worker under the neoliberal dispensation? His Master’s thesis explored how mineworkers living in communities located near the mines experience mining pollution. To date, James has published several peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and blog posts on the following themes: family; gender; safety, life and death at work; debt and livelihoods; employment uncertainty; precarious work; elections; trade unions; and Covid-19 care, mourning, and death.
Email: james.musonda@iej.org.za
Andrew Bennie is Senior Researcher in Climate Policy and Food Systems at the IEJ. He has extensive background in academic and civil society research, organising, and activism. He previously worked as a researcher, organiser and popular educator with township and rural organisations, and coordinated national food justice campaigning. He has also worked in research and advocacy in the broader African food sovereignty movement. Andrew has an MA in Development and Environmental Sociology, and a PhD in Sociology on food politics, the agrarian question, and collective action in South Africa, both from the University of the Witwatersrand. His research expertise are in political economy and ecology, land and agrarian studies, food systems and climate justice. He is passionate about using his capacities (including writing and photography) towards collective struggles for justice and equality.
Email: andrew.bennie@iej.org.za
Pamela is a Project Administrator at the IEJ. She joined the IEJ in 2019 and has since then worked across projects at the IEJ as a researcher and providing administrative support. She leads on planning IEJ flagship events such as the Rethinking Economics for Africa Festival and the Feminist Economics Summer School. Her work also includes human resources support, governance and information management. Pamela has been in the civil society space and is passionate about social justice. She previously worked at SECTION27 as a legal researcher where she specialised in education rights, advocacy, and campaigns for equitable access to quality education for learners. Pamela holds a LLB degree and Master of Laws in International Economic Law, both from Wits University.
Email: pamela.choga@iej.org.za
Neil Coleman is a Senior Policy Specialist and one of the Founding Co-Directors of the IEJ. He has been an activist, strategist and policy researcher in the South African Mass Democratic Movement, United Democratic Front, Tripartite Alliance and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) since the late 1970s, and a COSATU official between 1989-2017. He participated in the constitutional negotiations, headed COSATU’s parliamentary office, was special advisor to Department of Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel and Strategies Co-ordinator in the COSATU Secretariat. Neil led Labour’s delegation in the national minimum wage negotiations 2015-2017.
Email: neil.coleman@iej.org.za
Michelle Van Roy is the Office Manager at the IEJ. Michelle started her career in the procurement arena for an industrial contract caterer, but her artistic flair soon led her to the marketing side of the business where she handled the vendor canteen promotions nationally. She has worked in human resources at international NGOs, including ActionAid and World Vision. In 2012 she took up an operational role at Wits University for the School of Economic and Business Sciences. Michelle holds qualifications in Human Resource Management and Office Management. Michelle joined the IEJ in February 2019.
Email: michelle.vanroy@iej.org.za
Bandile Ngidi is the Programme Officer for Rethinking Economics for Africa. Bandile has previously worked at the National Minimum Wage Research Initiative and Oxfam South Africa. He holds a Masters in Development Theory and Policy from Wits University. He joined the IEJ in August 2018. Bandile is currently working on incubating the Rethinking Economics for Africa movement (working with students, academics and broader civil society). The movement promotes economic pluralism, and alternative economic discourse and economic policy.
Email: bandile.ngidi@iej.org.za
Zimbali Mncube is the Tax and Budget Policy Researcher at the IEJ. He is passionate about social and economic justice. Zimbali has been in the civil society space since 2019, previously at the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) as an Intern and the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute in 2021 before joining the IEJ. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours in International Relations) and a Masters in Development Studies from Wits University. He is currently working on the Budget and Tax Justice project which is in line with his interest in a more developmental and human rights-based macroeconomic policy framework to advance socio-economic rights.
Email: zimbali.mncube@iej.org.za
Dalli Weyers is the Advocacy and Communications Manager at the IEJ. Dalli has a MA in Political Studies. His role within the IEJ is to develop and implement creative advocacy and communication strategies aimed at amplifying the economic justice work, research and policy proposals of the organisation. Drawing on 15 years of experience in social justice advocacy and campaigning, with organisations as diverse as the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), he will also ensure that the IEJ’s work is accessible to a broad range of partners, stakeholders, policy makers and government officials.
Email: dalli.weyers@iej.org.za
Dr Kelle Howson is a Senior Researcher in Labour and Social Security at the IEJ, in the workers’ rights and social security programme with a focus on universal basic income guarantee in South Africa. She is also a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Fairwork project at the Oxford Internet Institute. Kelle’s research background is in uneven economic geography, labour, and digital economy. Kelle’s doctoral research with the University of Wellington, New Zealand, investigated the impact of international ethical certifications on working conditions in the South African wine industry. With Fairwork, she has helped to shed light on, and positively influence, working conditions in the gig economy in South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, and the online cloudwork market. Prior to her current research, Kelle served in New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Leader’s Office as a Senior Researcher.
Email: kelle.howson@iej.org.za
Amaarah is a Junior Programme Officer in the Rethinking Economics for Africa project. She is currently studying towards her Masters in Applied Development Economics at Wits University and has been active in the Wits chapter of Rethinking Economics for Africa (REFA) since 2019. Amaarah is a fellow of the Auwal Socio-Economic Research Institute’s Future Leaders Programme and has previously interned at the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI).
Email: amaarah.garda@iej.org.za
Jezri is a Junior Researcher in Energy Policy at the IEJ. He is not entirely new to IEJ having previously volunteered with us. Jezri is working towards a Masters degree in Development Economics at Wits University. His research focuses on inequality in household carbon emissions. He has been a student activist, volunteering in leadership roles in the Inala Climate Justice and Food Sovereignty Student Forum, as well as in the Wits chapter of Rethinking Economics for Africa.
Email: jezri.krinsky@iej.org.za
Yasirah Madhi is a Junior Researcher on Climate Policy at the IEJ. She previously worked on building climate capacity in South Africa at the African Climate and Development Initiative. She holds a Masters in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from the University of Cape Town. Her current work involves providing research support on the Climate Ambition and Accountability Project (CAAP) which aims to increase civil society participation in climate governance.
Email: yasirah.madhi@iej.org.za
Kamal Ramburuth is the Researcher in Debt and Development Finance at the IEJ. Kamal has a BComm (Hons) in Applied Development Economics from Wits University. As a student Kamal was a co-founder of the Rethinking Economics for Africa chapter at Wits and a member of the Wits SRC. As an elected member of the inaugural Rethinking Economics (RE) members council, Kamal played a role in bolstering the RE movement internationally. He has previously worked as a consulting researcher at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) and the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD). As part of his post-graduate training, Kamal studied in Italy and France as part of a two-year double degree in Economic Policies for the Global transition (EPOG), which is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Economics.
Email: kamal.ramburuth@iej.org.za
Liso Mdutyana has a BCom in Philosophy and Economics, an Honours in Applied Development Economics, and is a Masters candidate in Applied Development Economics at Wits University. His areas of interest include political economy, labour markets, technology and work, and industrial policy. Through his work Liso aims to show the possibility and necessity of economic development that prioritises human wellbeing for everyone.
Email: liso.mdutyana@iej.org.za
Dr Jamela Basani Hoveni as a Senior Researcher leads the Feminist Economics project at the IEJ. Holding a PhD in Economics and an MCom in Financial Markets from Rhodes University, Jamela brings a wealth of experience to the organisation. Prior to joining the IEJ she spent nine years in academia as both a Lecturer and Researcher, specialising in gender analysis in economics, trade, macroeconomics, and finance. Her corporate background includes roles as a Financial Analyst and Economist. Jamela is a self-published feminist creative writer, authoring the anthology, “Random Walk: Modern African Stories.” She is a spoken word poet who focusing on empowering African women and challenging gender stereotypes. Jamela’s passion for reading and writing shapes both her personal and professional pursuits.
Email: jamela.hoveni@iej.org.za
Sophie Jessie is the new Finance and Operations Director, and the newest member of the Leadership Team, at the IEJ. Sophie is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) as a Chartered Global Management Accountant and Associate Chartered Management Accountant. Her qualifications include Registered Accountancy Certification from the Lesotho Institute of Accountants and an MBA and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management from Mancosa. With a wealth of experience in finance and administration across both for-profit and non-profit organisations, Sophie’s roles have included Director of Finance and Operations at the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, Finance and Administration Manager at Joburg Child Welfare, and Senior Manager in Management Information and Planning at The New Love Life. She has further shared her expertise as a lecturer at the School of Management Accounting, specialising in preparing students for CIMA exams, teaching subjects like Fundamentals of Financial Accounting, Financial Operations, and Financial Management. We are excited to welcome Sophie to the IEJ team.
Email: sophie.jessie@iej.org.za
Hamadziripi is deeply passionate about Africa and the continent’s potential to thrive. He has held operational management, strategy, applied policy analysis, and research roles in South African non-profits engaged in social justice, governance, anti-corruption, and integrity. He has also been an academic and consultant in and outside South Africa working broadly in social policy and development. Hamadziripi holds a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where he studied under a merit-based Ford Foundation fellowship. He was the recipient of the competitively awarded Koffi Annan Business Schools Foundation fellowship to the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin, Germany, where he earned a Master of Business Administration degree.
Email: hama.tamukamoyo@iej.org.za
Dimpho Ndlovu joins the IEJ as a Project Administator. Over the past five years, Dimpho has assumed key roles such as Grant Fund Administrator, Project Coordinator, and most recently, Marketing and Communications Coordinator within a state-owned entity dedicated to fostering economic growth in the creative industry. With an Advanced Diploma in Business Management and a Diploma in Public Relations, Dimpho brings her expertise to the IEJ, while she completes her Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management at UNISA. She is deeply passionate about projects that drive the progressive realisation of socio-economic rights and the development of sustainable economic policies.
Email: dimpho.ndlovu@iej.org.za
Mayada Hassanain is a researcher within the Feminist Economics project at the IEJ. As a Chevening Scholar and Atlas Corps Fellow, she brings a decade of experience as a researcher and practitioner in economics. Mayada holds a BCom from the University of Khartoum and a Masters in Development Economics from SOAS, University London. Throughout her career, Mayada has collaborated with diverse sectors, including public, private, and non-governmental organisations. She has previously developed educational materials and curricula that explore the intricate interplay of economics, gender, and development, with a particular focus on empowering youth in Sudan. Mayada’s research interests centre on political economy, delving into how women’s lives are influenced by policies and social initiatives.
Email: mayada.hassanain@iej.org.za
Juhi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Sociology from Wits University and an Honour’s degree in Development Studies from the University of Cape Town. Juhi is currently in the second year of her Master’s in Industrial Sociology at UCT. Her current research focus is on social care regimes in the South African context, with a particular focus on state responses to Early Childhood Development and Long-Term Care for older persons during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her other research areas include feminist economics, worlds of work and the care economy.
Email: juhi.kasan@iej.org.za
Brian Kamanzi is the Researcher, Energy Policy Lead at the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ). Brian Kamanzi has worked in the Renewable Energy environment as well as Climate policy collectively for several years. Brian holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cape Town. Brian joined the IEJ in July 2021. Brian’s latest research/ is currently working on labour support research inputs supporting the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) and assisting with the COSATU Just Transition Blueprint document.
Email: brian.kamanzi@iej.org.za
Lindiwe Nkutha is the Finance and Operations Manager at the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ). Lindiwe has worked predominantly in the development sector, amassing in the process more than fifteen years experience. She has worked for amongst others the Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, the Wits Health Consortium, the Aids Law Project as well as the One in Nine Campaign. Lindiwe holds a Bcom degree, as well as an Honours in Gender Studies from the University of Johannesburg. Lindiwe joined the IEJ in August 2021.
Email: Lindiwe.nkutha@iej.org.za
Ruth Ntlokotse is the Second Deputy President of Numsa and a Senior Labour Analyst for the multinational organisation Johnson Matthey. Ruth holds a BA Hons in labour policy and globalisation and is currently finalising her Masters degree. Ruth has been a trade union leader for the past 15 years championing women’s economic and social emancipation.
Dzodzi Tsikata is a feminist and academic. She is a Research Professor in development sociology and the Director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the University of Ghana. Her research areas have included gender and development policies and practices; women’s movements and gender equality activism; the politics and livelihood effects of land tenure reforms, large scale land acquisitions and agricultural commercialisation; and informal labour relations and conditions of work. Dzodzi holds a PhD in Social Science and a Master of Arts in Development Studies.
Dzodzi Tsikata is the Deputy Chairperson of the Board at the IEJ.
Professor Fiona Tregenna holds the DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development and is a Professor of Economics at the University of Johannesburg. She has a PhD in Economics from the University of Cambridge, a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, and earlier degrees from the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). Her primary research focus is on issues of structural change, deindustrialisation and industrial development. She is a part-time Member of the Competition Tribunal, where she adjudicates competition (anti-trust) cases. She has served on several boards, advisory panels and councils, including the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. Fiona is also an elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and serves on several bodies.
Lebogang Mulaisi is the Labour Market Policy Coordinator at COSATU, where she coordinates COSATU’s labour market policy implementation. She is an EXCO and MANCO member at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) and represents organised labour in the labour market chamber of NEDLAC. She serves as a steering committee member for the Presidential Health Compact and chairs Pillar One of the Compact: Human Resources for Health. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Degree in Economics and a Master of Commerce Degree in Development Economics.
Dr Pali Lehohla is the former Statistician-General of South Africa, which he held from 2000 up to 2017. He has served as co-chair of PARIS21 and the Chair of the United Nations Statistics Commission. He was the founding chair of the Statistics Commission of Africa (StatCom Africa) and is currently chairperson of the African Symposium for Statistical Development (ASSD). Dr Lehohla has served under various capacities to improve the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems in Africa. He consults widely on matters statistics, and since 2017 he became a Research Associate at Oxford University and a consultant to Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. He is the Founder of the Pan African Institute for Evidence (PIE). He is also a member of the Idlulamithi Steering Committee.
Siviwe Mhlana is a researcher at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) at the University of the Witwatersrand. She 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. In addition, Siviwe holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Economics Honours from Rhodes University. She has worked as a consultant for the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) and Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO). She is also associated with the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit (NALSU) at Rhodes University. Her research interests include international development, labour economics, social policy and gender.
Siviwe Mhlana is the Treasurer of the Board at the IEJ.
Pundy Pillay is a Professor of Economics and Public Finance at the Wits School of Governance. Previously, he was a Visiting Professor at the Universities of the Western Cape and Johannesburg. His research interests are economic and social development, economics and public policy, public finance, poverty and inequality, and the economics of education and labour markets. Pundy holds a PhD in Economics and a Master of Arts in Economics.
Pundy Pillay is the Chairperson of the Board at the IEJ.