Ms Zama Mabel Mthombeni

TELEPHONE: 031 242 5420
EMAIL: ZMMthombeni@hsrc.ac.za

Ms Zama Mthombeni is a PhD intern in the Inclusive Economic and Development (IED) unit at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). She is pursuing her PhD in Development Studies through the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) under the supervision of Professor Oliver Mtapuri. Her research focus is primarily in the social sciences, specifically public policy and social development. Her PhD research explores the socio-economic implications of the fourth industrial revolution technologies on South African citizens, given the context of South Africa?s widening inequality gap.

Ms Mthombeni holds undergraduate degrees in Social Sciences (Political Science and International Relations) from UKZN. She has two Masters degrees; the first in Public Policy, and the other in Local Economic Development both at UKZN. Her MSocSci in Public Policy explored the socio-economic dynamics of the bilingual language policy of the University of KwaZulu Natal. The latter explored the limitations of commonly applied state-led and civil powered approaches to address socio-economic problems in municipalities, specifically case study was eThekwini Municipality.

Zama was previously employed at the eThekwini Municipality as a Monitoring and Evaluation intern and also previously worked as an academic Tutor at UKZN. Ms Mthombeni has recently authored a journal publication and book chapter both relating to the role language policies in higher education institutions play in reducing barriers to access. She has also contributed to policy development (Monitoring and Evaluation) at local government level, and has presented at several local conferences.