Announcements & Events

Leverhulme Early career Fellowship
 1 September 2022

I just received the Leverhulme Early Career Researcher Fellowship. This will enable me to start work on a second project on neighbourhood watches in South Africa.

Berkeley Exit Talks
12-13 May 2022

After two years of Covid delays, I spent the day with colleagues to present and absorb our department's fabulous exit talks. I am so proud to have come from this Berkeley community!

AAG Presentation
28 February 2022

Check out our AAG presentation on the University College Union strikes across the UK. 

JSAS article
​4 January 2022

My new article on the politics of welfare delivery and competing hegemonic factions with the ANC is out in JSAS!

Digital Profiteers
25 November 2021

Join our webinar with the Financial Mail launching our new report about the Welfare Industrial Complex in South Africa. Thanks to Rob Rose for hosting!

Rutgers Seminar 
 15 October 2021

Thanks to Rutgers Geography for helping me consider a very pressing question: Can we put cash transfer debates in conversation with reparations debates?

SRD Grant report launch
27 July 2021

Please join Engenas Senona, Wanga Zembe, the Black Sash and I as we launch our report, "Social Protection in a Time of Covid: Lessons for Basic Income Support." Or watch later here.

Best Dissertation prize 
8 April 2021

The Economic Geographies Specialty Group awarded my dissertation, Taken for Granted, the 2020 Best PhD Dissertation Prize! I am honoured to share this award with Dr. Wanjing Chen.

Durham Geography job
1 April 2021

I'm thrilled to announce that I have accepted a lecturer position in the Department of Geography at Durham University! Durham, here I come!!

government meeting
17 November 2020

Deborah, David and I presented our report to the Department of Trade and Industry, National Credit Regulator, Department of Social Development and South African Social Security Agency. 

Legal but reckless
​29 october 2020

Check out our new Ground Up article on the usurious interest rates charged on loans for social grant recipients. We talk about why interest is so high for the poor, and what can be done.

Hunt Postdoc Fellowship
2 october 2020

I have been awarded the Hunt Postdoctoral fellowship to finish my book manuscript, Bantustan Banking: Debt, Race and Social Welfare. Check out the great work of other Hunt fellows too!

loan sharks feast on the poor
25 september 2020

Mwangi Githathu wrote a great article about our report. It was featured on page 6 of the Cape Argus and republished on IOL. Thanks Mwangi!

lenders prey on grant recipients
6 september 2020

I highly recommend reading James Stent's fabulous account of our report on debt and social grantees in Ground Up. Thanks James!

Challenging Reckless Lending
​10 september 2020

I am thrilled to launch this report co-authored with Deborah James and David Neves, mapping the landscape of social grant debt in nine cities. 

Andrew w. Mellon Postdoc
 july 2020

I am very pleased to be Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geography at UWC! Happy to join in the very good work underway at UWC! #IamUWC

The Human Cost of SA's Lending
​ 13 February 2020

Check out my interview on debt and unsecured lending in Malcolm Rees' excellent Ground Up article. He covers the plight of social grantees, as well as all South Africans at risk of debt.

World Development article
​February 2020

My article was just accepted by World Development! Thanks to Arun Agrawal and WD's reviewers for their generous support. #FirstAcademicArticle!!

Reckless lending workshop
​​August 2019

Just finished up a fantastic four-day workshop with the London School of Economics and the Black Sash on indebtedness and social grants. Stay tuned for our report on debt in nine cities.

Reckless lending Research
​​Summer 2019

Funded by the London School of Economics, I conducted research into reckless lending to social grant recipients. Even under the new Post Office regime, predatory lending continues.

dissertation fellowship
​​8 January 2019

"I never thought my research would begin with receipts -- the small, mundane slips of paper that list the things we've purchased, routinely printed by shop clerks, and carelessly crumpled in pockets or tossed in trashcans..."  Read More Here

African Studies Conference
​​26 May 2018

I am very pleased to present "Life on an Installment Plan: Social Grants and Debt in South Africa" as part of a panel on Transformative Technologies. Please join me on May 26 at 4:00 pm at the Crowne Plaza Rosebank.  Read More Here

Panel of experts research
​​18 February 2018 

​My research with the Black Sash is now part of a report submitted by the Panel of Experts to the Constitutional Court. This Panel was appointed by the ConCourt to develop a new national social grant payment system. Read the Report Here

Introduction to geography
​​​14 november 2017

I just finished lecturing on debt and racial capitalism for our Introduction to Geography course. A big thank you to Jake Kosek who asked me to fill his very large shoes! I am in your debt!

poverty, land & agrarian studies
​​​16 june 2017

“'It’s like the lotto,' said a pensioner, 'sometimes I get little money and sometimes I get no money.' This conceptualization of the  social grant system as a gamble would be heretical in contemporary development literature, but South Africans are saying that's how they feel."  Read More Here

Intergenerational relations & grants
​​​10 april 2017

Come hear me present a short paper on "Social Grants and the World Bank" at this workshop with UCT's Sociology Department, organized by Elena Moore. The participants are all doing fabulous work on the extension and porosity of families and households.

daily maverick podcast
​​march 2017

I am excited to be interviewed by Kingsley Kipury today! Nomonde Nyembe from the Center for Applied Legal Studies and Koketso Moeti from Amandla.mobi are in the CliffCentral studio to offer their analyses of the Constitutional Court case.

Geographers annual meeting
​​1 april 2016

It's my AAG debut and I am presenting on a panel about how to think alongside the incomparable Gillian Hart. I'm engaging with her reading of Stuart Hall's concept of articulation to flesh out contemporary Eastern and Western Cape migrations.

rocca dissertation scholarship
2015-2017

The Center for African Studies funded every aspect of my PhD, from language study, pre-dissertation research, and dissertation research. Thanks Martha and Tami for your constant support and encouragement!

dissertation fieldwork grant
​​​​2015-2016

I am excited to announce that I am a Wenner Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grantee. The fellowship supports research that makes a contribution to the discipline of anthropology. This award will support my fieldwork in South Africa.  Read More HERE

economic geography conference
7-10 June 2022

Thanks to Paul Langley, Sarah Hall and Andrew Leyshon for organising a great series of panels on Money and Payments in Dublin. So nice to hang out with the Econ Geo crowd!

Ua colloquium
26 april 2022

Thanks to Mark Kear and Connie Woodhouse for inviting me to the University of Arizona Geography department! It was such a delight to be with you for my first in-person post-covid talk!

Oxford Presentation
​​ 9 March 2022

Thanks to Rebekah Lee and the South African Studies group for inviting me to share my work. 

Risk Seminar Series
​​ 1 November 2021

Thanks  Isabella for inviting me to talk about cash transfers and the rescaling of risk at your seminar series! 

Report Launch
​ 27 July 2021

Please check out this report on how to build better, more inclusive application and delivery systems for the Covid-19 Grant and any future Basic Income Support.

AAG Presentation
​8 April 2021

I am so happy to be part of the panel, Politics and Identity in Digital Geographies. Check out our double session starting at 3:15 PDT!

Society & Space article
26 November 2020

I am so happy this is finally in print! Thanks to the Black Sash, Natalie Oswin and three anonymous reviewers for making this possible.

African studies presentation 
20 November 2020

I am delighted to chair and present at a panel on Gender and Covid-19 in Africa. Please join me and my co-panelists for a lively online discussion.

Predatory lending article
2 NOvember 2020​

Check out this fantastic UWC News article by Myolisi Gophe, profiling our report on reckless lending to social grantees. And, check out the UWC News for all the great work of our faculty.

Debt Traps article 
22 October 2020​

This is a great piece in the Daily Maverick by Ufrieda Ho. She grapples with the household dynamics of debt and the holiday season.

The burning issue
29 September 2020​

I spent an evening in studio with Yazeed Kamaldien on Voice of the Cape. We had a great discussion about the possibilities for decommodified loans to grantees based on Islamic banking.

reckless lending Webinar
​10 september 2020

Check out our webinar, featuring myself, Deborah James, David Neves, Lynette Maart, and the National Credit Regulator. It's on Facebook here

Covid-19 and social grants
​ 1 september 2020

My first attempt at field research in an era of Covid! I worked with colleagues in the Eastern Cape and KZN to learn about the difficulties and benefits of the temporary Covid-19 grant. 

officially Dr Torkelson
​​18 May 2020

I graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a PhD in Geography! Our ceremony was cancelled because of Covid, but some day we'll celebrate!!

National credit regulator
​ 6 march 2020

Along with Lynette Mart and Hoodah Abrahams-Fayker, I presented research on predatory lenders and the social grant system to the National Credit Regulator.

Best Social Protection Papers
19 December 2019

Check out Ugo Gentilini's list of Social Protection Papers of the year! "Collateral Damages" is on it, along with other work that is definitely worth a read!.

UWC geography colloquium
​​19 september 2019

I am presenting my work on social grant debt and sovereign debt at the UWC geography colloquium. Excited for our conversation!

PRESENTATION At SALDRU
​​20 NOVEMBER 2019

On Wednesday, I'll be presenting my World Development article at the South African Labor and Development Research Unit. Very excited to discus my work with such wonderful scholars.

Economics For Africa
​​6 september 2019

Please join me at 11:45 pm this Friday for the panel Household Debt and Dispossession at the Rethinking Economics for African Conference at Wits. 

Geographers annual meeting
​​​5 April 2019

Stephen McIssac, Meredith Palmer and I organized two panels called: Health as "Fix": Geographies of the Biopolitical in Settler- and Post-Colonies. Please join us and our fantastic presenters! 

reckless lending research
​​summer 2018

I spent time with the Black Sash offices in PE and Cape Town, researching loan companies offering financial products to grant holders. We wrote up case studies about how grants are being used as collateral for loans.

Panel of experts, concourt
​​16 March 2018

Very excited to attend to this Meeting of the Panel of Experts with Lynette Maart and the Black Sash! We'll be discussing the creation of a recourse system for social grant beneficiaries... and hopefully how they can get some money back!

grant grabs III: the green card
​​​13 march 2018

I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of the documentary crew that created this short film for Cutting Edge. ​Tune in to SABC 1 on March 27th @ 9:30 pm to see our work with EasyPay card holders in Ceres. 

EasyPay research with the black sash
​​​summer 2017

I spent time with the Black Sash offices in PE and KZN to help beneficiaries cancel EasyPay cards. We wrote up a dozen case studies about the extreme difficulties of this process. We traversed over 1,000 kms in the process!

has belamant answered his critics?
​​9 March 2017

"Net1 CEO Serge Belamant has hit back at critics of the company’s management of its contract with the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA), accusing them of conspiracy theories and political agendas. He has referred investors to an auditors’ report which “sets the record straight”. But does it?" Read Here

The world bank's role in SA's Grants
​​​23 march 2017

"As the main South African investor in Cash Paymaster Services, Allan Gray has been under the spotlight over the social grants controversy. As a result, a bigger investor, the World Bank, has not received much attention..." I show why we must focus on the WB. Read More HERE

Sophia's impossible choice
​​16 March 2017

"When loan repayments left Sophia destitute, she had to beg a little money from her cousin and make a terrible choice. Either she could feed herself and her six-month-old baby, or she could feed her 8 and 13-year-old daughters..."  Read More HERE

Deductions from social grants
​​ 3 march 2017

"As the SA Social Security Agency prepares to negotiate a new social grants payment contract with Cash Paymaster Services, CPS's parent company, Net1, is using the payment system to benefit its subsidiary companies..."  Read More HERE

Film review of Concerning violence
​​8 april 2015

Here is my Africa is a Country piece for their series Movie Night. It was a ton of fun collaborating with Camilla Hawthorne and Brittany Meche on a film review of Göran Olsson's documentary! 

john l. simpson dissertation grant
​​​​2015-2016

I am a John L. Simpson scholarship recipient! The International and Area Studies Institute at UC Berkeley provided me with generous funding for my research in South Africa.