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Grant Grabs Three. Ceres, Western Cape. Photo Credit: Erna Curry.

public Scholarship

South Africa is my field-site and adoptive home of 15 years. I always try to make my research immediately available to those it most effects. I have done so through expert testimony, policy advice, investigative journalism, and documentary film-making. My current (and past) public projects include: ​

Digital Profiteers

This is a new project in partnership with Open Secrets launched in November 2021! In this report, we consider the way social welfare delivery has been rapidly digitised due to Covid-19. We explore some of the future possibilities and pitfalls in the emerging Welfare Industrial Complex, and how to protect people's personal information.

Debt & Social Grants

COvid-19 & Social Grants

The Black Sash, Wanga Zembe (Medical Research Council), Engenas Senona (Department of Social Development), and I interviewed over 100 social grantees to understand the challenges of delivering social welfare during a global health crisis. We are using this research to advocate for Universal Basic Income.

Net1's Payment System
The Black Sash, Deborah James (London School of Economics), David Neves (University of the Western Cape), and I explored the proliferation of payday loans to social grantees under the Post Office payment regime. We are using the evidence gathered to push for changes to the National Credit Act.

Land & Housing

Before graduate school, my research focused on land and housing delivery with the Development Action Group and Shack Dwellers International. With these organisations, I supported social movements of Black women demanding secure, dignified housing in the city.
Through collaborations with the Black Sash, I investigated the material workings of Net1's digital payment infrastructure. The Black Sash legal team used the evidence gathered to litigate against predatory financial practices at the Constitutional Court, bringing grant payment from private to public control.​