GCRO Staff

Nadine Abrahams has been an integral part of the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) team since 2017, bringing her exceptional organisational skills and diverse professional background to the role of Office Administrator. In August 2024, she was promoted to Finance Officer, where she continues to contribute to the organisation's success with her meticulous attention to detail and financial acumen.

Nadine's career journey began at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2016 as a Telephone Administrator, ensuring seamless communication services across the institution. Before her tenure at Wits, she amassed over 20 years of experience in payroll management within the music and retail industries, a testament to her dedication and expertise in administrative and financial roles.

Beyond her professional achievements, Nadine's versatility shines through her experience in an eclectic range of fields, including hairdressing, firefighting, dance instructing, gas refilling, and being a Reiki practitioner. Her dynamic skill set and commitment to continuous growth make her an invaluable asset to any team she joins.

Fiona Els joined the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) as an Epidemiologist in March 2023. She has a joint appointment with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and GCRO, working with both organisations to determine the burden of COVID-19 on urban communities.

Fiona holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MSc in Biochemistry, as well as a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Pretoria. She also holds a BSc Honours in Aquatic Science and a BSc in Biological and Environmental Science from the North West University.

Fiona’s past research included genetic manipulation of malaria parasites, identifying antibiotic resistance microbes in natural water, and epidemiological research on respiratory diseases. Her current research interests include water quality in a public health and urban setting, as well as communicable diseases in communities. Fiona hopes to work toward a world where we can respond timeously to disease outbreaks to prevent further division of communities. She is driven by policy-changing research, where she can make a real-world difference to public health, especially in marginalised communities in low to middle-income countries.

Most recent publications

Siegfried NL, de Voux A, Jonas K, Yun JA, Chetty T, Mabona M, Els F, Mdose H, Kuonza L, Hsiao M, Williamson C, Preiser W, Mathews C. (2022). SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Risk in the School Environment: a pilot case-ascertained prospective study to inform future school-based surveillance. South African Medical Journal, 113(5): 30–38.

Els F, Mkhencele T, McAnerney JA, Wolter N, Kleynhans J, Makhasi M, von Gottberg A, du Plessis M, Walaza S, Cohen C. (2022). Epidemiology of Respiratory Pathogens from the Influenza-like Illness, Pneumonia and Viral Watch Surveillance Programmes, South Africa, 2020-2021.

Els, F. (2021). Genetic manipulation of Plasmodium falciparum for conditional knockdown of potassium channels. University of Pretoria. Dissertation.

Graeme is Director of Research at the Gauteng City-Region Observatory, where he works with a team of researchers to define and drive the research agenda of the GCRO.

Until June 2009, Graeme was a Specialist: Strategy & Policy in the Central Strategy Unit, Office of the Executive Mayor, at the City of Johannesburg. He developed a number of strategies including the 2006 Growth and Development Strategy and the 2007 Inner City Regeneration Charter.

Before joining the City he was a consultant for four years, specialising in local government and urban development. During this period he was the principal author of the 2004 State of South African Cities Report.

Between 1997 and 2001 he was a member of staff at the Graduate School of Public & Development Management (P&DM), University of the Witwatersrand, serving as Manager of the Local Government Programme, lecturer on the Masters of Management: Public & Development Management, and designer and convener of the MM: Local Governance and Development. In 1995 and 1996 he worked as a researcher at the Centre for Policy Studies.

Graeme’s academic work focuses on city development and urban renewal, urban economic development, local government, government strategy, intergovernmental relations and state theory.

Selected recent GCRO outputs

Götz, G., Ballard, R., Hassen, E.K., Hamann, C., Mahamuza, P., Maree, G., Miles-Timotheus, S., Modiba, M. Murahwa, B. Mushongera, D., Naidoo, L., Naidoo, Y., Ndagurwa, P. (2023). Statistical surprises: Key results from Census 2022 for Gauteng. GCRO Rapid Research Paper. Johannesburg: Gauteng City-Region Observatory. https://doi.org/10.36634/PTPX7414

Mosiane, N., and Götz, G. (2022). Displaced urbanisation or displaced urbanism? Rethinking development in the peripheries of the GCR. GCRO Provocation #08, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, April 2022. DOI: 10.36634/SVRW2580

Götz, G., Hamann, C., Maree, G. (2022). Economic impacts of COVID-19. GCRO Map of the Month, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, April 2022.

Mkhize, T., Gotz, G., Naidoo, L., Seedat, R. (2021) Voting patterns in the 2021 local government elections. GCRO Map of the Month, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, December 2021. https://doi.org/10.36634/WVKF9598

Götz, G. (2021). Patterns of new work for those economically impacted during COVID-19. GCRO Vignette, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, December 2021.

Maree, G., Culwick Fatti, C., Götz, G., Hamann, C., Parker, A (2021). Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Gauteng City-Region: Findings from the GCRO's Quality of Life Survey 6 (2020/21). GCRO Data Brief, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, September 2021. https://doi.org/10.36634/2021.db.2

De Kadt, J., Gotz, G., Hamann, C., Maree, G., and Parker, A. (2020). ‘Mapping vulnerability to COVID-19 in Gauteng’, GCRO Map of the Month, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, March 2020. https://doi.org/10.36634/YJFL8903

Selected recent academic publications

Gotz, G., Culwick Fatti, C., Seedat R., and Washbourne, C-L. (2024) The Gauteng City Region Observatory. In D Lam, A Fernández (eds). Empowering Cities Through Community-Centred Public Private Partnerships. The Institution of Engineering and Technology. pp 25-61. 10.1049/PBBE006E_ch2

Chatterji, T., Götz, G., Harrison, P., Moore, R., & Roy, S. (2022). Capacity in motion: comparative COVID-19 governance in India and South Africa. Territory, Politics, Governance, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2022.2154829

Culwick, C., Götz, G., Butcher, S., Harber, Maree, G. and Mushongera, D. (2017). Doing more with less (data): Complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-Region, Environmental Research Letters,12(12) 125006. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7c21

Culwick, C., Götz, G. Katumba, S., Trangoš, G. and Wray, C. (2015) ‘Mobility patterns in the Gauteng City-Region, South Africa’. Regional Studies Regional Science. 2(1), 308-310. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2015.1034294

Götz, G. & Schäffler, A. (2015) ‘Conundrums in implementing a green economy in the Gauteng City-Region’, in journal special issue edited by Simon, D. & Leck H. ‘Bearing the brunt of environmental change: understanding adaptation and transformation challenges in urban Africa’, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 13, April 2015, 79-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2015.02.005

Harrison, P. Götz, G. Todes, A. & Wray, C. (eds.) (2014) Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg after apartheid. Johannesburg, Wits University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.18772/22014107656

Harrison, P. Götz, G. Todes, A. & Wray, C.(2014) ‘Materialities, subjectivities and spatial transformation in Johannesburg’, in Harrison, P. et al (eds.) Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg after apartheid. Johannesburg, Wits University Press. https://doi.org/10.18772/22014107656.5

Götz, G. Wray, C. & Mubiwa, B.(2014) ‘The ‘thin oil of urbanisation’? Spatial change in Johannesburg and the Gauteng City-Region’, in Harrison, P. et al (eds.) Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg after apartheid. Johannesburg, Wits University Press. https://doi.org/10.18772/22014107656.6

Götz, G. & Todes, A. (2014) ‘Johannesburg’s urban space economy’, in Harrison, P. et al (eds.) Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg after apartheid. Johannesburg, Wits University Press. https://doi.org/10.18772/22014107656.10

Christian completed his undergraduate studies in Town and Regional Planning at the University of Pretoria before embarking on a Honours degree in Geography (BSocSci Hons), also at the University of Pretoria. He then enrolled for a Master’s degree in Geography at the University of South Africa, which he completed at the beginning 2016. His research interests primarily relate to the Changing Social Fabric and Landscapes in Transition research themes but he enjoys engaging in a variety of projects related to analytics, cartographies and visualisations. His most recent work focussed on socio-spatial change, specifically racial-residential segregation and socio-economic inequality and future work is aimed at social mobility in Gauteng. He is currently enrolled at the University of Pretoria for his PhD where he will further focus on the spatial determinants that enable access to opportunity and social mobility in Gauteng.

Most recent publications

Hamann, C. (2024). An analysis of microscale segregation and socio-economic sorting in Gauteng. GCRO Occasional Paper, April 2024.

Hamann, C. (2022). 'Book Review: Urban Inequality: Theory, Evidence, and Method in Johannesburg'. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 57 (8), 1690–1691.

Hamann, C. and Horn, A.C. (2022). 'Socio-economic inequality in the City of Tshwane, South Africa: A multivariable spatial analysis at the neighborhood level'. GeoJournal, 87, pp 2001–2018.

Parker, A. Hamann, C., and de Kadt, J. (2021). ‘Accessing Quality Education in Gauteng: Intersecting Scales of Geography, Educational Policy and Inequality’. Urban Forum. Vol. 32 No. 2, pp 141–163.

Ballard, R., Hamman, C., and Mkhize, T. (2021). ‘Johannesburg: Repetitions and Disruptions of Spatial Patterns’. In Lemon, A., Donaldson, R. and Visser, G. (eds.) South African urban change three decades after apartheid: Homes Still Apart? Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp. 35-55.

Ballard, R. & Hamann, C., 2021: Income inequality and socio-economic segregation in the City of Johannesburg, in van Ham, M., Tammaru, T., Ubareviciene, R. & Janssen, H. (eds) Urban Socio-Economic Segregation and Income Inequality. Springer. pp. 91-109.

Hamann, C. & Horn, A. C., 2015: Continuity or Discontinuity? Evaluating the Changing Socio-Spatial Structure of the City of Tshwane, South Africa, Urban Forum, 26 (1), 39–57.

Hamann, C. & Horn, A.C., 2014: Contextualising two decades of socio-spatial change in South African urban areas, in Cities in a Complex World: Problems, Challenges and Prospects, edited by Mierzejewska, L. & Parysek, J. J., Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Poznan, 53–62.

Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen is a Senior Researcher at the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO). He obtained his Master's in Management from the University of the Witwatersrand. He started his career at the Gauteng Provincial Government, where he managed the Vusani Amadolobha Grant Fund, South Africa’s first public-private partnership fund for urban renewal. His commitment to public sector transformation saw him join the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI), a think tank established by the Congress of South African Trade Unions. At NALEDI, he managed the People’s Budget Campaign and was part of research teams that developed proposals on free basic services, basic income and national health insurance. He also led advisory work for unions in public service and state-owned enterprises, engaging with restructuring processes and developing alternatives and options.

From 2007 to 2022, Ebrahim-Khalil worked as an independent public policy analyst. As an analyst, his clients included NALEDI, Centre for Poverty, Employment and Growth at the Human Sciences Research Council, Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, Development Policy Research Unit and the Economic Research Southern African, among other organisations. His work included developing proposals for small business development, scaling first-time job experiences and asset-building strategies.

He currently serves as the Chair of the board of the South African Labour Bulletin, and is one of the adjudicators of the Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition. He is a recipient of academic merit awards at university and has received the Premiers Service Excellence Award for his service in government. His work at NALEDI was recognised by his alma mata at the University of the Witwatersrand and was included in the inaugural Little Black Book published by the Financial Mail – a publication that featured the leading black professionals.

Ebrahim-Khalil has developed several applications while working independently and launched them on platforms such as Product Hunt and AppSumo. Ebrahim-Khalil hopes to build on his expertise and skills at the GCRO and create prototypes that support evidence-based interventions that empower citizens.

Most recent publications

Hassen, E-K. (2022). Reviewing Stakeholder Perceptions of Basic Income In South Africa. Economic Research Southern Africa.

Hassen, E-K. (2021). The impact and feasibility of a wage freeze proposal in the 2021/22 budget on development. South Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand.

Hassen, E-K. (2020). Return-to-workers: Trade union investment companies and ESOPS. In A. Cawe & K. Mabasa (Eds.), Beyond Tenderpreneurship: Rethinking Black Business and Economic Empowerment (pp. 278–309). Mapungubwe Institute of Strategic Reflection.

Hassen, E-K. (2020). Repositioning the work of the NSG in youth training and employment. National School of Government.

Hassen, E-K. (2019). The Skills We Have and the Skills We Need: An assessment of skills planning in national government’s economic policies. Labour Market Intelligence Programme, Development Policy Research Unit

Koen, M., Orr, L., Hassen, E-K., Maleba, M. and Tyiso, S. (2018). Worker Education - Needs Analysis, Review of Provision and Recommendations for Skills, Institutional Development and Sustainable Funding. National Labour and Economic Development Institute.

Hassen, E-K. (2017). Public Service Employment in South Africa: Explanations and Scenarios. Development Policy Research Unit (Employment Promotion Programme).

Hassen, E-K. (2017). Budget analysis for Public Service Salary Negotiations. National Labour and Economic Development Institute.

Samkelisiwe first joined the GCRO as an intern in 2016. She became a junior researcher in 2017 and a researcher in 2020.

She holds an MSc in GIS and Remote Sensing obtained in 2016 from the University of the Witwatersrand. In 2023, she obtained a PhD, also at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her Ph.D. research investigated the applications of a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework for the integrated conceptualisation, visualisation and analysis of the contemporary and historical characteristics of the urban post-mining landscape of Gauteng.

She has a broad interest in sustainability-related issues, data analytics, and visualisation. Her specific research interests include the applications of technologies such as GIS and Remote Sensing for informing sustainable and equitable urban development, participatory research methods, and citizen science. She has been involved in multiple national and internationally-funded projects related to the broader sustainability theme.

Most recent publications

Khanyile, S. (2024). A comparison of the efficacy of fuzzy overlay and random forest classification for mapping and shaping perceptions of the post-mining landscape of Gauteng, South Africa. Land, 13, 1761. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13111761

Maree, G. and Khanyile, S. (2024). Moving beyond basic service delivery for inclusive reliable infrastructure. South African Journal of Science, 120 (11/12), Article no. 18702. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2024/18702

Khanyile, S. and Marais, L. (2024). Mine closure policies and strategies in South Africa: a critical review. In Matebisi, S., L. Marais and V. Nel (Eds.) Local Responses to Mine Closure in South Africa. Routledge Studies of the Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development.https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003403326.

Botes, L., Khanyile, S. and Z. Mqotyana (2024). Mine closure and moving towards renewable energy in eMalahleni. In Matebisi, S., L. Marais and V. Nel (Eds.) Local Responses to Mine Closure in South Africa. Routledge Studies of the Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003403326.

Parker, A. and Khanyile, S. (2022). Creative writing: Urban renewal, the creative city and graffiti in Johannesburg, Social and Cultural Geography, 25(1), 158–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2022.2134580.

Khanyile, S. and Culwick Fatti, C. (2022). ‘Interrogating park access and equity in Johannesburg, South Africa’. Environment and Urbanization, 34(1), 10-31.

Crous, C., Owen, J.R., Marais, L., Khanyile, S. and Kemp, D. (2020). Public disclosure of mine closures by listed South African mining companies. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28, 1032– 1042.

Parker, A., Maree, G., Gotz, G. and Khanyile, S. (2020) How COVID-19 puts women at more risk than men in Gauteng, South Africa, The Conversation, 21 December 2020.

Nino, E. C., Lane, S., Okano. K., Rahman, I., Peng, B., Benn, H., Culwick, C., Maree. G., Khanyile, S., and Washbourne, C. (2020). Urban agriculture in the Gauteng City-Region’s green infrastructure network. GCRO Occasional Paper no. 15. Johannesburg: Gauteng City-Region Observatory.

Culwick, C. and Khanyile, S. (Eds.) (2019). Towards applying a green infrastructure approach in the Gauteng City-Region. GCRO Research Report No. 11. Johannesburg: Gauteng City-Region Observatory.

Khanyile, S. and Ballard, R. (2019). Spatial variation of political attitudes in the Gauteng-City Region, PositionIT, 19 May 2019.

Parker, A. and Khanyile, S. (2019). Graffiti is an eye-catching way to create lively spaces in cities, The Conversation, 08 April 2019.

Parker, A., Khanyile, S. and Joseph, K. (2019). Where do we draw the line: Graffiti in Maboneng, Johannesburg. Gauteng City-Region Observatory Occasional Paper no.14, Johannesburg: Gauteng City-Region Observatory. March 2019.

Khanyile, S. N. (2016) Digital platform for mining activity data, Position IT, 14 July 2016.

Lebogang Lechuba is an experienced Marketing and Communications Manager specialising in urban planning. Lebogang holds a Master’s degree in Town and Regional Planning from the University of Pretoria, as well as an Advanced Diploma in Brand Innovation from Vega School of Branding. Additionally, she has obtained a Senior Management Development Programme Certificate from the University of Stellenbosch and a Brand Leadership for the Public Sector Certificate from the Africa Brand Leadership Academy.

Lebogang has over 16 years of experience, providing professional advice to property developers and managing municipal infrastructure projects. She also led the communications campaign for the State of South African Cities report and developed a communications toolkit for municipal practitioners.

Lebogang is committed to promoting gender mainstreaming in urban planning and reshaping her approach to communication campaigns with a gender-sensitive perspective. She has participated in study tours that deepened her understanding of the complexities of in-migration and the role of secondary cities in supporting urban economies.

Shamsunisaa Miles-Timotheus joined the GCRO on the 1st of February 2023 as a Research Intern to assist with the Quality of Life (QoL) 7 survey project. She was appointed as a Junior Researcher for the Understanding Quality of Life theme, on the 1st of September 2024. Shamsunisaa obtained her Master of Health Demography from the Department of Demography and Population Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2021. She also holds an Honours in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Sociology) from the University of the Witwatersrand. Her Master's research was a retrospective analysis of risky sexual behaviour histories, focusing on the relationship between HIV knowledge and consistency of condom use among youth in South Africa. She is strongly interested in sexual health research and Quality of Life Studies and believes that much remains to be understood and analysed within the South African context.

Most recent publications

Ndagurwa, P., Naidoo, L. & Miles-Timotheus, S. (2023). Households of Gauteng: Male- female patterns of headship. Map of the Month. Gauteng City-Region Observatory. March 2023.

Miles-Timotheus, S. (2020). HIV knowledge and change in sexual behaviour among youth in South Africa (2012): a retrospective analysis of risky sexual behaviour histories. [Master's thesis, University of the Witwatersrand]. Johannesburg.

Thembani completed his MSc in Town and Regional Planning (Urban Studies) at Wits University in 2014. His research report, titled 'Managing Urban (Neighbourhood) Change for whom? Investigating the Everyday Practices of Building Managers in eKhaya Neighbourhood CID Hillbrow South,' explored the relationship between external and internal space management in inner-city Johannesburg’s Residential City Improvement Districts (RCIDs). The research uses (the everyday governance practices of) property caretakers – in their capacity as ‘transmission belts’ between tenants and other stakeholders in the RCID (property owners, the City, CBOs, etc.) – to understand the particularities and peculiarities of this relationship. The study is particularly interested in the extent to which the eKhaya property managers - via their everyday governance practices - appropriate, bend, resist, accept and adhere to norms governing the RCID, and what this means for inner-city management. He is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society (GKIHS) and was also a recipient of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Planning Summer School Award.

In 2015, Mkhize was one of ten young researchers researching and writing up on innovative local and international responses to urban pressures that could be replicated in the South African context, and which will be documented in an edited book yet to be published by the DPME and the University of the Witwatersrand. He used eKhaya, in its capacity as an innovative response to urban crime and grime. Between late 2015 and early 2016, he assisted the DPME research team with the searching, collation, organisation, appraisal and coding literature on human settlements, in a project titled Evidence Mapping exercise in preparation for a Systematic Review in Human Settlements

With a research report titled The Challenges posed by the Political (Re)Branding of Competitive South African Cities: The case of (City and Street Name Changes in) Pretoria/Tshwane, Mkhize in 2012 graduated at the top of his class in the BSc(Hons) Urban and Regional Planning programme. The research report explored the extent to which branding/marketing and politics, two fundamentally different disciplines/concepts, converge and make themselves spatially manifest in the renaming of post-apartheid South Africa’s streets and big cities.

Most recent publications:

Mkhize, T. (2018). 'Urban crime and grime: lessons from Hillbrow’s eKhaya Residential City Improvement District. In P. Harrison and M. Rubin (eds.), Urban Innovations: Researching and documenting innovative responses to urban pressures. Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME): Pretoria, pp. 66–93.

Mamokete Modiba (née Matjomane) is a Senior Researcher and the Inclusive Economies theme lead at the GCRO. She holds a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, obtained in 2022. Her PhD project is titled “The role and influence of street trader leaders in urban governance: The case of Gauteng metros with reflections from Ahmedabad, India”. It investigates the extent to which street trader leaders participate in the everyday management of street trade and reflects on the practices of the state in governing the activity. With a background in urban planning, her research interests span across a variety of areas inclusive local economic development, informal and township economies, urban governance and spatial transformation.

Most recent publications

Modiba, M. (2024) Acting like the state? Leaders’ participation in street trade management in Gauteng municipalities. In Benit-Gbaffou, C. (ed), Local Officials and the Struggle to Transform Cities: A view from post-apartheid South Africa. London: UCL Press, Pp. 135-159. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781800085466

Modiba, M. (2024) ‘Township economies’: Uses, meanings and key debates in the Gauteng context. GCRO Occasional Paper #22. https://doi.org/10.36634/DQBN1239.

Modiba, M. (2023) Citizen and Pariah: Somali Traders and the Regulation of Difference in South Africa by Vanya Gastrow (book review). Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa, 111(2023), 108-115. https://doi.org/10.1353/trn.2023.a916804.

Modiba, M and Mdluli, T.N. (2023) The Inclusion of International Migrants in the Informal Economy: From Policy to Practice. In Maharaj, P. (ed) Migrant Traders in South Africa. Palgrave MacMillan. Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21151-5.

Modiba, M. and Mkhize, S.P. (2022) Changes in socio-economic characteristics of formal and informal workers in Gauteng, South Africa: Evidence from the 2017/18 and 2020/21 Quality of Life Surveys, Southern African Journal of Demography, 22(1): 126-173.

Matjomane, M. (2021). From the margins of the state to quasi-state bureaucrats: The shifting nature of street trader leaders’ agency in Tshwane, South Africa. in Pezzano, A., Pioppi, D., Sathiyah, V. and Frassinelli, PP. (eds.) The Question of Agency in African Studies, UniorPress, Napoli. https://doi.org/10.6093/978-88-6719-243-4

Matjomane, M. (2021). The role and influence of street trader leaders in urban governance: The case of Gauteng metros with reflections from Ahmedabad, India. PHD thesis. University of the Witwatersrand, School of Architecture and Planning.

Ruth joined Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) as the Finance and Office Manager in March 2018, and is responsible for the financial health of the organisation.

Before joining GCRO, Ruth was at the Centre of Excellence for Bio-Medical TB Research, University of Witwatersrand, and she was responsible for the financial well-being and administration of the lab. Prior to this, she was a Junior Accountant at Fujifilm SA, the world’s largest photographic and imaging company. Ruth was also with Pick n Pay Retail and Clothing Division in various retail and financial positions for 16 years prior to moving from Cape Town to Johannesburg in 2008

My research interests centre around, provocatively, ‘the transformative potential of cities’. I use numerous entry points into this area of research. The first one is livelihoods, through which I examine how ordinary people use the city’s resources to reshape their lives within the context of changes in historical practices of livelihood formation, landscape forms and social identities. The second entry point is the state’s spatial interventions – the ways in which such interventions (the Master Plan, for example) facilitate and/or hinder ordinary people’s livelihood activities. The third vantage point into exploring the transformative potential of cities is the ways in which social payments, (local) state spending, and basic municipal services contribute to ordinary people’s livelihood assets. Taken together, I deploy these themes to reflect on the extent to which ordinary people are able to harness the city’s resources to build livelihoods and to use such livelihood assets to pursue their aspirations.

My other area of research interest is the intellectual history of informal housing: its major dimensions, the changes in the way this topic has been treated over time, the current emphases and future directions of informal housing research, theory, and methodology.

GCRO publications

Mosiane, N., Peberdy, S., Dzerefos, C., Sithagu, A., and Murray, J. (forthcoming). Landscapes of peripheral and displaced urbanisms. Report of the Gauteng City-Region Observatory, Johannesburg.

Ngaka Mosiane (forthcoming). 'The Ecology of an Egalitarian City'

Mosiane, N., and Götz, G. (2022). Displaced urbanisation or displaced urbanism? Rethinking development in the peripheries of the GCR. GCRO Provocation #08, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, April 2022. DOI: 10.36634/SVRW2580

Mosiane, N. and Murray, J. (2021). ‘Economic and commuting connections in the northern GCR’, GCRO Map of the Month, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, August 2021.

Mosiane, N. and Murray, J. (2021). ‘Distribution of population and economic activity in the Gauteng City-Region’, GCRO Map of the Month, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, August 2021.

Mosiane, N., Sibisi, R. & Katumba, S. (2018). ’Commutes through Mabopane Station’, Map of the Month, July 2018.

Academic publications

Mosiane, N., Ratshiedana, P., Tsoriyo, W., Mahamuza, P. and Khanyile, S. (forthcoming). The political ecology of water, energy and food in the Gauteng City-Region, South Africa. Grassroots Journal of Political Ecology, special issue on the Anthropocenes in Africa: lived experiences of planetary transformation

Mosiane, N. and Dzerefos, C.M. (Forthcoming). Rustenburg: Coping despite mine decline. In Matebisi, S., L. Marais and V. Nel (Eds.) Local Responses to Mine Closure in South Africa. Routledge Studies of the Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development.https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003403326.

Mosiane, N. (2022). 'Mobility, Access and the Value of the Mabopane Station Precinct'. Urban Forum. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12132-021-09454-4

Mosiane, N. (2021). 'Livelihoods, the Body and the Space of Phokeng, Rustenburg'. In: L. Marais, M. Campbell, S. Denoon-Stevens, and D. Van Rooyen (eds.). Mining and Community in the South African Platinum Belt: A Decade after Marikana. New York: Nova Science Publishers. pp. 38–64.

Mosiane, N. (2019) 'Review of AbouMaliq Simone and Edgar Pieterse (2017) New Urban Worlds: inhabiting dissonant times', Transformation 99, pp 133-135

Mosiane, N.B. (2019). ‘Informal Housing’ in Orum, A. and Smiley, S. (ed.) The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Urban and Regional Studies. London: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781118568446.eurs0536

Mosiane, N.B. (2019). 'Credit, cash transfers, and distributive neoliberalism'. African Studies 78(1). pp 152-164 DOI: 10.1080/00020184.2018.1495388

Mosiane, N.B. (2012) Review of Sarah Mosoetsa (2011) Eating from One Pot: The dynamics of survival in poor South African households, African Affairs, doi: 10.1093/afraf/ads011.

Mosiane, N.B. (2011) Livelihoods and the transformative potential of cities: Challenges of inclusive development in Rustenburg, North West Province, South Africa, The Singaporean Journal of Tropical Geography, 32 (1): 38-52.

Mosiane, N.B. (2009) Landscapes of Flexibility or Landscapes of Marginality? Spaces of Livelihood Formation in a Changing South African City, GeoJournal, 74, 541–549.

Darlington is a Senior Researcher and theme leader for Poverty and Inequality at the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO). He joined the GCRO in August 2011. With a background in economics and urban planning, Darlington’s research interests span across a number of areas including poverty and inequality, governance, policy planning, and methods of measuring development. Darlington is an expert in multidimensional poverty methods and has published widely in this area. His work on governance and policy planning involves Actor-Network Theory analyses and ethnographic explorations of service delivery planning and management in South African municipalities with a particular focus on water services in the City of Johannesburg. Darlington holds a BSc in Economics, an MSc in Rural and Urban Planning, an MPhil in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies and a PhD in Town and Regional Planning from the University of the Witwatersrand. His PhD thesis is titled 'Who governs Johannesburg Water? An Actor-Network reading of water services governance in the City of Johannesburg (2000-2018)'. Beyond his GCRO work, Darlington is the music director of a small church orchestra in Diepsloot township of Johannesburg and has a passion for changing the lives of the poor through music.

List of publications

Mushongera, D. (forthcoming) “Who is who in the Zoo?” Anatomy of water services governance in the City of Johannesburg. In Practices of the (local) state in urban governance – reflections from South African cities by Claire Bénit-Gbaffou (ed).

Mushongera, D., Zikhali, P., Ngwenya, P. (2022). Multidimensional poverty in post-apartheid South Africa: the case of Gauteng Province. Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems.

Mushongera, D., Ngobese, S., Tissington, K., Toffa, T., Pingo, N., & Mokgere, T. (2022). Inclusive Cities: Transversal Cooperation for Inclusion and Wellbeing. In SACN (2022). State of South African Cities Report 2021. Johannesburg: SACN.

Mushongera, D. (2022). Who governs Johannesburg Water? An Actor-Network reading of water services governance in the City of Johannesburg (2000-2018). PhD Thesis, University of the Witwatersrand.

Bohlmann, J., Chitiga-Mabugu, M., and Mushongera, D. (2021). 'Youth and unemployment: Our present problem and a missed opportunity. Africa Today. Vol. 68, No. 2 (Winter 2021), pp. 142–148.

Hamann, C., Götz, G., Matjomane, M., & Mushongera, D. (2021). Poverty, inequality and social mobility. In J. de Kadt, C. Hamann, S.P. Mkhize & A. Parker (Eds.), Quality of Life Survey 6 (2020/21): Overview Report(Section 4). Johannesburg: Gauteng City-Region Observatory.

Mushongera, D., Götz, G., Khanyile, S., Mkhize, T., & Mosiane, N. (2021). Government performance and satisfaction with government. In J. de Kadt, C. Hamann, S.P. Mkhize & A. Parker (Eds.), Quality of Life Survey 6 (2020/21): Overview Report(Section 12). Johannesburg: Gauteng City-Region Observatory.

Mushongera, D., P. Magejo, and M. Ntuli. (2020). An analysis of well-being in Gauteng province using the capability approach. GCRO Occasional Paper # NO. 17.

Katumba, S. Cheruiyot, K. and Mushongera, D. (2019). Spatial change in the concentration of multidimensional poverty in Gauteng, South Africa: Evidence from Quality of Life Survey data, Social Indicators Research. 145(1), August 2019. pp 95-115. DOI 10.1007/s11205-019-02116-w

Mushongera, D., & Khanyile, S. (2019). Participation in Integrated Development Planning. GCRO Map of the Month, November 2019. Johannesburg: Gauteng City-Region Observatory.

Zikhali, P., Mushongera, D., & Katumba, S. (2018). Multidimensional poverty in the GCR (2015/16 data). GCRO Map of the Month, June 2018. Johannesburg: Gauteng City-Region Observatory.

Mushongera, D., Tseng, D., Kwenda, P., Benhura, M., Zikhali, P., & Ngwenya, P. (2018). Poverty and inequality in the Gauteng City-Region. GCRO Research Report No. 9. Johannesburg: Gauteng

Abrahams, C., D. Everatt, A. Van Den Heever, D. Mushongera, C. Nwosu, P. Pilay, A. Scheba, I. Turok (2018). South Africa: National Urban Policies and City Profiles for Johannesburg and Cape Town. SHLC, the University of the Witwatersrand and Human Sciences Research Council.

Cheruiyot, K and Mushongera D. (2018). Testing Economic Growth Convergence and Its Policy Implications in the Gauteng City-Region, in K. Cheruiyot (2018) The Changing Space Economy of City-Regions, pp. 213-239.

Mushongera, D., Culwick, C. (2017). Boundary organisations and the New Urban Agenda: the importance of policy research for evidence-based planning. International Development Planning Review 39(4), 368–371.

Culwick, C., Götz, G., Butcher, S., Harber, Maree, G. and Mushongera, D. (2017). Doing more with less (data): Complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-Region, Environmental Research Letters,12(12) 125006. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/aa7c21.

Mushongera, D., P. Zikhali, and P. Ngwenya (2017). A multidimensional poverty index for Gauteng Province, South Africa: Evidence from Quality of Life Survey Data. Social Indicators Research Vol 13:277-303.

Mushongera, D. (2017). Beyond GDP in assessing development in South Africa: The Gauteng City-Region Socio-Economic Barometer. Development Southern Africa Vo. 34, No. 3, 330-346.

Mushongera, D., C. Abrahams and Z. Ebrahim (2017). A Caring City – what matters every day to ordinary people in the city. A new way of assessing the performance of cities across the world. Research Report. City of Johannesburg.

Mushongera, D., Z. Ebrahim, C. Abrahams (2016). Caring Cities Barometer. Web-based interactive visual. City of Johannesburg.

Mushongera, D., P. Zikhali, and P. Ngwenya (2015). A multidimensional poverty index for Gauteng (GMPI). GCRO Map of the Month, February 2015.

G. Götz (ed.), C. Abrahams, K. Bobbins, K. Cheruiyot, C. Chikozho, C. Culwick, D. Everatt, S. Katumba, D. Mushongera, S. Peberdy, G. Trangoš, & C. Wray (2015). Quality of Life Survey 2013. City Benchmarking Report. November 2015. Gauteng City-Region Observatory.

Mushongera, D. (2015). The GCRO Barometer 2014. GCRO Occasional Paper No. 9. Gauteng City-Region Observatory.

Wray, C., D. Everatt, D. Mushongera, S. Katumba (2015). Best and worst-performing public schools in relation to poverty. GCRO Map of the Month, April 2015.

Mushongera, D. (2015). The GCRO Barometer 2014. Web-based interactive visual. http://barometer.legacy.gcro.unomena.net/. Gauteng City-Region Observatory.

Mushongera D. (2013). Poverty dynamics and livelihood challenges among small-scale fishing communities on Lake Kariba - Zimbabwe. Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies, MPhil Thesis. University of the Western Cape, Cape Town.

Mushongera, D. (2013) Steel at Any Cost: A community perspective on the impacts of ArcelorMittal’s operations in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa. BenchMarks Foundation.

Mushongera, D. (2013). Prices and earnings in the Gauteng City-Region. Johannesburg in comparison to major world cities. GCRO Data Brief publication

Mushongera, D (2013). International wage differentials for primary school teachers. GCRO Vignettes #14. April 2013.

Mushongera, D (2012). Gauteng 2012 budget highlights GCRO Vignettes #7. April 2013.

Mushongera, D. (2012). Key findings from Statistics South Africa’s 2011 National Census for Gauteng. GCRO Data Brief publication.

Mushongera, D. (2011). Summary of Gauteng results from the 2010 General Household Survey. GCRO Data Brief publication.

Yashena Naidoo joined the Gauteng City-Region Observatory in 2018 as an intern and became a junior researcher in 2020. Before joining the GCRO, Yashena was part of Rand Water’s GIS graduate programme.

She completed her undergraduate degree in 2015 and Honours in Geoinformatics (with distinction) at the University of Pretoria. She
has also completed her Masters in Geoinformatics with distinction. Her project related to the evaluation of novel street-addressing approaches in South African settlements.

Yashena’s research interests broadly relate to data analytics, particularly the use of spatial analysis to understand the varying spatial patterns and socio-economic factors within urban environments. She has a keen interest in open science principles for visualisations and data management to ensure that data can be accessible and usable to broader audiences

Dr Laven Naidoo joined the GCRO in November 2021 after a 13 year researcher career at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He completed his PhD in Geoinformatics at the University of Pretoria in 2018 and specialized in the use of Earth Observation technologies for monitoring savannah, forest and wetland vegetation. He has a specific interest in the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for mapping and modelling woody structure in South African Savannahs. He has expanded his areas of interest in savannah tree species mapping using hyperspectral and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) airborne sensors, and the assessment of soil moisture and grass biomass in Afromontane wetlands using SAR technologies. Additionally he has expertise in precision agriculture applications for maize structural attribute estimation using satellite and drone-based approaches. He has published his work in high impact Remote Sensing journals. Over the last 10 years, he has been involved in various national and international projects in the field of vegetation structure modelling and mapping at the local to national scale.

Within the GCRO, he will expand his research into the development of advanced AI/machine learning techniques, geospatial data science approaches and novel remote sensing applications within the urban environment and Sustainable Development Goals space. He is also looking to intersect potential research outputs with more policy related requirements. He is also currently a Y-rated scientist by the South African National Research Foundation.

Most recent publications

Wessels, K., Li, X., Bouvet, A., Mathieu, R., Main, R., Naidoo, L., Erasmus, B., Asner, G.P. (2023). Quantifying the sensitivity of L-Band SAR to a decade of vegetation structure changes in savannas, Remote Sensing of Environment, 284, 113369

Li, X., Wessels, K., Armston, J., Hancock, S., Mathieu, R., Main, R., Naidoo, L., Erasmus, B., Scholes, R. (2023). First validation of GEDI canopy heights in African savannas. Remote Sensing of Environment, 285, 113402

Qabaqaba, M., Naidoo, L., Tsele, P., Ramoelo, R., Cho, M.A. (2023). Integrating random forest and synthetic aperture radar improves the estimation and monitoring of woody cover in indigenous forests of South Africa, Applied Geomatics, 15, 209–225

Van Deventer, H., Linstrom, A., Naidoo, L., Job, N., Sieben, E.J.J., Cho, M.A. (2022). Comparison between Sentinel-2 and WorldView-3 sensors in mapping wetland vegetation communities of the Grassland Biome of South Africa, for monitoring under climate change. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, 28, 100875

Van Deventer, H., Linstrom, A., Naidoo, L., Cho, M.A. (2022). Deriving the maximum extent and hydroperiod of open water from Sentinel-2 imagery for global sustainability and biodiversity reporting for wetlands. Water SA, 48 (1), 75-89

Naledi Ngwenya joined the GCRO as an Administrative Officer in 2022. She holds a Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma in Administrative Information Management. She is currently pursuing her Honours studies and has a passion for organisational and employee wellness.

Naledi's duties include overseeing day-to-day operations, coordinating planning efforts, and providing support to GCRO staff and key partners. Before joining the GCRO, she worked as an Administrative Assistant Intern at River Park Clinic, where her responsibilities included assisting the general public and completing various office-related duties. Naledi is driven by her ambition to enhance organisational efficiency, fulfil the objectives of the organisation, and foster a culture of innovation in the workplace.

Rashid Seedat is the Executive Director of the GCRO. Rashid joined GCRO in June 2021 from the Gauteng Office of the Premier (OoP), where he worked since 2011 as the Head of the Gauteng Planning Division. Here he was responsible for strategic, spatial and infrastructure planning, as well as performance monitoring and evaluation for the Gauteng Provincial Government. From 2016, he also headed the Delivery Support Unit in the OoP, designed to set priority targets and accelerate delivery across provincial departments. In this capacity as a senior provincial official, Rashid has had a longstanding relationship with the GCRO as a previous Board member.

Rashid has a long history of involvement in urban struggles, and work on urban development and local government, starting as an activist in the 1980s, then as employee of Planact, and subsequently as councillor and official in the emerging system of post-apartheid local government in Johannesburg. Before joining the Gauteng Provincial Government, Rashid headed the Central Strategy Unit in the Executive Mayor’s Office at the City of Johannesburg, a position he held for over a decade.

In his various positions in provincial and local government, Rashid has overseen a wide range of research projects and surveys to underpin the design of new policies, long term development strategies, and service improvement programmes. He also has a wealth of experience working on the international stage. In recent years this has included support to the Premier of Gauteng in his role as Co-President of Metropolis, with a portfolio focused on social cohesion; localising the SDGs and the new urban agenda; and building a network of African city-regions through the Forum of African Metropolises.

Rashid has a long standing intellectual interest in the history of minority communities' struggles against apartheid; in the social and spatial dimensions of minority communities' displacement by the Group Areas Act, and the dynamics of their gradual return to the suburbs in the democratic era; as well as the position of sub-national government in systems of intergovernmental relations. He made contributions to the Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF), and also engaged in the development of Chapter 8 of the National Development Plan (NDP) on the national space economy.

Rashid is a trustee of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and was a member of the Council for the University of the Witwatersrand until the point at which he joined GCRO. He has a Master of Science (MSc) in Development Planning, and a Master of Management (MM) in Public and Development Management, both from the University of the Witwatersrand. He is Deputy Chairperson of the Steering Committee of UN-Habitat’s Global Urban Observatory Network (GUO-Net); a Special Advisory Committee member of uKESA (Urban Knowledge Exchange Southern Africa); and a member of the Metropolitan Solutions Experts Group set up jointly by UN-Habitat and the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona.

Melinda Swift is the GCRO's Operations and Partnerships Manager. She has a background of twenty years in the civil service, most recently as the Specialist Advisor for Operation Phakisa: Oceans Economy, in the national Department of Environmental Affairs. She has a background in implementing integrated projects in multi-stakeholder environments and has previously worked for the Gauteng Provincial Government in community-based natural resource management projects, the environmental sector Expanded Public Works Programmes, and in the listing and development of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. Her focus is on developing organisational effectiveness and supportive networks, and purposeful project management.

Wendy Tsoriyo joined the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) as a Postdoctoral Researcher for the period January 2023 to December 2024. In 2021, she obtained her PhD in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Venda in South Africa. Her PhD research focused on spatial (in) justices in street spaces of small rural towns of Vhembe District, South Africa. Before joining the GCRO, she was lecturing Rural and Urban Planning in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Great Zimbabwe University.

Her research interests include understanding the gendered dimension of the Water, Energy and Food Nexus in the Gauteng city-region. Wendy seeks to utilise the GCRO's Quality of Life survey to understand the gendered perspectives of service delivery and participatory planning. Wendy is driven by the passion to see the upward mobility of marginalised communities and the vision for just cities realised.

Most recent publications

Tsoriyo, W. (2024). Place attachment and participation in community-driven development in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. Town and Regional Planning, 84, pp 1-14.

Gambe, T.R., Tsoriyo, W.W. & Moffat, F. (2023). Rethinking the efficacy of spatial development plans in Zimbabwe: A case of Masvingo Province. Cogent Social Sciences, 9: 1 - 18.

Tsoriyo, W. & Ingwani, E. (2022). Exploring the dynamics of street trading as street spatial (in) justice in Musina town. Journal of Inclusive Cities and Built Environment, 2(1), 57-60.

Tsoriyo, W. W., Ingwani, E., Chakwizira, J. & Bikam, P. (2022). Towards Responsive Human Smart Cities: Interrogating Street Users' Perspectives on Spatial Justice on Street Spaces in Small Rural Towns in South Africa. In Sustainable and Smart Spatial Planning in Africa (pp. 183-196). CRC Press.