Research Team
The Future of Work(ers) research project collaborates with multilateral partners and organisations to achieve its research goals and outputs. Get to know our team and partners.
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Ruth Castel-Branco, Senior Researcher
Ruth Castel-Branco is a Senior Researcher on the Future of Work Project. She has a BA in Geography and African Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2005), an MA in Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (2012) and a PhD in Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand (2021). Previously, Ruth worked at the International Labour Office in Mozambique on social and maternity protection. She first became interested in questions of labour as a student activist, eventually cutting her teeth as a labour organiser at DC Jobs with Justice. Ruth is an alumnus of the International Centre for Development and Decent Work and a fellow of the Open Society Foundations’ Inequality Fellowship. Her research interests include agrarian transformation and the changing nature of work, (informal) workers’ rights and organization, the redistributive role of the state and social protection. -
David Francis, Senior Researcher
David Francis is a Senior Researcher at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies. His research interests focus on labour market economics, the informal economy, and inequality. He was the researcher for the Advisory Panel on the minimum wage in South Africa. He has previously worked as a development consultant, and a policy and budget analyst at South Africa’s National Treasury, where he worked in health and social policy. He has a PhD in economics from Wits University, an MA in development studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a bachelor of social sciences in economics and history from the University of Cape Town. -
Dr Brenda Mwale, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr Brenda Mwale is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies. She holds an LLD in Cyber Terrorism Law from the University of Pretoria, and her doctoral research analyzed how African states regulate and respond to cyber terrorism. Her work focuses on the governance of digital technologies, with particular emphasis on cybersecurity, counter-terrorism, cyber warfare, and digital platform regulation. Her current research examines digital platforms and the digital economy, with a specific focus on the evolving nature of labour and employment within these systems. -
Siphelele Ngidi, Associate Researcher
Siphelele Ngidi is an Associate Researcher on the Labour Market Project at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies. He holds an MCom in Economics, Honours in Economics, and a BCom degree in Economics, Finance, and Marketing from the University of KwaZulu Natal. His research interests include labour economics, health economics, and the economics of higher education. Siphelele has previously worked as a teaching and learning coordinator at the University of the Free State. He was previously employed as an academic development officer and an ad hoc economics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu Natal. -
Rozeena Das, Associate Researcher
Rozeena Das is an Associate Researcher on the Future of Works project. Previously, she worked as a researcher at the Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL). Rozeena holds a Master's degree in Labour and Economic Sociology, an Honours degree in Sociology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology, all awarded by the University of the Witwatersrand. Her research interests include gendered labour, social reproduction, unpaid work, the just transition, and the changing nature of work.