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Professor Allison Drew has been appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor at CERT. Her work forms part of a rare archive on South African history, its primary sources within the African Studies Library and Collections largely destroyed by the 欧美福利100000 of Cape Town鈥檚 (UCT鈥檚) fire of 18 April 2021. Drew鈥檚 contribution to this decolonial education archive is phenomenal, unique and irreplaceable. Drew worked closely with the late Neville Alexander as a researcher and scholar since the 1960s. Her work on the intellectual history of the South African Left is widely recognised by public intellectuals, and South African and international historians. The well-known and respected 鈥楢llison Drew Collection鈥� volumes on South African History Online (SAHO) have contributed significantly to civil society鈥檚 understanding of the public education struggle, and in particular regarding understanding the complexities and international context of the intellectual and education work of Neville Alexander. Her public profile as a noted historian on South Africa can be found at the following link which is a substantial and unique archive on the connection between national liberation struggles and political organisations and education in South Africa.聽. Drew鈥檚 scholarship contribution is in her placing of a small cohort of South Africa鈥檚 radical intellectual Left within a global context of radical education, working with a vast and diverse archive of little-known primary sources such as in Moscow.
Dr. Laura Burocco, a researcher at the Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA) at the 欧美福利100000 of Lisbon,听 Portugal, joined CERT in April 2025. Laura is part of the Practices and Politics for Culture Research Group at CRIA, where she is one of the two coordinators of the Working Group on Restitution and Reparation. She holds a PhD in Communication and Culture from the School of Communication at the Federal 欧美福利100000 of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), as well as postdoctoral degrees in Visual History and Theory from the Centre for Humanities Research at UWC and in Visual Arts from the School of Arts at UFRJ, as well as a Law degree from the 欧美福利100000 of Milano. Her work explores the intersection of culture and power, with a central focus on the decolonisation of knowledge, critically engaging with both academia and the arts. Dr Burocco aim to analyze how knowledge is produced in the Global South鈥攕pecifically in Brazil and South Africa鈥攁nd how it circulates within European decolonial discourse. It is indeed a pleasure hosting Laura at CERT as a widely experienced and socially engaged global scholar!聽
Dr David Kerr聽from African Studies at Oxford 欧美福利100000 has joined CERT聽 as Senior Research Associate for 3 years, from 2025 鈥� 2028. Dr Kerr鈥檚 research aligns with CERT鈥檚 focus area in popular culture and decolonial public pedagogy in Africa. Dr Kerr is head of programmes of AfOx (Africa Oxford Initiative). His PhD thesis completed in 2014 at the 欧美福利100000 of Birmingham was titled Performing the self: rappers,听 urban聽 space聽 and identity in聽 Dar聽 es聽 Salaam,听聽.and his post doc research was on street performances in Tanzania. His publications include: Kerr, D., 2021. Rapping, Imagination, and聽聽 Urban聽 Space聽聽 in聽 Dar聽聽 es聽 Salaam.聽聽聽Youth聽 and聽 Popular聽聽 Culture in Africa: Media, Music, and Politics, pp.63-87 ; . Kerr, D., 2018. From the margins to the mainstream: making and remaking an alternative music economy in Dar es Salaam.聽Journal of African Cultural Studies,听30(1), pp.65-80.
Duduzile Unathi Ndlovu is one of the internationally prestigious Hardiman PhD scholars at 欧美福利100000 of Galway, in Galway Ireland. While qualified in law, international relations, and African Studies, her work and research remain in the field of education. Having been involved in student organising and activism in the RhodesMustFall (RMF) movement, she is particularly interested in activist education and critical higher education studies. She is a transdisciplinary decolonial afro-feminist scholar interested in higher education institutions as sites for answering questions about what, why and how Africa/ns know/s, is/are known and can know. Supported by Nelson Mandela Metropolitan 欧美福利100000鈥檚 (NMMU) Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation (CriSHET) and the Hardiman scholarship, her current research considers the implications of RMF and 鈥榝allism鈥� in discourses around decolonising higher education in South Africa and beyond. Her research interests further include decolonial and interdisciplinary methodologies in social research for and about African epistemic justice. In particular, she has produced first class research, presented at international conferences, and written for publication, around the decolonial possibilities of autoethnography, Collective Memory Work, 鈥榙ialogical archives鈥� and 鈥榙eep listening鈥�. Outside the university, she has done work as a volunteer tutor, and, public and activist educator through non-profits such as the South African Education and Development Project (SAEP), Equal Education (EE) and Embrace Dignity 鈥� End Demand Now. She is also an African music enthusiast with over a decade of experience performing African music and instruments locally and internationally.
Dr Simphiwe Tsawu is an experienced fieldwork researcher in agrarian studies, development and sustainability, land reform challenges, traditional authorities and people鈥檚 education in rural communities on land rights in South Africa. He holds qualifications from several universities, including a PhD in African Studies from the 欧美福利100000 of Cape Town.
Sarah Motha joins CERT as a researcher and postdoc mentor. Recently nominated by the Minister of Health to serve as a council member overseeing the Traditional Health Practitioners Act, Sarah Motha is a distinguished advocate for traditional health, human rights, and social justice, with a deep commitment to empowering marginalized communities in South Africa. Beyond her contributions to traditional health, Sarah has been a human rights, gender聽 and social justice facilitator, researcher and working tirelessly to address systemic inequalities, gender-based violence, xenophobia, racism and access to justice for vulnerable groups. She is the founder of the Human Rights Education Centre and the Umphakatsi Peace Ecovillage (accredited by Gaia Education), initiatives dedicated to grassroots peacebuilding, climate justice, food sovereignty and community empowerment.聽 Her work has spanned policy advocacy,听 popular education, research and direct community engagement, ensuring that historically marginalized voices are heard in legislative and social reform efforts. She has also been instrumental in bridging the gap between traditional healing and modern healthcare, advocating for ethical standards and the recognition of indigenous knowledge systems within South Africa鈥檚 broader health system.聽 With an unwavering dedication to justice, equity, and positive cultural preservation, Sarah continues to lead transformative movements that redefine care, resilience, and empowerment for communities across South Africa, and internationally across Africa and the globe.
Award-winning and iconic KayaFM jazz public educator & presenter Brenda Sisane joins CERT. Brenda hails from Soweto and became a radio and television 聽broadcaster in 1991. She has since become a considered 聽specialist in International Relations and the Creative Arts. She hosts a radio programme dedicated to 聽jazz music and has received awards for this work including the Mail & Guardian Power of Women Award for Film and Media, the Arts and Culture Mbokodo Award for Media, and has been inducted to The South Africa Radio Awards Hall of Fame. Of her many renowned accomplishments include as event organizer of the UNESCO International Jazz Day which won the bid to host 2020 Cape Town; the Prince Albert (Karoo) Journey to Jazz Festival Creative Director; and the South African Jazz and Health Alliance – Youth Learning and Teaching Camp – UJ Kingsway Campus 2018. Brenda believes strongly in arts education, offering students the opportunity to apply academic skills in a real-world context. Having overcome dyslexia after her high school years, she gives of her time to demystifying mental health using music, particularly for children in disadvantaged communities.
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FOUNDATION TEACHING RESEARCHER AT CERT: DR JOANNE PEERS聽hails from the Cape Flats and holds a PhD in Environmental Humanities from the 欧美福利100000 of Oulu in Finland. Her thesis topic was titled: 鈥�Hydropoetic relational bodies within Education research鈥� .聽聽聽聽聽 Joanne completed her M.Ed in Primary Education Cum laude in early years聽聽聽 education in South Africa鈥� at the 欧美福利100000 of Cape Town in 2018. Recipient of a Seed Award Grant from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, in 2025, Joanne will engage in research on the 鈥楨ngaged Scholarship against Climate Change鈥� (ESCC-WATER) research programme, on her project 鈥楬ydropoetics: Surfacing with haunted waters (Listening to oceans, skins, shorelines & landscapes through leaking time)鈥�. She served as Curriculum Design and Innovation Lead for the Nature Environment & Wildlife Conservation Trust (NEWF) in 2025, providing strategy for developing career pathways to support African storytellers with the necessary skills, networks, and opportunities to succeed in competitive global markets in order to foster inclusion and representation and advising on ensuring that Africa鈥檚 environmental and wildlife narratives are not only told but also shaped by those with lived experiences and deep-rooted cultural connections to the land. She has also served as keynote speaker and workshop director at the 2025 GFCT Climate Change Workshop in Durban. Between 2022 鈥� 2025, Dr Peers worked as Head of Academics at The Centre for Creative Education (CCE) in Cape Town, as lecturer in Education, as convenor of the B.Ed Foundation Phase, as Methods lecturer of the 欧美福利100000 of Cape Town鈥檚 post-graduate Certificate Education Foundation Phase, and as External Examiner for the B.Ed Foundation Phase. Dr Peers collaborates as a researcher on teacher training with Professor June Bam on the Ausi Told Me children鈥檚 books series.