Meet a new generation of UCT academics

The New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP) is an initiative to recruit young scholars to permanent academic positions at South African universities. Funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) in partnership with individual universities, all nGAP scholars are mentored by a senior academic and given the opportunity to immerse themselves in research for six years until they're fully rooted as academics. While they do teach, their lecture load is kept relatively light to allow them to focus on research.

• How do we professionalise the public service?
  Phindile Ntliziywana in public law is committed to improving local government to ensure that it meets the needs of civil society's poorest.
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• “Believe in the beauty of your dreams”
  When Kentse Mpolokeng took up a lectureship in anatomy, she was fulfilling a career ambition she had spelled out to an interview panel years before. But it almost didn't happen.
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• “Why do we still aspire to whiteness?”
  Zuziwe Msomi in the Centre for African Studies interrogates racial identity in post-apartheid South Africa.
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• Constructing new forms of public space and public life
  Sadiq Toffa, who is based in the School of Architecture, speaks of opening up public space in South Africa to alternative forms of democratic life.
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• PhD examines complex governance systems in Kosi Bay
  Philile Mbatha, who is in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, is studying the influence of complex governance systems on rural livelihoods – and in doing so, she is amplifying the voices and viewpoints of Kosi Bay locals.
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