Social housing is a powerful tool for integrating divided cities. It can also help low income households to get on in life and thrive by providing a secure home base with good access to jobs and amenities. The HSRC recently completed a study of social housing’s contribution to spatial transformation and upward social mobility in South Africa. The p…

In keeping with the spirit of 1976 Soweto Uprising, Women in Science in partnership with the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and Impact Centre held a dialogue to commemorate the role the youth played in the events surrounding the historical day. The dialogue looked at developing activities and reflecting on the history, present realities and…

Inspiration or Aspiration? Organised by the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) in the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), this Diplomatic Conversation will address the theme chosen by the African Union (AU) for 2021 – Year of the Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want. Launched during the 34th AU Assembly under …

The South African government is committed to fighting xenophobia and providing a welcoming environment for documented migrants living in the country, despite the devastating impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on countries’ fiscal resources throughout the world. Among other things, the pandemic has forced countries to close their borders to m…

The South African manufacturing and services sectors remain squarely in the crosshairs of economic and industrial policy makers and, equally, business leaders and sector analysts. Whether to stimulate much-needed growth, as in the case of the manufacturing sector, or to adapt to widespread technological change, as in the case of services firms, the…

Migrants, Thinkers, Storytellers develops an argument about how individual migrants, coming from four continents and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, are in many ways affected by a violent categorisation that is often nihilistic, insistently racial, and continuously significant in the organisation of South African society. The book also examines …

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is having a major impact on all aspects of life, both in South Africa and globally. The chief technological developments associated with the 4IR offer much promise for human development and improvements in quality of life. Yet, as this book explores, these technologies are a double-edged sword, bringing both b…

The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (University of Cambridge) and the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa, are delighted to announce a series of three virtual workshops entitled ‘Global AI Narratives: Sub-Saharan Africa’. Different cultures see Artificial Intelligence through very different lenses: diverse religious, ling…

International Symposium on Poetic Inquiry Part 1: Speaking, Wednesday, 26th May Intersectionality helps us to recognise that people experience the world differently based on social identities— such as gender, sexuality, age, race, class, and disability, among others. For many marginalised people, these mutually reinforcing identities create unique …

Professor Pearl Sithole, Vice-Principal of the University of the Free State, delivers this year’s lecture under the theme, Lessons from Mafeje’s theories and positionality of Africans on Science and Innovation. Objectives of the lecture are: •To explore Africanity as a means to respond to Africa’s diverse challenges through decolonising and promoti…

Making Institutions Work in South Africa recognises that institutions are the pillars of a constitutional democracy they evolve through the actions of persons and as organisations they form structures of dynamic, shared social patterns of behaviour. The book offers interdisciplinary critical commentary by scholars, analysts and experts regarding st…

Online seminar 15 April 2021 The coronavirus pandemic has had far-reaching effects on urban lives and livelihoods. Some of these are likely to prove temporary as the vaccine is rolled out and the recovery gathers momentum. However, there are bound to be more profound changes too, depending on the shape and speed of the recovery. In the future, will…

24 March 2021 Online seminar In order to manage the spread of COVID-19 and protect the healthcare sector, South Africa has been in various levels of lockdown for a whole year. This has impacted on many aspects of life in the country including, amongst others, human rights, economy, education and lifestyle. While the real impact of the lockdown will…

5 March 2021 Online seminar Join us in this inaugural seminar series on the AfCTA, jointly organised by the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) in the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Tshwane University of Technology’s Institute for Economic Research on Innovation (IERI). In this seminar, the panelists, discussants and audience wi…

17 February 2021 Online seminar Overview: How South Africa lifts itself out of the pandemic-induced macroeconomic crisis is a societal debate with knock-on effects that are likely to last for years if not decades to come. The depth and scale of the macroeconomic contraction (with SA 2020 growth rate expected to average at - 7,5%) will not only cut …

26 January 2021 Online seminar Overview: The COVID-19 crisis has forced us all to work remotely, from home or from anywhere. While many have been flirting with this concept for the past decade or two, the pandemic has accelerated our practice and thinking. This webinar asks: Is it time to cut the cords of attachment to physical offices? What do we …

18 November 2020 Online seminar Overview: Backyard housing is booming across many South African townships. Enterprising households and small-scale developers are investing in solid single- and double-storey flats. This is boosting the supply of decent rental accommodation and offering opportunities to kick-start the recovery and create jobs from th…

24 November 2020 Online seminar Overview: This webinar is hosted by the HSRC and its collaborators from the University of Cape Town’s AIDS and Society Research Unit in partnership with the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and UNFPA. As we approach the fourth decade of the HIV pandemic, there are still glaring gaps in the evidence-base…

13 November 2020 Online seminar Overview: The presentation draws from a study undertaken with MerSETA called the Lived Livelihoods Study which aimed to understand the way(s) in which young people from two urban townships in Port Elizabeth are making their livelihoods in engineering related areas in the informal sector. The findings challenge our un…

10 November 2020 Online seminar Overview: The rapid and emergency purchases to address the global pandemic, has exposed vulnerabilities in procurement systems that were already prone to fraud and corruption. Significant amounts of money have been flowing through global financial systems in the form of debt relief, loans from multilateral institutio…

HSRC & NMU Seminar: Remote Teaching and Learning at TVET colleges: A COVID-19 challengeRe-Imagining TVET: The Implications of COVID-19. Webinar series hosted by Nelson Mandela University.2 October 2020Online seminarOverview: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in the declaration of the State of National Disaster by the Presi…

HSRC Seminar: Dealing with Uncertainty - Systems Dynamics Approach for Modelling South Africa Response to COVID-1920 August 2020Online seminarOverview: This seminar discusses a systems dynamic model developed for the COVID-19 infection in South Africa. The key purpose of developing the model was to assess the extent to which a systems dynamics mode…

HSRC Seminar: What’s Trust Got to Do With It? UJ-HSRC COVID-19 Democracy Survey Round 2 Public Launch19 August 2020Online seminarOverview: This webinar addresses some of the main new findings of the online multilingual Covid-19 Democracy Survey conducted by researchers from the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Change (CSC) and the Hum…

HSRC Seminar: Is COVID-19 threatening breastfeeding and early childhood development?18 August 2020Online seminarOverview: Nutrition is vital for Early Childhood Development especially in the first 1000 days. Breastmilk has all nutrients and containts antibodies that enhance the infant's immune system. COVID-19 resulted in confusion and mixed messag…

HSRC Seminar: Archie Mafeje Memorial Lecture - Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa: Lessons from Other Parts of the Continet4 September 2020Online seminarOverview: The Mafeje Memorial Lecture provides a platform to highlight Prof Mafeje’s contribution to our understanding of the Agrarian question, discuss current debates on the land question a…

2 June 2020 Online seminar Overview: Traditional Oslo innovation surveys provide a useful empirical tool to assess the innovation performance of economic sectors, through the lens of firm-level activity. However, to the extent that innovation in the cultural and creative industry takes place outside of the formal sector - in highly contingent, info…

HSRC Seminar: Impact of China's Belt and Road on the African Free Trade Agreement and infrastructure under the new normal6 August 2020Online seminarOverview: The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA) has become critical in fast tracking regional economic integration which requires continental infrastructure development. China, has already begu…

HSRC Seminar: Township Economy4 August 2020Online seminarOverview: Book launch - Township Economy provides a unique insight into township informal business and entrepreneurship. It is set in the post-apartheid period, in the third decade of Africa’s democracy and draws on evidence collected from 2010-2018 in 10 township sites, nine in South Africa …

HSRC Seminar: Fighting for freedom - The Charter 65 years on25 June 2020Online seminarOverview: This seminar, which commemorates the 65th anniversary of the Congress of the People, includes a discussion of the history of the Freedom Charter and engages key questions such as its relevance today and its impact on post-apartheid society. Chair: Prof. …

HSRC Seminar: HSRC-USAf Dialogue Series: The Impact of COVID-19 on Different Student Groups22 June 2020Online seminarOverview: The first in the new HSRC-USAf Dialogue Series celebrates Youth Month by focusing on the impact of universities’ COVID-19 response on different groups of students. Following the welcome to the new series by the respective H…

HSRC Seminar: The COVID-19 Pandemic: Class, Mental Health and Human Rights4 June 2020Online seminarOverview: This webinar addresses some of the main findings of the online multilingual Covid-19 Democracy Survey conducted by researchers from the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Social Change (CSC) and the Human Sciences Research Council’s Dev…

HSRC Seminar: Coronavirus - Lessons in remote learning from China and Europe7 April 2020Online seminarOverview: Is the quality of online teaching comparable to classroom teaching? Does the virus expose the challenges of the digital divide? This webinar offers an opportunity to hear first-hand from scholars managing these efforts in China. We also c…

HSRC Seminar: On democracy and authoritarianism: Systems, ideologies, freedom and vulnerabilities in the era of COVID-1915 April 2020Online seminarOverview: How do constitutional democracies such as South Africa deal with COVID-19? Do or should states facing national disasters or emergencies hold on to human rights and constitutional obligations; a…

HSRC Seminar: Refracted Economies: Reimagining youth livelihoods in an age of technological innovation23 April 2020Online seminarOverview: The future of work in a technological age is topical, especially in the context of wide-scale youth unemployment. Current conversations centre on helping young people enter existing professions, become entrepren…

HSRC Seminar: Transgender women and HIV in South Africa26 May 2020Online seminarOverview: Transgender women (TGW) constitute an extremely vulnerable, stigmatized and hidden community in South Africa. Stigma and transphobic responses make transwomen more vulnerable, so they constitute a key population for HIV infection. Internationally, the prevalen…

HSRC Seminar: Water innovation in South Africa5 May 2020Online seminarOverview: South African scientists have been among the significant contributors to new knowledge creation in the water innovation domain, especially in water treatment technologies. This innovation dynamism has however not been translated into a large-scale uptake of new technolo…

HSRC Seminar: The Role of Research in Harnessing Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) for Rural Transformation and Technological Innovations in South Africa28 May 2020Online seminarOverview: Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) are gaining currency as new strategies for Africa’s development. IKS is a unique system of knowledge owned, inherited or devel…

HSRC Seminar: Getting children back to school safely - What the medical experts say29 May 2020Online seminarOverview: Following a nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on 19 May 2020, the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshegka announced that schools will re-open, in a phased manner, from 1 June 2020. This seminar, from paediatric m…

HSRC Seminar: Blue Economy for Women's Economic Empowerment4 November 2019HSRC Building PretoriaOverview: This seminar discusses the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and research on the extent of women’s inclusion in the Indian Ocean’s Blue Economy sectors, as well as recommendations to facilitate an enabling environment and creative policy thin…

The HSRC's Dr Saahier Parker is interviewed on Channel Islam International about the Covid-19 awareness survey being undertaken by the HSRC. For more on the survey: www.hsrc.ac.za/COVID19Human Sciences Research Council

Language Rites: A symposium on language practices in South African Higher Education Institutions Dr Alude Mahali On SAFM3 http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/events/events/language-rites-2019Human Sciences Research Council

Dr Alude Mahali On SAFM discusses Language Rites: A symposium on language practices in South African Higher Education Institutions http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/events/events/language-rites-2019Human Sciences Research Council

Dr Alude Mahali On SAFM3 discusses Language Rites: A symposium on language practices in South African Higher Education Institutions http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/events/events/language-rites-2019Human Sciences Research Council

HSRC and partners to embark on a joint HIV and TB pilot studyThe Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and its partners will be conducting a joint TB and HIV pilot study in KwaZulu-Natal between the 26th of August and the 20th of September. The purpose of the pilot study is to determine the feasibility of conducting a larger joint Tuberculosis and…

1/3 HSRC's Advocate Gary Pienaar's interview on NewzRoomAfrika on Sunday 21 July 2019President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he would seek a judicial review of the Public Protector's findings against him. NewzRoomAfrika interviewed the HSRC’s Advocate Gary Pienaar about this issue.Human Sciences Research Council

HSRC's Advocate Gary Pienaar's interview on NewzRoomAfrika on Sunday 21 July 20192/3 President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he would seek a judicial review of the Public Protector's findings against him. NewzRoomAfrika interviewed the HSRC’s Advocate Gary Pienaar about this issue.Human Sciences Research Council

HSRC's Advocate Gary Pienaar's interview on NewzRoomAfrika on Sunday 21 July 2019President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he would seek a judicial review of the Public Protector's findings against him. NewzRoomAfrika interviewed the HSRC’s Advocate Gary Pienaar about this issue.Human Sciences Research Council

HSRC's Dr Vijay Reddy interviewed on ClassicFM.Human Sciences Research Council