Research • Writing • Human Rights • Social Justice

About Me

Research, law, and lived realities

About Me

I am Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand and a practicing human rights lawyer with Lawyers for Human Rights. I hail from the United Kingdom, but South Africa has been my home since 1994. Over the past thirty years, I have combined academic research, teaching, and community engagement to explore the intersections of law, labour, health, and social justice. My work has always been guided by one principle: understanding society through the lens of experience.

From work to academia

My journey

Before I began my university studies, I worked as a farm labourer, shop assistant, welder, and machine operator. These experiences grounded me in the realities of work and community life, shaping the perspective I carry into both my academic research and legal practice.

I hold degrees from the United Kingdom and South Africa:

  • BA (Hons) in Social and Political Studies – Sheffield University
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Economics – Sussex University
  • MPhil in Economics – Cambridge University
  • PhD in Industrial Relations – Cambridge University
  • LLB – UNISA

Teaching, research, and scholarship

Academic Career

I spent more than three decades teaching and researching at Wits University across the Departments of Economics, Sociology, and the Wits Business School. I also served as President of the Academic Staff Association, and held positions on the university Council, Senate, and Academic Freedom Committee.

My research has focused on labour relations, HIV/AIDS, social inequality, and constitutional realities in South African townships. I am the author of four academic books:

  • Changing the Course of AIDS – workplace peer education

  • A Different Kind of AIDS – popular understandings of HIV/AIDS in townships

  • In Precarious Battle – resistance to labour broking in the Post Office

  • South Africa’s Constitution and the Law of the Township – examining the de facto law of the township, the lex lokasi, and how this differs from the lex constitutional or law of the suburb.

Human rights in action

Grounded Legal Practice

 

In 2022, I completed my practical legal training with Lawyers for Human Rights, and was admitted as an attorney in 2024. My legal work focuses on land, housing, and labour rights. Through a weekly law clinic in Orange Farm Township and ongoing engagement with communities in Katlehong and Mashaeng, I encounter the everyday legal, social and political challenges that shape South African life. These experiences inform my writing and research.

Research • Writing • Human Rights • Social Justice

Scholar, lawyer, and public commentator

I am Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand and a practicing attorney with Lawyers for Human Rights. Originally from the United Kingdom, I moved to South Africa in 1994 and have spent more than thirty years teaching, researching, and writing about labour relations, HIV/AIDS, and social justice. After completing my legal training, I was admitted as an attorney in 2024 and have since focused on land, housing, and labour rights. My academic and legal work are closely connected, both shaped by direct engagement with communities and the social realities they face.

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Social & Legal Analysis

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