The Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) has learned with sadness the passing away of Eddie Webster. When I arrived at the ISER in 2020, Eddie was already a Visiting Professor of the institute. I (Nhlanhla Cyril Mbatha) am grateful that he reached out to me in 2021 to discuss how he would be useful to the institute and in supporting me. He volunteered to co-supervise PhD students and shared some of his
published work with us, including, “The Uberisation of work: the challenge regulating platform capitalism. A commentary”.
Relating to this work, we spoke introspectively and shared experiences about Africa’s informal work and the innovative platforms that are often used by (African migrant) workers in big cities like Joburg and Nairobi to survive. I am so grateful to the personal message shared publicly by Prof. Lucien van der Walt on 6th March 2024 (Nalsu) and on 11th March 2024 (RU Toplist). Please read the message which paints a picture of a remarkable figure that Lucien had been engaging with for more than thirty years starting in 1992 when he joined Eddie’s lectures at Wits. Please find the piece on the Nalsu link below:
https://www.ru.ac.za/nalsu/latestnews/lucienvanderwalt6march2024neilaggettlabourstudiesunitnalsuperso.html