Nomzamo Ntombela was a Lisa Maskell/PANGEA and a Center for the Study of the Afterlives of Violence and the Reparative Quest doctoral fellow. She currently serves on the executive of the South African Sociological Association as Vice President and is on the editorial board of the South African Review of Sociology.
Her PhD research concerned itself with the intellectual role(s) of women in exile during the anti-apartheid struggle and focuses on their engagement with 'liberation' both as a conceptual and tangible phenomena. It focused on the intellectual contributions of women to debates amongst uMkhonto weSizwe and the Pan African Congress in exile bases on the continent and in the diaspora. She advanced the argument that women comrades made significant political and intellectual contributions, whilst in exile, that made the Southern African liberation project credible across the diaspora.
Research interests:
Contextually, her broad research interests are in: gender, sexualities, biographies, social theory, Black feminist theory, political sociology, social movements, decoloniality and African spirituality. Given her interdisciplinary training, she is also interested and engages in creative research methodologies and welcomes collaborations with students/activists and colleagues who are engaged in the above.
Qualifications:
PhD – Sociology – Stellenbosch University
MA – African history – Michigan State University
Bachelor of Arts: Honours – Social Anthropology – Stellenbosch University
Bachelor of Arts: Humanities – Stellenbosch University
Publications:
Journal articles
Introducing Justice craft: Political Change Across Space and Time” in Political Anthropological Research on International Social Sciences; 3(2022),pp51–108. Available: brill.com/view/journals/pari/3/1/pari.3.issue-1.xml
“Before the Anti- Homosexuality Bill: The Historical Contours of LGBT Organizing in Nigeria”. Journal of West African History, 9(1); pp.111-145. 2023. Available: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/26/article/903748/pdf
Opinion articles
“Naledi Chirwa's apology a disturbing reminder of patriarchy in politics”. Eyewitness News. Available: https://www.ewn.co.za/2024/03/11/nomzamo-ntombela-naledi-chirwas-apology-a-disturbing-reminder-of-patriarchy-in-politics
Bubenzer, F. Ntombela, N. 06 June 2023. “Researcher Wellbeing”. Mail & Guardian. Available:https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/guestcolumn/opinion-researchand-wellbeing-forging-harmony-where-there-is-heartache-and-pain-20230606
Last Modified: Wed, 06 Aug 2025 13:12:46 SAST
