Nomkhosi Mbatha is a PhD researcher trainee in the Equitable Education and Economies research division in the HSRC. She holds a Bachelor of Social Science (Social Work) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and a Master of Development Studies from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Nomkhosi previously worked for 13 years as a Social Worker in the Department of Health, university and in the wellness industry. She is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute for Social Development (ISD) at UWC, her research topic focuses on the practices of solidarity and conviviality among migrants in informal economy spaces. Her research is part of a larger international project that explores practices of solidarities and migrant sanctuaries in the Global North and in the Global South.
Her publications focus on international migration and the informal economy in South Africa. She is passionate about migration related themes (migration infrastructures, transnationalism, translocal, conviviality) and development in Africa. Her other published works on youth livelihoods, friendship infrastructures and livability build on her masters research which explored the role of the informal economy in sustaining livelihoods.
