Senior Lecturer
Room 4.15
Email: philile.mbatha@uct.ac.za
PhD (UCT), MSocSc (UCT), BSocSc (Hons.) (University of KwaZulu-Natal), BSocSc (University of KwaZulu-Natal)
Academic profile
My current position within the department involves teaching and research within the fields of environmental sustainability and human geography. My research interests lie mostly within marine and coastal governance research in the Western Indian Ocean region of southern Africa, with a specific focus on rural contexts along the coast. I also have vast experience in the research field working with rural/economically poor and marginalised communities, as I am interested in conducting research that can contribute to rural development by linking policy-making platforms and institutional arrangements that manage coastal resources to the people on the ground and their livelihood realities. I am also passionate about conducting research on topics that involve fisheries, mining, tourism, as well as broader conservation of coastal resources; exploring different issues including livelihoods, legal pluralism, access, politics, power dynamics, distribution of benefits from resources and plural governance.
I am also interested in human rights debates connected to marine and coastal governance processes impacting rural areas in South Africa.
Publications
Mbatha, P. and Wynberg, R. 2014. Mining and the myth of benefits in South African rural coastal communities. In Sharing Benefits from the Coast: Rights, Resources and Livelihoods. Hauck, M. and Wynberg, R., Eds. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press: 67-94.
Hauck, M., Mbatha, P. and Wynberg, R. 2014. Coastal communities and livelihoods in South Africa and Mozambique. In Sharing Benefits from the Coast: Rights, Resources and Livelihoods. Hauck, M. and Wynberg, R., Eds. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press: 17-36.
Hauck, M., Mbatha, P. and Raemaekers, S. 2014. Enhancing benefits to small-scale fishers along the east coast of South Africa. In Sharing Benefits from the Coast: Rights, Resources and Livelihoods. Hauck, M. and Wynberg, R., Eds. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press: 37-66.
Mbatha, P. 2013. Shifting Livelihoods: Women in fisheries in South Africa and Mozambique. Yemaya-ICSF, No. 43, July 2013: 2-3.
Wynberg, R., Hauck, M., Mbatha, P. and Raemaekers, S. 2011. Policy Brief: Sharing Benefits from the Coast. Commissioned by Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA). Cape Town: Environmental Evaluation Unit.