Gcina Mtengwane

Lecturer in the Community Development Programme

T: +27 58 718 5196

E: MtengwaneG@ufs.ac.za

Research:

I am a Lecturer in the UFS Community Development Programme within the Faculty of the Humanities. My research interests include (but are not limited to) youth socio-economic transitions, social exclusions, youth un/underemployment, and social policy. I am a PhD candidate with the UFS Centre for Development Support. My PhD study explores the socio-economic transitions of youths in the former homeland capital town of Qwaqwa, Eastern Free State.

I hold an MA in Social Development from the School of Human and Community Development at the University of the Witwatersrand. I obtained an MSocSc in Rural Development and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Fort Hare.

I have presented papers at national and international conferences. I also had the honour of participating as an expert panellist at ‘The Director’s Event: South Africa’s biggest board meeting’, hosted by Tiso Black Star Events and the Sunday Times in 2019. In 2020, I was hosted by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung as an expert panellist in the ‘Youth Post Elections Round Table: Are South African Youth Fed Up with Formal Politics’.

I have public service experience in the Department of Social Development’s Directorate of Social Policy. Moreover, I worked in the international non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector as an advocacy fellow at Habitat for Humanity: Europe, Middle East, and Africa Office, located in Pretoria, South Africa.