Award Winners: SASA Postgraduate Student Essay Competition

[Dr Anne Wiltshire]

Congratulations to the 2026 South African Sociological Association Postgraduate Student Essay Competition Winners who are as follows:

PhD Winner: 

Nojenda Ndungane from the University of the Witwatersrand for the essay entitled 'Black queer joy: An epistemological lens for African queer studies'.

PhD Runner-Up: 

Mbongeni Nhliziyo from the University of Fort Hare for the essay entitled 'Lithium Nationalism and the Securitisation of Chinese Capital in Zimbabwe'.

Hons/MA Winner: 

Nandi Mhlophekazi Zulu from the University of KwaZulu-Natal for the essay entitled 'Culture, Religion, and Menstruation in South Africa'.

Hons/MA Runner-Up: 

Luyanda Mnyayi from the University of KwaZulu-Natal for the essay entitled 'Menstrual health experiences, support systems and barriers among students with disabilities in higher education institutions'.

Best Regards,

Dr. Anne Hilda Wiltshire

 Council Member (Ex‑Officio) – South African Sociological Association  www.sociology.africa

Sociologist | Social Research Methodologist | Social Policy Analyst | Academic Publishing | Editorial Leadership  www.drannewiltshire.com 

Sociology Ph.D., Sociology M.A. (cum laude), Sociology B.A. Hons. (cum laude), Humanities B.A. (cum laude) – University of Stellenbosch  www.su.ac.za

'Sociology is the science of making the familiar strange, to better understand and improve the world we live in'.

 Editor – South African Review of Sociology  www.tandfonline.com/journals/rssr20/

 Director & Co‑Founder – Cohere Solutions  www.cohere.solutions

 Independent Sociologist  www.orcid.org/0000-0001-8451-5420

 Subscriber – International Science Council  www.council.science

 Member – International Sociological Association (ISA)  www.isa-sociology.org

 Member – South African Sociological Association  www.sociology.africa

 Member – Logic and Methodology in Sociology ISA Research Committee  RC33

 Member – Conceptual and Terminological Analysis ISA Research Committee  RC35

 Member – Sociological Theory ISA Research Committee  RC16

 Member – Economy and Society ISA Research Committee  RC02

 Member – Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy ISA Research Committee  RC19

 Research Excellence Award – Agricultural Sector Education Training Authority of South Africa 

 Academic Excellence Award – Rector, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

 Recent Publication – Wiltshire, A.H. 2025. Child Work, Care and Neglect in Farmworker Homes: An Empirical Critique of Social Reproduction Theory. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 45 (13-14), 73–91  https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-03-2025-0208