/ 23 August 2013

Distinguished young women in the social sciences and humanities

Distinguished Young Women In The Social Sciences And Humanities

Professor Mpfariseni Budeli completed her PhD in commercial law at the University of Cape Town in 2007. She was the first black South African woman to obtain a PhD in commercial law from this -previously white South African academic institution.

She is currently -professor of labour law in the department of mercantile law of the University of South Africa, making her the first black South African woman to be a full professor of law at the university.

Budeli’s main research focus is freedom of association and trade unionism. Her work reflects the development and growth of the understanding of the concept of the right to freedom of association in the workplace, to its entrenchment and enforcement in the domestic law of South Africa, as well as at regional and international level.

Her work has had an impact on labour law teaching and research in South Africa and other African countries, such as Zambia and Tanzania.

Budeli has published 19 research articles in high-profile national and international journals. In 2012, she received a National Research Foundation Y2-rating (for young researchers).

In 2011, Budeli became one of 20 founding members of the South African Young Academy of Science.

In 2008, she was invited by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to join the ILO network of experts on freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Budeli has prepared several ILO reports, the most recent being “Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining in the Rural Sector: The Case of South Africa”.

At a regional level Budeli has collaborated with colleagues and organisations in Africa.

This led to her election as a member of the -scientific committee of the second international conference on regional integration and Southern African Development Community (SADC) Law, organised by the University of Namibia and the University of Cape Town. She is also a member of the editorial board of the SADC Law Journal.

Budeli became a member of the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers in 2010 and regularly -participates in its activities. She has supervised three master’s students and is currently supervising several LlM and LlD candidates.

As an attorney of the High Court of South Africa, she also holds membership of the Law Society of South Africa.

First runner-up: Professor Karina Mostert
Professor Karina Mostert completed her BCom, BCom (Hons) and MCom (all cum laude) and PhD in industrial psychology at the then-Potchefstroom University for Higher Christian Education (now North-West University). She is a recipient of numerous awards in the field of industrial psychology and received honorary colours for academic achievement from the university.

The South African Board for Personnel Practice selected her as the best postgraduate student in human resource sciences in 2000.

She was also invited to become a member of the Golden Key inter-national honour society, which recognises and encourages academic excellence among the top 15% of university students.

In 2003 Mostert was appointed as a lecturer in the school for human resource sciences. She was -promoted to senior lecturer in 2005 and to associate professor in 2007.

She is a registered industrial psychologist- with the Health Professions Council of South Africa.

She was acknowledged as the most productive junior researcher in the faculty of economic and management sciences from 2009 to 2011, and received an award for the most productive junior researcher at North-West University in 2012. She was promoted to professor on January 1 2012.

Mostert has a strong research interest in the field of employee health and well being. She has published 47 peer-reviewed articles, 18 of which were in international ISI/IBSS/SSCI-listed journals.

She supervised 50 master’s and five PhD -students. She has made 47 presentations at national and international conferences.

Since 2008 she has acted as section- editor for the South African Journal of Industrial Psychology. She has also served on several national and international committees for scientific journals.

Second runner-up: Professor Elmarie Slabbert
Professor Elmarie Slabbert obtained her PhD in tourism management from North-West University in 2005. Slabbert is currently a programme leader and professor in tourism management, as well as leader of the social research programme Tourism Research in Economic Environs and Society (TREES).

She has extensive teaching and research experience in community tourism, tourism marketing and social issues related to tourism.

Slabbert is a member of the Southern African Institute for Management Scientists board of directors, a member of the Global Travel and Tourism Partnership South Africa governing board and vice-chairperson of Tourism Educators of South Africa.

Her projects have led to an understanding of how communities experience tourism activities and the influx of tourists and tourism development in their environments (Potchefstroom, Soweto and Clarens).

She has also analysed the social impact of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup on various communities in South Africa.

From these research projects, it became clear that tourism contributes not only tangible benefits to communities (infra-structure and employment opportunities), but also intangible benefits (“feel good” emotions and pride), the latter often being more important.

From these projects a new measuring instrument was developed to analyse the impact of tourism on South African communities.

Her research assisted in understanding the needs of communities and highlighted the importance of the tourism industry in creating an atmosphere of prosperity and lifting the spirits of residents.

She also analysed the behaviour of festival visitors to South Africa to assist festival boards in optimising of the festival experience, with specific reference to motivational factors and image.

The outcomes of these projects assisted festival organisers to understand their markets and develop focused marketing strategies.

Slabbert received Excellence in Teaching awards in 2003 and 2007 and was selected as one of the North-West University’s top academic achievers for the last three years.

Her research in the past 15 years has been funded by the National Research Foundation, TREES and North-West University.

Slabbert has authored and co-authored 22 articles in various refereed journals and presented six papers in conference proceedings.

She has presented 29 papers internationally and seven nationally, and has written 56 research reports. Since 2005, 25 master’s students and eight doctoral students have -completed their studies successfully under her guidance.