I am very pleased to have started a two-month stint as a visiting academic at the UCL Faculty of Laws from 1 September until 31 October 2025. I am hosted by Professor Jeff King at the UCL Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism and will be focusing on my research into the urban evolution of international … More Visiting academic at UCL Laws

Arguably the peak of my academic career thus far was the semester in 2022 that I spent at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS-KNAW), working on the strategic use of human rights by local governments in African cities. I am thus incredibly excited to be back at NIAS … More Alumni summer stay at NIAS

It has been great to be back in Stellenbosch, to again be part of the Harvard Institute for Global Law and Policy’s Global Scholars Academy co-hosted by the Faculty of Law at the University of Stellenbosch, from 30 June until 4 July 2025. Like last year, I taught in a stream entitled “Mapping the world: … More Harvard Institute for Global Law and Policy + Stellenbosch University Faculty of Law “Global Scholars Academy 2025”

This article, which explores how justiciable socio-economic rights, particularly the right to adequate housing under Article 11 of the ICESCR, can strengthen domestic legal systems’ adaptability and support adaptive urban governance during crises, has just appeared (open access) in the 2025 edition of the Human Rights Law Review. You can read it here.

I’ve been spending the month of April 2025 in the UK, catching up with colleagues and sharing my work at various institutions. I presented my draft work on urban collectives as victims of international human rights violations at a seminar to the Development Planning Unit at University College London on 2 April and at a … More UK seminars and workshop, April 2025

I am the joint recipient, with professor Lizette Koekemoer from the Wits Research Institute in Malaria, of the 2024 Vice Chancellor’s Research Award, the University of the Witwatersrand’s highest research accolade. The purpose of the award, which we were presented at the annual Council/Senate dinner on 23 October 2024, is “to acknowledge the achievements of … More Vice Chancellor’s Research Award 2024

This article, co-written with Amanda Spies, has just appeared (open access) in Urban Studies. It considers the resilience of South African local government law through a case study of the formation of a seemingly progressive public/private emergency governance regime amidst a confluence of drought, Covid-19 and political chaos in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa.

I am currently nearing the end of a research visit to the UK, during which I was privileged to share my work at three invited events. On 11 September 2024, I delivered a guest lecture pertaining to my current work on urban collectives as victims of international human rights violations, jointly organised by the Urban … More UK lectures/seminars: September 2024

I have just published this article on residential building governance in Johannesburg, in the latest issue of the South African Law Journal. It tries to link some blackletter sectional title (condominium) law analysis and critique with local government law, constitutional constructions of public service delivery and, via some interviews I conducted in 2023 with building … More Publication: “Propping Up the Crumbling City: Sectional Title Law, Residential Building Governance and Local Government”

I am currently in London, where the Fordham University Urban Law Center’s 10th International and Comparative Urban Law Conference is underway. This morning, I had the pleasure to present my paper entitled “Domesticated socio-economic rights as adaptive law for urban resilience” in a session on rights, urban law and sustainability.