Biowatch South Africa is a non-profit, public benefit organisation. Our long-term, active and committed Board of Trustees (of which our Director is a member), plays a strong fiduciary and strategic leadership role, ensuring effectiveness and accountability.
- Prof. Loretta Feris
Loretta is Vice-Principal: Academic at the University of Pretoria. Previously she was professor of Environmental Law at University of Pretoria, and deputy vice-chancellor (transformation) and professor of law at the University of Cape Town. Loretta is an NRF-rated researcher and her research interest includes environmental rights and trade and environment.
- Dr David Fig
David is an honorary research associate at the University of Cape Town and a Fellow of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. His research focuses on environmental problems related to energy, extractive industries and corporate behaviour. His training is in international political economy and he works closely with the environmental justice movement.
- David Ntseng (Chairperson)
David is the director of the Church Land Programme. He has several years’ experience in working with and learning from movements as they have resisted evictions and organised for their rights in the city, and is skilled and knowledgeable concerning the practices of a politics of dignity emerging from within movements themselves. He holds a Masters Degree in Education from UKZN.
- Prof. Mvuselelo Ngcoya
Mvu is an associate professor at the UKZN School of Built Environment and Development Studies. Agrarian issues such as land, land reform, small-scale agriculture and rural development form the kernel of his research interests.
- Stembeni Williams
Beni is a community development practitioner, a trained nurse and has expertise in strategic engagements. She was Projects Co-ordinator at Mpilonhle, a community-based organisation dedicated to identifying and implementing innovative solutions for the health and social problems faced by rural youth in South Africa.
- Rose Williams (Director)
Rose is the director of Biowatch South Africa and has been in this position since 2009. Previously she worked as a freelance researcher/consultant and for many years before that as curator of the KwaZulu-Natal Herbarium – one of three herbaria under the South African National Biodiversity Institute. She has also taught at both secondary and tertiary levels. Her particular interest is in biodiversity, indigenous knowledge and environmental justice.
- Prof. Rachel Wynberg
Rachel holds a DST/NRF Research Chair on Social and Environmental Dimensions of the Bio-Economy at the University of Cape Town. Her research is focused on biopolitics, community rights, social justice and environmental governance, and she is active in the NGO community in Southern Africa.
- Sithandiwe Yeni (Vice-Chairperson)
Stha, who led a civil society alliance of organisations for land, water and food justice in rural South Africa, is currently working on her PhD in Land and Agrarian Studies. She is a researcher, presenter and writer, and contributes to a monthly column in The Witness. She is convenor and facilitator of feminist schools for young women living on farms and around the mines, working to unpack patriarchy and build resistance.
