sandra zaroufis

Sandra Zaroufis is pursuing her Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. Her focus is on understanding people’s access to land, infrastructure, and other resources in Mankweng, Limpopo, South Africa. This peri-urban town is surrounded by rural villages, in a former bantustan. Conditions of rapid rates of urbanisation, a dual governance system of traditional authorities and the state, interact with mixed livelihoods, wherein citizens exercise their democratic agency. Zaroufis has completed fieldwork and engaged with smallholder farmers, uncovering social relations and pathways of access to land, water, and energy.

She holds a Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) and Applied Biology and Environmental & Geographical Sciences (BSc) degree. Thus, her interdisciplinary knowledge is combined with ethnography, which is explored through participatory GIS and digital storytelling workshops. Being from Soweto, historical factors and local knowledge take precedence in her research.