Challenges and strategies among the poor, town planning lecturer who focuses on urban agriculture in KwaMashu, Durban, South Africa awarded as a top South African!
Town Planning lecturer in the School of Built Environment and Development Studies, Dr Hangwelani Hope Magidimisha-Chipungu recently made the 2018 Mail & Guardian’s top 200 Young South Africans edition.
The newspaper supplement showcases young stars that are shaping the country’s future.
“Winning this award encourages me to do more. It will always be a reminder that hard work pays off. This award will surely act as a source of inspiration and motivation for other young women to become academics especially in town and regional planning, where females are needed the most.
“It is also never easy to strike a balance between being a mother of three young kids, being a wife, being a leader and an academic. It requires lot of time management and very strong family support. I am glad to have my husband who is the source of my strength. He is always there when I need him the most. He is a super dad and the best husband,” said Magidimisha-Chipungu.
Getting to the pinnacle of your career at a relatively young age is a dream which many have had at one time or other. But for some, it is a non- negotiable success which matures with time and age. This is exactly the case with Dr Magidimisha-Chipungu who at a prime age of 31, obtained her PhD in Town and Regional Planning from UKZN.
What is extraordinary about this qualification is that she became the first black South African woman to obtain such a qualification from the Town Planning Discipline at this University. This was not an ordinary qualification – but a qualification which further proved her ability in research and academic work.
Rising up from being a PhD researcher at the Human Sciences and Research Council (HSRC), she has a traceable record of peer-reviewed publications (book chapters, books and journal articles) with the latest being a 2017 book on migration in Southern Africa. Her strength in research is supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation (NRF).
Her move to the University as an academic saw her attributes diversifying through teaching and supervision of masters and PhD students. This is in addition to her research where she has presented her papers both at national and international forums. Her administrative competency saw her being appointed as a senior lecturer and academic leader for the Housing and Town Planning Cluster, as well as a member of the University Senate and Institutional Forum.
This is in addition to her appointment as a Council member of SACPLAN and a Committee member of the KZN Planning Tribunal. This in turn caught the eye of the international community – in particular, the International Society of City and Regional Planning (ISOCARP) which appointed her to direct the first workshop for Young Professional Planners (YPP) in South Africa in 2016.
For Magidimisha-Chipungu, this is the beginning stage for greater things to come.
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