The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Board announced on Monday the appointment of Professor Sarah Mosoetsa as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Council, effective 1 February 2023.
Mosoetsa vacates her role as CEO at the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) to take up this new position at the HSRC.
“She was instrumental in establishing and setting up the NIHSS in 2013 and held the position of CEO at the institute since 2014,” the HSRC said.
The Professor holds a Doctorate in Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand.
She is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the same university and the author of several publications. These include ‘Eating from one pot: Dynamics of Survival in poor South African households’ (Wits Press) and co-editor of ‘Labour in the Global South: Challenges and Alternatives for Workers (ILO)’, and co-editor of ‘Precarious Labor in Global Perspective’ (Cambridge University Press).
Mosoetsa has worked for various organisations, including the Society, Work and Politics Institute, the HSRC, and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
Prof Mosoetsa sits on various boards and committees inter alia, the National Minimum Wage Commission, the National Research Foundation Board, the University of South Africa Council, the University of Venda Council and the Advisory Board for the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies.
She is passionate about the humanities and social sciences in South Africa, the continent, and the globe, and their contribution to societies grappling with challenges of poverty and inequality, economic transformation, and redress.
HSRC Board Chairperson, Dr Cassius Lubisi, congratulated Mosoetsa on her appointment as CEO.
“The HSRC is proud to welcome her and to share in and benefit from her thought leadership, her pursuit of excellence and her people-centric approach to organisational culture, and we look forward to working alongside her over the next five years,” he said.
Meanwhile, the board thanked Prof Leickness Simbayi for his capable and enduring leadership as interim CEO since the departure of the former CEO, Prof Crain Soudien.