HSF Staff

Naseema Fakir

Acting Director

Naseema Fakir was admitted to the Bar in 2019 and holds an LLB from the University of Witwatersrand and BA (Honours) from the University of Johannesburg. She previously practiced as an attorney in 2006 and served as Director of the Legal Resources Centre Johannesburg for 8 years. She also worked as Head of Legal Services at Lawyers for Human Rights in the refugee programme and at the South African Human Rights Commission. Naseema has experience in both public and private law, constitutional and administrative law in a career dedicated to using the law to serve the interests of the most vulnerable and marginalised of society.

naseema@hsf.org.za


Yvette Ondinga

Office Administrator

Yvette Ondinga has worked in different capacities since joining HSF. She is currently the Office Administrator for the HSF. Prior to joining the HSF, she worked as a Project Coordinator for the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), in Johannesburg.


yvette@hsf.org.za


Thuli Mbhele

Office Assistance

Thuli comes from Sebokeng and matriculated in 2006 after which she started working at Great South Autobody quoting on car repairs. Thuli joined the HSF family in 2018.


Christopher Fisher

Lead Researcher

Christopher completed his master’s degree in philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand, and lectured philosophy at various Gauteng universities. He then completed an LLB at the University of Cape Town, and his articles of clerkship at ENSafrica in their competition law department.

christopher@hsf.org.za


Sophie Smit

Researcher

Sophie Smit is a graduate of Wits University with a BA (Law), LLB and LLM (human rights, advocacy and litigation). Sophie is passionate about justice and reducing inequality through the law in South Africa.

sophie@hsf.org.za


Divashnee Naidoo

Researcher

Divashnee completed a BA (Political Science) cum laude at the University of KwaZulu Natal and is currently pursuing an LLB at the University of Cape Town. She has previously interned as a researcher at the Women's Legal Center and as a Political Risk and Data Analysis Intern at Voxcroft Analytics.

divashnee@hsf.org.za


Ezekiel Kekana

Researcher

Ezekiel Kekana, holds BA Honours in Journalism and Media Studies from Wits University, BA Honours in Media Studies, and BA Degree in Communication Science both obtained from the University of South Africa. Ezekiel has 13 years of working experience in the media industry and has worked in print, online, and broadcasting. Prior to joining HSF, he was freelancing for an online news site called GroundUp News, focusing on local government issues in Limpopo and Gauteng provinces.

ezekiel@hsf.org.za

Luke Oosthuizen 

Researcher

Luke Oosthuizen has completed a BA in Philosophy at the University of Southampton, an MA in Human Rights at the University of Sussex, and an MA in Law at the University of Bristol. Luke has strong interests in human rights implementation and international law and hopes to bring an international perspective to his work with HSF.

luke@hsf.org.za


Azwimpheleli Langalanga

Foreign Policy Fellow

Azwimpheleli Langalanga is a Foreign Policy Fellow in the South Africa in the World project. He holds a Master of International Law and Economics from the World Trade Institute, Switzerland, and a Master of Laws from the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. He was previously a Senior Economic Diplomacy Advisor at the Australian High Commission in South Africa, and a Foreign and Economic Policy Advisor at the Embassy of Switzerland also in South Africa. Mr Langalanga was a Researcher at the Economic Diplomacy Program of the South African International Affairs and a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Social Studies, Graduate School of Law and Politics, University of Tokyo, Japan. He researches, teaches and consults on global economic governance, international trade, geopolitics and geoeconomics including South Africa (and Africa)’s position in the world.

azwimpheleli@hsf.org.za