Our Team
Prof Lieketseng Ned (Head of Division)
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 021 938 9615
Lieketseng Ned trained as an Occupational Therapist, is an Associate Professor and Head of Division of disability and rehabilitation studies in the faculty of medicine and health sciences at Stellenbosch University. Her work has been published in accredited and prestigious journals, locally and internationally. She is chairperson of the Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre facility board and a lead editor for a Routledge handbook on disability and global health. Her research interests include disability inclusive health systems, community based rehabilitation, critical disability studies, decolonial health and education and indigenous methodologies.
Emeritus Prof Martha Geiger
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 021 938 9090
Martha Geiger is an Emeritus Professor in the DDRS where her work includes teaching (a masters module on Applied Research Methods and a postgraduate diploma module on Ethics and Community Constructs); supervising post-graduate students research in diverse aspects of disability and rehabilitation and a social impact project, the Chaeli Campaign Journal Club and Writing Project. As a registered speech therapist, her passion is for increasing the communicative participation of children and adults with severe and profound disabilities in under-resourced communities.
Prof Brian Watermeyer
Email: [email protected]
Prof Brian Watermeyer trained as a clinical psychologist (M.A. {Clin. Psych.}) at UCT, before completing a doctorate in psychology (D. Phil), focusing on disability studies, at Stellenbosch University. He was first editor of South Africa's first major text in disability studies, entitled Disability and Social Change: A South African Agenda, published in 2006 (HSRC Press). His second book, Towards a Contextual Psychology of Disablism, was published internationally by Routledge in 2013, and was subsequently re-published in Greek translation in 2024. His most recent book is The Palgrave Handbook of Disability and Citizenship in the Global South (New York: Palgrave), edited by B. Watermeyer, J. McKenzie and L. Swartz (2019). Prof Watermeyer has an extensive list of international journal publications, book chapters, and media appearances as a disability scholar and activist. He has taught on a host of postgraduate programmes at Stellenbosch University, UCT and UWC, in disability studies, clinical psychology, general psychology, medicine and rehabilitation science.
Mrs Maria Van Zyl (Lecturer)
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 021 938 9180
Mrs. Maria van Zyl qualified as an Occupational Therapist and subsequently completed her MPhil in Health Professions Education at Stellenbosch University. She is currently a PhD candidate, focusing her studies on the progressive professional identity formation of MBChB students. Her research interests lie in the personal and professional development of health professions students. She has been employed at the Division of Disability and Rehabilitation Studies since 2008, with her primary role situated in the MBChB programme. Mrs. van Zyl has played a vital role in the curriculum renewal programme, serving as the module chair for the first-year first-semester module, "Being and Becoming in Health Care." Additionally, she leads the "Dr as Change Agent in the Communities" module in collaboration with colleagues from the Division of Health Systems and Public Health and the Department of Industrial Psychology. Furthermore, Mrs. van Zyl is a module team member in the Primary Health Care clinical rotations, including the IDEAL rotation, all of which are still part of the outgoing MBChB curriculum.
Emeritus Professor Gubela Mji
Gubela Mji (PhD) is Emeritus Professor at Stellenbosch University and previous Director of the Division of Disability and Rehabilitation Studies. She previously chaired the African Network for Evidence- to- Action in Disability (AfriNEAD) and was the President for the Association for the Physically Disabled for the Cape Town Region . She has published academic papers in leading journals, chapters, and a book in acclaimed leading publishers. She has been invited to participate in dialogue and decision making by national, regional, and international leading decision makers in the development of indigenous, international, and global health and rehabilitation frameworks.
Dr Surona Visagie (Senior Lecturer)
Email: [email protected]
Surona qualified in 1986 as a physiotherapist and subsequently completed her masters and PhD degrees in health sciences (Disability and Rehabilitation) at Stellenbosch University. She has been involved in various international research projects, including, "Health Care Access for Vulnerable groups in Africa" and "Mapping the assistive technology landscape in Africa, with a specific focus on youth inclusion, skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship." She has to date successfully supervised more than 50 master's students and 4 PhD students. Her interests focus on physical rehabilitation, disability, community integration and assistive devices. She has published extensively in accredited peer reviewed journals and written book chapters. She serves as a member of the editorial team for the international journal, Disability & Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology.
Dr Callista Kahonde (Senior Lecturer)
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr Callista Kahonde is a senior lecturer in the Division of Disability and Rehabilitation Studies. She has a background in Physiotherapy and a PhD in Disability Studies. She has research interests in intellectual and developmental disabilities, focusing specifically on research that uses inclusive methods in exploring community life, family living and sexuality of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has published widely in international peer reviewed journals and contributed chapters to several books, and she occasionally writes for the public media. Currently she is an associate editor for the African Journal of Disability (AJOD), executive board member of the Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities Special Interest Group of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD), member of the governing board of the African Network for Evidence-to-Action in Disability (AfriNEAD), board member of Bhabhisana Baby Project and a member of the Special Olympics Inclusive Health Advisory Committee. She is also a co-presenter and course leader of a short course promoting inclusion of persons with disabilities offered by the Division of Disability and Rehabilitation Studies: Rethinking disability: Promoting empowerment, inclusion, and social justice – Short Courses at Stellenbosch University
Dr Michelle Botha (Senior Lecturer)
Email: [email protected]
Dr Michelle Botha is a Senior Lecturer at the Division for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies. She holds a PhD in Disability Studies and a M.Soc.sci in Gender Studies, both from the University of Cape Town. Her research is located within Critical Disability and Rehabilitation Studies and Feminist Disability Studies, and makes use of Critical Discursive Methods. She is interested in issues of disability, identity, belonging and wellbeing, and has worked on projects focused in the spheres of visual impairment rehabilitation and inclusive education. Her current focus is on exploring and addressing the support needs of providers of visual impairment rehabilitation in South Africa. She is also an Associate Editor with the African Journal of Disability, and is the current chairperson of the Western Cape Network on Disability.
Dr Vic McKinney (Postdoctoral fellow)
Email: [email protected]
Dr Vic McKinney completed both his M.Phil and Ph.D. in Disability Studies at the University of Cape Town. He is passionate about inclusive education and specifically about developing disability inclusive curricula at tertiary educational level, so that future professionals across all disciplines are adequately prepared to accommodate and communicate with people with disabilities in their everyday practice.
His current research explores current understandings of disability within university curricula. This is part of a broader enquiry looking at the ways in which the issue of disability appears in higher education curricula across a range of disciplines. This particular study explores how the question of disability is talked about with the Law curricula at Stellenbosch University.
Drawing on his own experiences as a quadriplegic, Vic has been involved with disability related projects from grassroots to parliamentary level, as both activist and researcher. He currently sits on the board of the Cape Town Association of People with Disabilities and the Shonaquip Social Enterprise and is a member of the South African Presidential Working Group on Disability.
Dr Madri Engelbrecht (Senior Researcher)
Email: [email protected]
Dr Engelbrecht is a Senior Researcher in the DDRS. She completed her PhD at Stellenbosch University in 2020 during which she researched the Supported Employment Model's role in promoting occupational justice for young people with disabilities. She has been practicing as an occupational therapist for 28 years with a focus on supported employment, mental health, and disability, and has worked in both the public and private healthcare sectors, at universities in education and training of occupational therapy students, and in Human Resources in the business sector. She is a co-director of Altitude Supported Employment (Pty)Ltd who facilitates employment relationships between work seeking persons with disabilities and South African employers.
Her research is focused on supported employment, disability and employment, work transitions and work disparities, reasonable accommodation, and occupational justice.
Recent publications:
Dr Lumka Magidigidi-Mathiso (Postdoctoral Fellow)
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr Lumka Magidigidi-Mathiso holds a PhD by Publication in Child and Family Studies (UWC, 2025), with a thesis focused on developing guidelines to strengthen the human capabilities of parents raising children with developmental disabilities through an interdisciplinary team approach. Her research draws on mixed-methods design, community-based participatory research, and capabilities-based frameworks to generate knowledge that is meaningful for families and practitioners in disability and rehabilitation contexts. She has authored peer-reviewed publications in international journals, including the African Journal of Disability, Social Sciences, and the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Dr Magidigidi-Mathiso holds a Master of Arts in Child and Family Studies (UWC, 2021), a Bachelor of Social Science Honours in Psychology (University of Fort Hare, 2017), and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and IsiXhosa Linguistics and Literature (University of Fort Hare, 2015).