The Centre for Social Sciences Research (CSSR) and the  Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa  (IDCPPA) at the University of Cape Town invite you to join us for a lunchtime seminar on 19 May 2026 at 12:45pm. The seminar will be presented by Likhona Qazisa.

About the Seminar:

Socially Constructed Meanings of Umsebenzi (Work) in a Comparative Historical Analysis (MPhil Findings)

Understanding the development of indigenous sociological concepts in the vernacular contributes to the making of an African sociology and ultimately a comparative global sociology. The MPhil thesis investigated socially constructed meanings of the concept umsebenzi (work) and associated terms from the perspective of IsiXhosa-speaking professionals. The following meanings emerged: umsebenzi meaning homestead-related work; agricultural work; paid work; traditional ritual work; and God's work or evangelism. These socially constructed meanings were then compared with the meanings of the English concepts of work and labour found in Williams' book 'Keywords: A vocabulary of culture and society'. While there are numerous similarities and convergences, the main difference between the meanings of work/labour and umsebenzi/ukuphangela is that the English concepts exclusively focus on secular meanings, and the IsiXhosa concepts include both secular and religious meanings.

Ukuqonda ukwakhiwa kweengcamango zentlalo zomgquba ngolwimi lwasekuhlaleni lunogalelo ekwenziweni kwezifundo zentlalo zeAfrika, ekugqibeleni kunye nokuthelekiswa nezifundo zentlalo zajikelele. Le thisis iphanda ukwakhiwa kweentsingiselo ngokwesimo sentlalo kwegama umsebenzi (namagama asondeleyo) ngokwembono yezifundiswa ezithetha IsiXhosa. Iziphumo ziveze ezintsingiselo: umsebenzi njengomsebenzi wasekhaya; ngokudibene nezolimo; njengengqesho; ngokudibene namasiko; kunye nomsebenzi kaThixo okanye ubuvangeli Ezintsingiselo ziye zathelekiswa neentsingiselo zomsebenzi ezikwincwadi ka Williams ethi 'Keywords: A vocabulary of culture and society'. Kwavela ukuba nangona kukho ukufana nokudibana, owona mahluko phakathi kweentsingiselo zomsebenzi kunye nokuphangela kukuba iingcamango zesiNgesi zigxile kuphela kwiintsingiselo zehlabathi. Ngelixa ezesiXhosa ziquka zombini ezehlabathi kunye nezenkolo iintsingiselo.

Speakers

Likhona is a Research Assistant in the Safety and Violence Initiative (SaVI) at the Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR) at the University of Cape Town, where she works on the Supporting Wellness through Integrated Family Training (SWIFT) study. Likhona recently submitted her MPhil thesis in Development Studies. She holds a Bachelor of Social Science Honours specialising in Development Studies from UCT and is a Mastercard Foundation Alumni.

  19 May 2026
  12:45 - 14:00 SAST
  CSSR Seminar Room, 4.29, Robert Leslie Social Sciences Building, UCT

Hosted by the Centre for Social Science Research and the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa