Introduction

Jill Samukimba is a PhD candidate in the University of Cape Town Department of Sociology. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences specialising in Gender Studies and Sociology and an MPhil in Development Studies. Her research interests are in the sociology of the family, particularly concerning customary practices, relational power, childcare, motherhood, and fatherhood. Her current research explores mothers' role as active agents in influencing, shaping, and constructing fathering among amaXhosa in South Africa.