“What makes me most proud is that I showed up fully as a mother, a researcher, a worker and a woman grounded in care. I didn’t shrink any part of myself to fit the mould of what a PhD candidate is supposed to be.”

These words by Dr Pfarelo Matsila – a researcher and project manager for Just Leaders at the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Centre for Sexualities, AIDS, and Gender (CSA&G) – encapsulate a doctoral journey that has defied conventional academic trajectories. Her path from uncertainty to scholarly triumph is a testament to the transformative power of community care – principles that would ultimately shape her research on gendered care in South Africa’s informal economy.

Dr Matsila’s academic journey began at the University of Cape Town in 2014, where her undergraduate studies in social sciences first exposed her to critical debates around race, gender, inequality and health. However, financial constraints forced a temporary pause in her academic pursuits, leading her to the University of North-West to do an honours degree in Medical Sociology. It was there, while her mother covered residence fees and her uncle contributed towards tuition, that she began doing students’ nails as a side hustle to afford basic necessities.

“It was tough, but it taught me resourcefulness, resilience and the power of community support,” Dr Matsila reflects. 

This early experience of balancing survival with scholarship would become a defining characteristic of her academic journey and, ultimately, the foundation of her doctoral research.

In 2019, Dr Matsila joined UP to do a master’s degree, where Professor Zitha Mokomane helped her to secure funding for her research project. By 2021, she had embarked on her PhD while working at the CSA&G, a dual commitment that would see her navigate the complex terrain of motherhood, full-time employment and doctoral studies simultaneously.

Her doctoral thesis – ‘Caring biographies: A qualitative exploration of South African informal sector workers’ gendered subjectivities of care’ – took her back to her roots in rural Venda, where she had worked with informal street traders navigating the demands of wage labour and caregiving. The research was both deeply personal and politically significant, exploring how care operates as both an experience and a political act within South Africa’s informal economy.

What distinguished Dr Matsila’s PhD journey was not merely its academic rigour, but the embodied nature of her scholarship. She began her studies at the age of 25 while pregnant with her first child and defended her thesis while expecting her second. This experience of literally creating and nurturing life while producing knowledge about care added profound depth to her research.

“Being pregnant while interviewing women street traders about their caregiving experiences made the work feel deeply embodied,” she explains. “Their stories of balancing work, caregiving and survival mirrored my own in ways I could never have predicted.”

Dr Matsila’s research makes significant contributions to gender studies, sociology and informal labour studies by centring care as both an experience and a political act. Her work challenges static ideas of gender roles, documenting how some men are taking on caregiving responsibilities not out of obligation, but love. These narratives disrupt dominant ideas about masculinity, particularly in African contexts, and contribute to emerging conversations about caring masculinities.

The study’s insistence on complexity reveals care as economic, cultural, emotional and deeply gendered. Using an intersectional lens alongside social reproduction theory, Dr Matsila demonstrates how gender, class, culture and structural inequalities shape how care is given, received and valued in spaces where formal support is limited.

Her research extends beyond academic contribution to practical application within her role at UP. Although her primary position is research-focused, Dr Matsila supervises honours students in Sociology and occasionally lectures; this includes teaching a module titled The Politics of Reproduction and Intimacy. She guides students to think critically about methodology and positionality, particularly when working with marginalised communities.

The institutional support Dr Matsila received at UP proved crucial to her success. Her supervisor, Prof Mokomane, provided steady and compassionate guidance, while the Department of Sociology created an environment where she felt both challenged and supported. Most significantly, the CSA&G provided more than employment; it offered a home where completing her PhD was integrated into her key performance indicators, giving her the time to immerse herself in the writing process.

Dr Matsila’s academic achievements go beyond her doctoral completion. In 2019, she was selected as part of the first UP cohort to participate in an academic exchange with Humboldt University in Berlin, an experience that broadened her intellectual horizons and affirmed the value of African scholarship in international spaces.

Her journey has transformed her perspective as a UP community member, moving from fulfilling a role to feeling part of something bigger. 

“I now feel more confident about claiming space in conversations about institutional change, curriculum development and student support, especially in ensuring that black women, working mothers and scholars from rural contexts are seen, heard and valued,” she notes.

For colleagues considering similar journeys, Dr Matsila advocates for practical strategies: scheduling protected research time, building strong support networks, utilising smart tools, writing consistently rather than waiting for perfect moments and practising self-kindness. 

Looking back, her greatest pride lies not in the qualification itself, but in how she achieved it while remaining authentically herself.