Samantha Waterhouse

Samantha Waterhouse is currently the Head of the Womxn and Democracy Initiative of the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape. She’s focused on enhancing ‘feminist democracy’ for social justice in South Africa by strengthening efforts to hold government accountable to the public, including strengthening public claims on the legislatures. She has worked for over twenty years in the women and in the children’s sectors. This history is threaded into her current focus to enhance an intersectional feminist approach to governance in South Africa. Her work emphasises connected and collaborative approaches, believing in the strength of co-creation and collective action, while respecting and grappling with the often uncomfortable realities of supporting pluralism. She holds a diploma in photography (Peninsula Technikon) and an MPhil in Social Justice (University of Cape Town).