Akhona Ndzuta

Dr Akhona Ndzuta is the Head of Department and Lecturer at the Department of Cultural Policy and Management (CPM) at the Wits School of Arts. She is interested in the role of culture in South Africa’s democratic project. Her research activities are in the intersections of the management of South African music and public policy. Akhona holds a PhD from the Ohio State University and has occupied two postdoctoral fellowships. Her undergraduate and (post)graduate teaching has included courses in musicology, cultural studies, and arts management at the University of South Africa, Wits University, the Ohio State University, the Tshwane University of Technology, and the University of Fort Hare. Her recent work includes a contributing editorship to volume 1 of the book ‘Culture and Liberation Struggle in South Africa: from Colonialism to Post-Apartheid’. As a music practitioner, she trained as a jazz vocalist and performed in various popular music genres between 2000 and 2010 in Johannesburg and Cape Town. At CPM, she coordinates 3rd-year programs and teaches undergraduate and (post)graduate courses. She also supervises (post)graduate research on the labour conditions of South African music practitioners in domestic and international contexts, cultural entrepreneurship, South African cultural policy foundations and processes, music and cultural diplomacy, and arts education.