Phakama Ntshongwana is a Social Policy Professor at Nelson Mandela University and holds a DPhil in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford. Prior to joining Nelson Mandela University, she worked as a Policy Analyst at the Oxford Institute of Social Policy for 8 years. Through the auspices of the Southern African Social Policy Research Insights (SASPRI), she has experience in training senior government officials from a number of departments in evidence-informed policy making. Her research interests include social policy in developing countries; the impact of deprivation on Early Childhood development, Education and Dignity.

She co-authored the South African Index of Multiple Deprivation which informed social policy, including the implementation of the non-school fee paying policy in quintiles one to three. Her Social Security research work has had a gender focus, in particular experiences of women in receipt of the Child Support Grant in relation to their children, the labour market and their communities. Her gendered approach to social policy began as a member of the Pan African Parliament think tank for the formation of its rules.