People & Partners

Thandeka Tshabalala

Thandeka Tshabalala has a BSc (Hons) in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Witwatersrand and an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cape Town. Her urban planning career started when she joined the SA SDI Alliance to work with local communities across South Africa (mainly in Cape Town) to develop informal settlement upgrading projects as well as building partnerships with local governments to improve access to basic services to the urban poor. She later joined ICLEI Africa, working with local governments across Africa to mainstream climate action in urban planning processes. She is currently employed by the City of Cape Town, working on energy poverty alleviation related issues. As a PhD candidate at the CST, her research topic is ‘Strengthening Energy Poverty Alleviation Efforts in South Africa’s Energy Transition: Institutional Work Required at Local Government Level’.  She enjoys the outdoors and being around family and friends.

• Energy transitions
• Energy poverty