Wendy Tsoriyo is a postdoctoral researcher in urban and regional planning, hosted at the Gauteng City-Region Observatory, with a focus on contributing to just and inclusive cities through research, stakeholder engagement, community development, and teaching and learning.
With over 10 years of experience in academia, the civic and public sectors, Wendy’s key focus areas include spatial justice, urban informality, public space planning, urban governance and sustainability planning.
Tsoriyo says: “Investing in care infrastructure is an essential public good. It should be prioritised alongside other infrastructure investments such as digital technology, roads, energy, water, and sanitation. When governments fail to invest in care infrastructure adequately, women are trapped in unfair, unpaid work, thereby limiting their opportunities to thrive.
“Often, working women … stay home because they can’t afford private child care or the care of elderly relatives, as a significant portion of their wages would be spent on these expenses. Some find themselves relying on support from other women in their lives, such as relatives and friends. This inequitable situation persists from one generation to the next because our governments do not invest enough to change it.”
