Tamia Bianca Botes is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at Sol Plaatje University and a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her doctoral research explores Eldorado Park as a complex urban landscape shaped by apartheid planning, structural neglect, and enduring struggles for dignity. Through archival and ethnographic research, she examines how Black women sustain everyday worlds of care through midwifery, kinship, and social relationships, revealing the many ways communities imagine and enact alternative futures.
Her research spans medical anthropology, urban anthropology, gender, reproductive justice, violence, Indigenous knowledge systems, and decolonial scholarship. Across her work, she is interested in how histories of race, gender, and place continue to shape contemporary experiences of health, care, memory, and belonging in South Africa.
Tamia's scholarship has been recognised both locally and internationally. In 2021, she received the Africa Thesis Award from the African Studies Centre Leiden for her master's research, Where Have the Midwives Gone? Everyday Histories of Voetvroue in Johannesburg. She was subsequently awarded the SSRC NextGen African Fellows Award in 2024 and the Harry Frank Guggenheim African Fellows Award in 2025, recognising the impact of her research and its contribution to contemporary anthropological scholarship.
As an educator, Tamia is committed to creating thoughtful, collaborative learning environments that encourage critical engagement with anthropology while remaining grounded in place, history, and the lived experiences of communities. Her teaching and research reflect a shared commitment to knowledge production that is socially engaged, historically informed, and attentive to the creative labour of ordinary people.
Tamia serves as the Postdoctoral Representative on the Executive Council of the Anthropology Southern Africa Association (ASnA), where she represents the interests of postdoctoral scholars and contributes to advancing anthropology across the region. She also serves as Chairperson of the 2026 ASnA Conference Organising Committee at Sol Plaatje University, leading the planning and coordination of the Association's annual conference happening in 25- 27 August 2026.