Judy Hofmeyr

Global Development Institute; Independent Consultant; IHRB Research Fellow

Judy is an independent consultant and researcher based between the UK and South Africa, her home country. She is currently in the final stages of completing a PhD in Development Policy and Management at the University of Manchester's Global Development Institute. She is also working as a Research Fellow at the Africa Policy Research Institute in Berlin. 

Her research focuses on natural resource governance, especially the socio-legal dynamics and competing interests that shape relations between mines, communities, and the environment. Her PhD project investigates the application of international business and human rights standards in Africa’s extractive industries. She is particularly interested in how both hard and soft law is influenced by the urgency of the energy transition and what rights repercussions it may hold for Africa's people.

Before returning to academia, Judy spent seven years working in the Southern African mining sector, delivering and managing projects in South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Tanzania, and Botswana. She started out as a mediator of mine-community disputes, thereafter taking on a consultant role in Deloitte Africa's mining team.

Judy has extensive experience working directly with both community and corporate actors to navigate the impacts of mining. With projects and research conducted across dozens of mining jurisdictions in Southern Africa, she has continuously deepened her understanding of the challenging task of balancing developmental interests, social justice, and environmental sustainability in policy-making.

Judy holds a Masters' Degree in Violence, Conflict and Development from SOAS (University of London); an Honours Degree in Political Sciences from UNISA; and both a BA Law degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Communications from the University of Stellenbosch.