A life of impact: UCT bids a warm farewell to Prof Murray Leibbrandt

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) hosted a warm and heartfelt farewell lunch for Professor Murray Leibbrandt, the esteemed National Research Foundation’s chair in Poverty and Inequality, and former director of SALDRU.

After nearly three decades at the unit, Professor Leibbrandt is stepping back from full-time academic duties, but not away from the work he loves. He will continue to lead, guide and advise on projects that remain close to his heart.

Colleagues, students and long-time collaborators gathered to celebrate his pioneering scholarship in labour and development economics, and to reflect on the profound intellectual and personal influence he has had on South Africa’s policy landscape. Many expressed gratitude for his mentorship, patience and unwavering commitment to nurturing young researchers.

Pioneering scholarship

The event marked not just a farewell, but the acknowledgement of a legacy that will continue to shape SALDRU and the broader academic community.

Speaking at the event, Leibbrandt reflected on the chance moments and generous individuals who shaped his career.

“I’ve just had an incredibly serendipitous, blessed journey with all of you.”

“I’ve just had an incredibly serendipitous, blessed journey with all of you,” he said. “Every step of the way, doors have opened in their own way that put me in touch with people who are way better than me, but are also on a path of doing good in the world.”.

After completing an honours degree at Rhodes University, he moved to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship, an opportunity that broadened his academic horizons and helped form a professional network. Returning to South Africa, he was invited to teach at Rhodes before a meeting with UCT’s head of the School of Economics set him on a new path: a role as a labour economist at UCT.

“It turned out that there was a wonderful match between what I had to offer, in a very humble way, and fitting into the School of Economics,” he said.

His later appointment as head of the school brought him into closer contact with UCT’s research units. Through this work, he found his enduring academic focus: poverty, inequality and labour market dynamics, fields in which he is now regarded as one of South Africa’s most influential voices.

Najwa Allie-Edries, the head of the Jobs Fund at South Africa’s National Treasury, paid tribute to Leibbrandt’s influence, both a policy advisor and a deeply humane researcher. “Murray taught us that policy is at its best when people are at the forefront,” she said.

Across successive administrations, his evidence-based insights have shaped national policies. He advised on labour legislation in the early democratic era as part of former President Nelson Mandela’s Labour Market Commission, contributed to the National Minimum Wage Panel led by then Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, served on expert teams guiding the implementation of the Basic Income Support Grant.

Unwavering commitment

In 2021, he also worked on the Ministerial Task Team reviewing student funding for the Department of Higher Education and Training, linking financial aid, educational inequality and the intergenerational transmission of poverty. In each of these roles, be brought not only analytical rigour, but an unwavering commitment to improving people’s lives.

Leibbrandt’s effectiveness as an economist is inseparable from his empathy. Former colleagues shared stories of his compassion, generosity and humility, qualities that shaped them not only as researchers, but as people.

“Murray’s superpower is that he believes in people.”

“Murray’s superpower is that he believes in people – giving them the confidence to believe in themselves and pathing the way for them to achieve great things,” said Professor Ingrid Woolard, the former dean of the Faculty of Commerce at UCT.“

His supervisory record speaks for itself. Since 1999, he has supervised 48 PhD students, with 37 already graduated and 11 still under his guidance. This equates to between one and two doctoral graduations every year for more than a quarter of a century – a remarkable contribution to South Africa’s research capacity.

Today, scholars across government, academia, NGOs, international organisations and civil society trace part of their careers back to his mentorship and belief in their potential.

Through his own body of work and the careers he has helped cultivate, Leibbrandt has helped create a framework for understanding poverty and inequality that will shape thinking and policymaking for generations. His influence, as SALDRU Associate Professor Nicola Branson noted in closing, “radiates outward in a way that is hard to quantify but impossible to miss”.