Dr Shabalala is employed by the University of South Africa as a lecturer in the Tourism Management section of the Department of Applied Management, with both teaching and research experience. Her key interest is conducting research within a local community context of cultural and heritage tourism mostly of those living adjacent to protected areas. This to be associated with adherence to traditional protocols and community engagement and involvement.
Her academic career started in the year 2017 when she was appointed as a lecturer through the second cohort of the New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP) in a Tourism & Heritage post at the University of Mpumalanga (UMP). She became the first UMP nGAP scholar to complete a PhD and successfully complete the programme in record time. She graduated with a PhD from Wits University in the Faculty of Science (the School of Geography, Archaeology & Environmental Studies - GAES) on 14 December 2020. Her PhD examined perspectives on the role of cultural heritage tourism in community development in South Africa, using the Mapungubwe World Cultural Heritage Site as a case study. The focus was on how local communities and heritage custodians can benefit from cultural heritage tourism in heritage sites, as it remains a concern, including the realisation of social and economic development in its true sense.
She is an emerging researcher, with a keen interest to advance in all aspects of the academic portfolio. She holds a master’s degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management conferred by the University of Johannesburg (UJ). She recently graduated with a Post Graduate Diploma in Higher Education at UJ on 15 April 2024. She is also, a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society since 2021.