Makubetse Sekhonyane joined the ISS in May 2000 as a senior researcher in the Crime and Justice Programme. Prior to joining ISS, he worked for the Human Rights Committee of South Africa as a researcher focusing on human rights violations and the state's protection mechanisms. Makubetse holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree from the University of Natal, Durban. He completed the Human Rights Advocacy Programme at Columbia University in New York in 1999.

Antoinette Louw is head of the Crime and Justice Programme at the ISS. She has been researching crime, violence and criminal justice in South Africa since 1991 when she joined the Centre for Social and Development Studies at the University of Natal. Since 1997 when she joined the ISS, her work in the policy research field has covered victimisation surveys, crime prevention policy and practice, policing, and public perceptions of justice and safety. Antoinette has a Masters degree in political studies from the University of Natal.