TTPod 5.4: "Journey of a Candidate Town Planner" - In Conversation with Tunisia Cassim

About this episode

Tunisia Cassim shares her inspiring journey as a candidate town planner, discussing challenges, resilience, and mentorship in the planning profession.

This TTPod episode is a perfect example of the kind of conversation we want to amplify on this platform. I'm joined online from Tshwane by Tunisia Cassim, recently recognised as one of the South African Council for Planners’ Top 30 Women in Planning for 2025. Tunisia’s journey is truly inspiring and reflective of many of the challenges young planners face. She shares her early days navigating bursaries and retrenchments, to the resilience and perseverance needed during the COVID-era, JUST when her career was changing gears. And more recently we share in the celebration of her recently completed Master of Science in Planning at Wits. Her story is about more than professional milestones—it’s about resilience, mentorship, and the passion to connect theory with practice in the planning profession. She is a tireless champion and emerging mentor for young planners through her widely followed LinkedIn journal, Journey of a Candidate Town Planner. Tunisia reflects on the giants who shaped her path, the importance of bursaries and supportive educators, and the realities of building a career in a shifting urban landscape. Her reflections on resilience, mentorship, and the intersection of…

People in this episode

Host: Pete Ahmad

Guest: Tunisia Cassim

Topics covered

• urban planning
• resilience
• mentorship
• career challenges
• COVID-19 impact
• women in planning

Keywords

• town planner
• resilience
• mentorship
• urban landscape
• COVID-19
• South Africa
• planning profession

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: South African Council for Planners

Books & works: Journey of a Candidate Town Planner

Places: Tshwane