In the year 2023, distinguished lecturers from the Department of Political Sciences achieved noteworthy recognition by prominently featuring on both local and international media platforms, as well as successfully contributing to esteemed academic publications. Heartfelt congratulations are extended to these accomplished individuals, whose achievements stand as a testament to the exceptional calibre of lecturers hosted by our esteemed department.

Events: 

The Department of Political Science hosted Her Excellency Tanja Fajon, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. The event garnered participation from various members of the international community, UP colleagues, and students.

The department, in collaboration with the Embassy of Ukraine, once again organized an event centred on international affairs: "Re-centering the Role of Diplomacy in a Fragmented World Order." This event captured the interest of political analysts, students, members of the international community, and colleagues from neighbouring universities.

Appearances on Media Platforms: 

• Christopher Nshimbi
  • wrote an article which appeared in Welt-Sichten magazine titled Grenzen auf in Afrika! 

• Roland Henwood 
  • Newzroom Afrika about the increased number of state visits to South Africa
  • SAfM about the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s trip to China
  • SAfM about the riots in France
  • kykNet to discuss a variety of international relations issues here and here
  • Pretoria FM to discuss the recent by-election results

• Christopher Isike
  • ENCA News where he was interviewed  on the  BRICS expansion
  • ABC News Australia to discuss on the military coup in Gabon 
  • Newzroom Afrika to discuss the Russia Africa Summit and Ramaphosa’s peace mission talks with President Putin in Russia.  
  • SABC News to discuss peace and security in the African continent.
  • SAFM Radio on the Stephen Grootes’ show for a discussion on the military coup in Niger.
  • Vietnam News Television to discuss the military coup in Niger.
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  •       Newzroom Afrika by Ziyanda Ngcobo on the  African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum taking place amid thawing relations with the US.
  •      Newzroom Afrika to unpack the exclusion of countries from the AGOA beneficiary list.          
  •     SABC News with Bongiwe Zwane to analyse South Africa's position on Hamas.  
  •    SABC News with Liezel Wilson to unpack the developments in the Israel/Palestine war.
  • Vietnam News Agency for a television interview on the African perspectives and outcomes of the 78th UNGA Television
  • Radio 702 Breakfast Show with Bongani Bingwa to discuss the expectations and significance of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
  • Voice of America Africa Interview on Military coup in Niger
  • SAFM Radio to discuss the military coup in Niger with Stephen Grootes         
  • Newzroom Afrika Channel 405 to discuss the Russia Africa Summit with Stephen Grootes and on Ramaphosa's peace mission talks with President Putin in Russia                          
  • Vietnam News Television to discuss the Military Coup in Niger 
  • Radio Islam to discuss US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s trip to China
  • SABC News to discuss the Russian government’s charges against Wagner’s Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin

Presentations

• Christopher Nshimbi
  • presented the keynote address on Epidemics and the politics of compliance in global infectious disease control: Some notes and intriguing questions from contiguous nation-state borderlands at the IGU Commission on African Studies Thematic Conference, Mobilising geographical knowledge in response to increased and intensified pandemics and risks at Universidade Pedagógica De Maputo in Mozambique.
  • Was a panellist at The EU and international diplomatic law and politics: Views from the outside.  The programme focused on the perception of the EU & its member states from three vantage points in Africa.

• Christopher Isike
  • presented at The Australia Africa Universities Network (AAUN) Forum Conference  held from 3 - 5 September 2023 hosted by Curtin University Conference. He presented a paper on “Harnessing the science diaspora diplomacy potentials of the African diaspora in Australia’ and also delivered the key note address titled The geopolitics of Africa and the Indo-Pacific.
  • Presented a paper entitled “Living in Freedom, Not Feardom: A Coordinated Local-Global Network Approach to Enhancing Women’s Participation in Security and Peace Processes in Nigeria”  at the 27th  IPSA World Congress of the International Political Science Association in Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Took part in the IPSA Round-table on Academic Freedom at the 27th IPSA World Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Was a guest speaker at the University of Johannesburg’s Institute for the Future of Knowledge Seminar Series on  Barriers to Accessing Journals in Africa and the Global South held on 1 August  2023.

Publications on academic platforms

• Christopher Isike
  • published an article on “No Colonial Baggage”: Imagining a Decolonised Australia-Africa Relations" with Muhammad Suleiman and David Mickler in the Australian Journal of Politics and History                          

• Christopher Nshimbi and Leon Tshimpaka (Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation)  
  • co-authored  The Reconstruction of Post-War Labour Markets in The Southern African Development Community  Insights from The Democratic Republic of The Congo
  • co-authored a chapter entitled “On est pas de cobayes” Congolese migrants and health transnationalism in the COVID-19 moment in The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Politics of Life (pp. 127-140). Routledge India.  
  • co-edited the book Area contributing articles on Intergovernmentalism, supranationalism and interregional relations, Rethinking migration narratives through Africa–EU relations from below, Of “pieces of cake” and “elephants in the room” and Africa–EU relations and the African Continental Free Trade Area

• Cori Wielenga and Christopher Nshimbi
  • co-edited the book titled “Justice during Transitions: Policies that Reflect African Realities” with the West African Transitional Justice Centre  

• Cori Wielenga
  • Published an article with  Patrick Hajayandi and Samuel Igba titled  ‘Why Burundi intervenes in the DRC: Self-interest or Pan-Africanist considerations?’  in The Strategic Review for Southern Africa, 45(1) 2023.
  • facilitated a dialogue on Woman, Peace and Security hosted by the German Embassy in Pretoria

• Christopher Isike and Martin Ihembe
  • Published a book chapter entitled Covid-19, Politics, Economy, and Governance in Africa through the Lens of Electoral Democracy in the African Democracy: Impediments, Promises, and Prospects- Jonathan O. Chimakonam & Isaiah A .Negedu (eds), Pages 307-328DOI:10.5040/9781350299269.ch-17

• Christopher Nshimbi
  • published an article in the Journal of Contemporary African Studies entitled The AfCFTA: promise for a globally competitive continent and Africa’s development
  • published an article in the Academic Publication Journal of Contemporary European Research titled   Rethinking African-European Scientific Cooperation: The Case of the Platform for African-European Studies.
  • Published a book chapter in Immigrant Lives: Intersectionality, Transnationality, and Global Perspectives titled ‘Of Ranks and Peripheries: Weaponizing Difference Against Immigrants in Southern Africa’.