Prof. Mandla Radebe

Associate Professor and Director: Centre for Data and Digital Communication
Name: Mandla J. Radebe
Location: B Ring 614 Auckland Park Kingsway Campus
Department of Strategic Communication Staff, Faculty of Humanities  Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: 011 559 3611

Email: mradebe@uj.ac.za

About Prof. Mandla Radebe

Qualifications:

• PhD, Media Studies (Wits University)
• MA, Journalism & Media Studies (Wits University)
• BA Honours, Journalism & Media Studies (Wits University)
• BSc., Computer & Information Technology (Vista University, Soweto campus)

Overview/bio:

Mandla J. Radebe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Strategic Communication and the Director of the Centre for Data and Digital Communications in the School of Communication. With a professional tenure spanning over two decades, he has extensive experience across diverse industries including Accounting & Auditing, Financial Services, Information and Communication Technology, Higher Education, Retail, and the Public Sector. Mandla has actively contributed to numerous policy formulation and development initiatives throughout his career. Previously, he held the role of Business Executive overseeing Communication and Stakeholder Management at the Auditor-General of South Africa until December 2020. He is an award-winning author, recognised for his book “The Lost Prince of the ANC: The Life and Times of Jabulani Nobleman ‘Mzala’ Nxumalo 1955-1991” (Jacana Media), which won the prestigious 2023 South African Literary Awards (SALA) Creative Non-Fiction Literary Award. Mandla is also the author of “Constructing Hegemony: The South African Commercial Media and the (Mis)Representation of Nationalisation” (UKZN Press).

Research Interests:

• Critical Political Economy of Communication
• Digital Capitalism and the Network Society
• Strategic communication: citizen engagement
• The National Question and Nation Formation
• Marxist Theories of Economy, State and Society

Supervision:

Publications:

Books and chapters in books

• 2023 Radebe M.J & Pampallis J “Introduction: Mzala Nxumalo’s ideas in post-apartheid South Africa” in in Mzala Nxumalo, Leftist Thought and contemporary South Africa. Edited by Robert J. Balfour (Jacana Media).
• 2023 Radebe M.J “Socialism is the future: Comrade Mzala’s thoughts on the national question” in Mzala Nxumalo, Leftist Thought and contemporary South Africa. Edited by Robert J. Balfour (Jacana Media).
• Radebe M.J. 2022. “The Lost Prince of the ANC: The Life and Times of Jabulani Nobleman ‘Mzala’ Nxumalo 1955-1991” (Jacana Media).
• Radebe, M.J. “Constructing Hegemony: The South African Commercial Media and the (Mis)Representation of Nationalisation” (UKZN Press).
• Radebe M.J. 2021. “South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Media and Democracy in Destroying Democracy: Neoliberal Capitalism and the Rise of Authoritarian Politics” Edited by Michelle Williams and Vishwas Satgar (WitsPress).

Most recent journal articles

• Radebe M.J. 2023. “Book review: Vital retelling of SA’s history”, African Communist, 1st Quarter, Issue No. 206.
• Radebe, M.J. 2022. “New features of media imperialism: The South African online media and the coverage of the Ukrainian war”. Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 41(2), 75-89.
• Radebe, M. J. 2022. “Framing the Poor during Covid-19: Townships and Informal Settlements in South African Online News”. Communicatio, 1-22.
• Radebe, M. J. 2022. “Book Review: A Brief History of South Africa: From Earliest Times to the Mandela Presidency”. The Thinker, 92(3), 96-101.
• Radebe, M. J., & Chiumbu, S. H. 2022. “Frames and Marginalisation of Counter-hegemonic Voices: Media Representation of the Land Debate in South Africa”. African Journalism Studies, 1-18.
• Radebe M.J. “The Spirit behind the SACP: The International Socialist League and the formation of the Party”. Nduvhuwo
• Radebe, M.J. 2021. “Defending non-racialism”,African Communist, 3rd & 4th Quarter 2020 Issue 203.
• Chiumbu, S. H., & Radebe, M.J. 2020. “Towards a decolonial critical political economy of the media: Some initial thoughts”. Communicatio: South African Journal of Communication Theory and Research, 46(1), 1-20.

Most recent media articles 

• 2024 Radebe, M.J. “Why pledges to expand state control are so appealing in SA” Sunday Times, 18 Feb.
• 2024 Radebe, M.J. “The similarities between Palestine and apartheid South Africa are stark” The Africa at LSE, 8
• 2024 Radebe, M.J. “The indomitable spirit of Jameson Ngoloyi Mngomezulu” Sunday Times, 21 Jan.
• 2024 Radebe, M.J. “Mandela’s vision of a diverse media remains a pipe dream” Sunday Times, 14 Jan.
• 2023 Radebe, M.J “Emerging imperatives for a robust artificial intelligence regulatory framework”, IOL, Oct 6.
• 2023 Radebe, M.J and Prashad, V. “The United States Cannot Tolerate an Independent South Africa”. The Morning Star, Jun 27.

Conference participation:

Most recent conference papers and proceedings 

• Roundtable on the Politics of Online Hate Speech and Internet Shutdowns in Africa, Addis Ababa University, 24 January 2024: Regulating AI: The South Africa Competition Commission and the Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (Radebe, M.J).
• Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute, Oxford University, August 2023: Framing the Poor during Covid 19 Townships and Informal Settlements in South African Online (Radebe, M.J).
• Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute, Oxford University, August 2023: Elections and Digital Media in South Africa (Radebe, M.J).
• IAMCR Lyon, June 2023: South Africa’s online media and the Ukrainian war: A decolonial Marxism perspective (Radebe, M.J).
• IAMCR Online 2021, hosted by United States International University – Africa: Economic Justice during Covid-19: The Framing of the Poor by South Africa’s Online Media (Radebe, M.J).