Dr Buntu Siwisa

Senior Lecturer
Name: Buntu Siwisa
Location: B-Ring 240 Auckland Park Kingsway Campus
DPIR Senior Lecturers, Department of Politics and International Relations Staff  Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: 011 559 2896

Email: siwisab@uj.ac.za

About Dr Buntu Siwisa

Dr Buntu Siwisa, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International; Relations at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), obtained a D. Phil. in Politics and International Relations, on a Rhodes Scholarship (2000) from the University of Oxford, St. Peter’s College. He graduated for his M. A. (Development Studies, 2001); B.A. (Hons) (Economic History) (1998), and B.A. (Economic History & Legal Studies, 1997) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

He has worked extensively, in positions ranging from academia; research on governance and development; conflict analysis, management and resolution. His research interests range from conflict studies; peace and security, peacebuilding and development in Africa; the role of BRICS in peace, security and development in Africa; non-racial sports liberation history; biographies; to urban development and social movements.

His most recent publications are Rugby, Resistance and Politics: How Dan Qeqe Shaped the History of Port Elizabeth (2022; Jacana Media, Johannesburg & 2023; Routledge, UK). This was longlisted in the 2023 Sunday Times Literary Awards. Umbhoxo: Making Rugby an Afrikan Game (with Philani Nongogo, Hendrik Snyders and Mzukisi Twala, (2023); and a novel, Paperless (2023; Jacana Media, Johannesburg). It was shortlisted in the 2022 James Currey Prize for African Literature and shortlisted for the 2024 Cultural and Creative Industry Awards (CCIA).

Some of his other publications, in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters are:

BRICS: Funding the Nexus Between Peace, Security and Development, (Chapter 14), (April 2023); (Chapter 14) in the book, The BRICS in Africa: Promoting Development?, (HSRC Press, Cape Town);  Hemmed In-Between Apartheid, Ciskei and Chiefs: The History of the Victoria East Rugby Union (VERU), 1971 – 1989, in, (eds.) Nongogo, P.; Siwisa, B. & Snyders, H. (eds.)

Making Rugby an Afrikan Game: Decolonial Narratives on the Origins, Cultures and Politics, 1886 – 1996; (September 2023); Forging State-Building Through BRICS: Remodelling South Africa’s Foreign Policy Approach on Zimbabwe, South African Journal of International Affairs, (October 2020), (https://doi.rg/10.1080/10220461.2020.1815571);

New Security Threats, or Old Threats Gone New? (BRICS Journal, Issue 3, February / March 2017); Social Citizenship and the Emergence of the New Social Movements in Post-Apartheid South Africa, (2011), (Chapter 8) in, Development Dilemmas in Post-Apartheid South Africa, co-edited by Bill Freund and Harald Witt, (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg); Crowd Renting or Struggling From Below?: The Concerned Citizens’ Forum in Mpumalanga Township, Durban, 1998 – 2005, Journal of Southern African Studies, December 2008, (34) 4.