东京热

Prof. Mandla Radebe

Professor
Name: Mandla J. Radebe
Location: B Ring 614 Auckland Park Kingsway Campus
Department of Strategic Communication Staff, Faculty of Humanities听 Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: 011 559 3611

Email:听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)

听Overview/bio:

Mandla J. Radebe is a Professor of Strategic Communication and the founding Director of the Centre for Data and Digital Communications at the 东京热, where he teaches and supervises postgraduate students. He has over 25 years of professional experience, having held senior and executive positions across multiple sectors, including the Auditor-General of South Africa, Absa Bank/Barclays Africa, Telkom SA, and the Gauteng Provincial Government. He serves in several leadership and governance roles, including Chairperson of Council at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), Deputy Chairperson of the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), Board Member of the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO), and Advisory Board Member of Tricontinental Pan-Africa. Radebe is an award-winning author, best known for The Lost Prince of the ANC: The Life and Times of Jabulani Nobleman 鈥楳zala鈥� Nxumalo 1955-1991 (Jacana Media), which received the 2023 South African Literary Awards (SALA) Creative Non-Fiction Literary Award and the 2024 South African Cultural and Creative Industries Award from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The book was also longlisted for the 2023 Sunday Times Literary Awards Non-Fiction Prize.

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

Publications:

Books

• Radebe M.J 2025 鈥淎partheid Did not Die: South Africa鈥檚 Unfinished Revolution鈥� (Inkani Books).
• Radebe M.J. Sitto-Kaunda, K. & Lubinga, E. (Ed.). 2024 鈥淭he Public Sector Communication in the Digital Age鈥� (UJ Press).
• Radebe M.J 2022 鈥淭he Lost Prince of the ANC: The Life and Times of Jabulani Nobleman 鈥楳zala鈥� Nxumalo 1955-1991鈥� (Jacana Media).
• Radebe, M.J 2020 鈥淐onstructing Hegemony: The South African Commercial Media and the (Mis)Representation of Nationalisation鈥� (UKZN Press).

听Chapters in books

• Radebe, M. J., & Msimanga, M. J. 2025. 鈥淕enerative AI鈥檚 Impact on News Production in South African and Zimbabwean Newsrooms鈥�. In听Generative AI in African News Media(pp. 33-49). Routledge.
• Radebe, M. J. 2025. 鈥淎I, Governance, and Public Policy: Examining the 2024 South African Elections.鈥� In听Designing Artificial Intelligence for Public Policy and Governance in Africa(pp. 203-226). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
• Radebe M.J 2025 鈥淯nmasking the 鈥楧ouble Agenda鈥�: Mzala, Buthelezi and the battle over history鈥� (New Introduction to Mzala Nxumalo鈥檚 Gatsha Buthelezi: Chief with A Double Agenda (Jacana Media, 2025).
• Radebe M.J. 2024 鈥淐itizen Engagement and Power Asymmetry in Class Divided鈥� in Radebe et al. (2024).听Public Sector Communication in the Digital Age (UJ Press).
• Radebe M.J & Pampallis J 2023 鈥淚ntroduction: Mzala Nxumalo鈥檚 ideas in post-apartheid South Africa鈥� in in Mzala Nxumalo, Leftist Thought and contemporary South Africa. Edited by Robert J. Balfour (Jacana Media).
• Radebe M.J 2023 鈥淪ocialism is the future: Comrade Mzala鈥檚 thoughts on the national question鈥� in Mzala Nxumalo, Leftist Thought and contemporary South Africa. Edited by Robert J. Balfour (Jacana Media).
• Radebe M.J 2021 鈥淪outh Africa鈥檚 Post-Apartheid Media and Democracy in Destroying Democracy鈥� in Neoliberal Capitalism and the Rise of Authoritarian Politics, Edited by Michelle Williams and Vishwas Satgar (WitsPress).

听Most recent journal articles

• Radebe, M.J., 2025. 鈥溾�楥onceived in sin鈥�: Tracing the ghosts of journalism in South Africa.鈥� Review of Reconsidering the History of South African Journalism: The Ghost of the Slave Press, by G. Botma. Historia, 70(2), pp.134鈥�143.
• Radebe M.J 2025 鈥淒econstructing Buthelezi鈥檚 Antipathy towards Mzala Nxumalo: An Analysis of Historical Revisionism in South African Politics鈥� ().
• Radebe, M.J. 2025 鈥淏ook Review: Unveiling the Complex Legacy of Joe Modise in South Africa鈥檚 Liberation Struggle: Ronnie Kasrils & Fidelis Hove, Comrade & Commander: The Life and Times of Joe Modise鈥� (Historia)
• Radebe M.J 2024 鈥淧ublic Sector Communication in the Digital Age: Insights and Influences from the Global South鈥� in Radebe et al. (2024).听Public Sector Communication in the Digital Age (UJ Press).
• Radebe, M.J. 2022 鈥淣ew features of media imperialism: The South African online media and the coverage of the Ukrainian war.鈥� Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 41(2), 75-89.
• Radebe, M.J. 2022 鈥淔raming the Poor during Covid-19: Townships and Informal Settlements in South African Online News.鈥� Communicatio, 1-22.
• Radebe, M.J. 2022 鈥淏ook Review: A Brief History of South Africa: From Earliest Times to the Mandela Presidency.鈥� The Thinker, 92(3), 96-101.
• Radebe, M.J., & Chiumbu, S.H. 2022 鈥淔rames and Marginalisation of Counter-hegemonic Voices: Media Representation of the Land Debate in South Africa.鈥� African Journalism Studies, 1-18.

Most recent media articles听

• Radebe, M.J. (2025). 鈥淭he DA鈥檚 plan to scrap BEE ignores apartheid legacy that still disadvantages black majority鈥�, 7 November.
• Radebe, M.J. (2025). 鈥淭he power of being a primary definer: Lessons from Mkhwanazi saga鈥�, 27 October.
• Radebe, M.J. (2025). 鈥淭hat Western democracies have greater press freedom is a myth鈥�, Sunday Times 28 September.
• Radebe, M.J. (2025). 鈥淎partheid demands reparations and a reckoning鈥�, Sunday Times 20 July.
• Radebe, M.J. (2025). 鈥淎partheid didn鈥檛 die, it adopted鈥�, Sunday Times 20 April.
• Radebe, M.J. (2024). 鈥淎n urgent need to resolve the national question鈥�, Sunday Times 18 August.
• Radebe, M.J. (2024). 鈥淐ommunists support GNU to protect the gains of the working class,鈥� Sunday Times 23 Jun.
• Radebe, M.J. (2024). 鈥淛ournalism鈥檚 role in perpetuating dominant ideologies,鈥� IOL,19 May.
• Radebe, M.J. (2024). 鈥淭he Surge of Far-Right and Fascist Forces, An Ominous Sign for Democracy: The Fourth Pan-Africa Newsletter (2024),鈥� Tricontinental, Pan Africa, 30 Apr.
• Radebe, M.J. (2024). 鈥淎ssange鈥檚 plight demands as much attention as Navalny’s,鈥� Sunday Times, 24 Mar.
• Radebe, M.J. (2024). 鈥淲hy pledges to expand state control are so appealing in SA,鈥� Sunday Times, 18 Feb.
• Radebe, M.J. (2024). 鈥淭he indomitable spirit of Jameson Ngoloyi Mngomezulu,鈥� Sunday Times, 21 Jan.
• Radebe, M.J. (2024). 鈥淢andela鈥檚 vision of a diverse media remains a pipe dream,鈥� Sunday Times, 14 Jan.
• Radebe, M.J. (2024). 鈥淭he similarities between Palestine and apartheid South Africa are stark.鈥� The Africa at LSE, 8 February.

听Most recent conference participation 听

• Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute, Oxford University, 28 July 2025: Geopolitical Tensions in South Africa鈥檚 Media Policy (Radebe, M.J).
• Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute, Oxford University, 29 July 2025: News Media: The Battle for Digital Dominance (Radebe, M.J).
• Radebe, M. J. (2025, April 7鈥�10). Apartheid did not die: Confronting the dilemmas of South Africa鈥檚 unresolved national question. Paper presented at the Dilemmas of Humanity: Perspectives for Social Transformation international conference, S茫o Paulo, Brazil.
• Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute, Oxford University, August 2024: AI, elections and content moderation in Africa (Radebe, M.J).
• Rhodes University鈥檚 Journalism Summit听2024, 鈥淪eeds of Change: Cultivating the Future of Journalism in Africa鈥�, 4-6 April 2024: Generative AI鈥檚 Impact on News Production in South Africa: A Moral Depreciation Perspective (Radebe, M.J).
• 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).
• Strategic Communication Conference, 东京热 and Lund University, 28 鈥� 29 September 2023: Facilitator of the Industry/academic panel discussion (Radebe, M.J).