Political science association elects UL head of department as its president

Congratulations are pouring in for the Head of the Department of Cultural and Political Studies at the University of Limpopo (UL) Prof. Kgothatso Shai following his recent election as president of the South African Association of Political Science (SAAPS).

Prof. Shai was elected at the association’s virtual Bi-Annual General Members’ Meeting recently. He described his appointment as an affirmation of the strategic role of young political scientists and previously marginalised universities in the discipline. He also sees it as a tacit endorsement of Afrocentric and protest scholarship.

Among other things, SAAPS promotes the discipline of Political Science in South Africa and the African continent by supporting the development of South African scholars and teachers. It also works around developing and implementing a sustainable research agenda and performs an educational function by promoting knowledge and understanding of national and international political affairs through teaching, workshops, study groups, seminars, conferences, publications, and research.

Prof. Shai has been a member of SAAPS since August 2013, and he was co-opted into the National Council of SAAPS in September 2017 and re-elected in October 2018, where he served until his recent ascension to the president. He sees his appointment as a challenge to do more in South Africa to foster the next generation of African-centered political scientists.

“As President of SAAPS, my vision is to initiate practical measures to correct previous mistakes that have culminated in a widening gap between the disciplines of Political Science and Public Administration in South Africa,” said Prof. Shai.

“As we seek to expand areas of scholarly and professional cooperation among political scientists, the uncomfortable but necessary efforts for the transformation and professionalisation of the theory and praxis of politics will need to be explored,”  he added.

Prof. Shai is expected to provide executive and strategic leadership toward the achievement of SAAPS’s objectives, as well as preside over all Council and Executive Committee meetings. His interest in politics has led to the publication of over 60 accredited journal articles in African Politics and International Relations. His work has also allowed him to steer an international collaboration on post-graduate supervision with Western Kentucky University (WSU). He recently served as a Visiting Scholar at the University of The Gambia (UTG), where he co-authored research papers with UTG fellows. Such papers are currently being published in several DHET-recognised international journals.

He has also been active in other projects relevant to his field of interest. Prof Shai joined the national board of the South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM) in 2018 and he later became the association’s deputy president. He is currently serving as the editor of the SAAPAM Book series, which he initiated in 2021.

He recently authored a book titled “Scholarship and Politics in South Africa’s Higher Education System”. He considers his book to be his major contribution to the field of Political Science and the knowledge industry.

Prof. Shai, who is 35 years old, has a long list of accomplishments for someone of his age. He has a master’s degree in political science, conferred Cum Laude from the University of Venda and a doctorate in international politics from the University of Limpopo obtained in 2010 and 2017 respectively. He has successfully supervised the completion of two PhD students, six MA students, and 20 Honours students. He is currently supervising five PhD students. Prof. Shai was previously recognised by the Mail & Guardian as one of the country’s 200 Young South Africans and has recently been designated as an NRF-Y2-rated researcher. His research focuses on African politics and international relations.

By Evans Khalo