Dr Mosekama Mokhele
Dr Mohele recently graduated at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is a lecturer in the Department of Public Management and Leadership at Nelson Mandela University.
The achievement marks a significant milestone in both his academic journey and the New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP), which seeks to develop South Africa's next generation of academics.
More importantly, his doctoral research is helping to reshape how South African municipalities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.
nGAP is a national initiative of the Department of Higher Education and Training that develops South Africa's next generation of academics through doctoral training, mentorship and academic career development.
Obtaining a PhD represents one of the programme's most significant milestones and reflects years of investment in building South Africa's future professoriate.
Dr Mokhele's academic journey has been one of perseverance and international collaboration.
He holds a master’s degree in governance and political transformation from the University of the Free State and an MA in Public Management and Policy Analysis from the International University of Japan.
His doctoral studies were undertaken through the prestigious Desmond Tutu Doctoral Training Programme, a partnership between the National Research Foundation and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam that supports outstanding South African scholars undertaking split-site doctoral studies.
Undertaking a joint doctorate across institutions governed by different academic policies, timelines and expectations proved both challenging and rewarding.
"It was not easy," Dr Mokhele reflects. "Being under two universities with different policies, different timelines and different expectations demanded extraordinary discipline. Yet the experience shaped me as both a scholar and an academic committed to public service through research."
Supported by both programmes, Dr Mokhele successfully navigated the demands of a joint doctoral degree across two continents.
Dr Mokhele is a disaster management researcher whose work sits at the intersection of decentralisation, inclusive governance and climate resilience.
His research addresses a pressing question: why does South Africa continue to experience failures in disaster preparedness despite having some of the world's most progressive disaster management legislation?
It was precisely this rigorous training that equipped him to confront one of South Africa's most urgent governance challenges.
His doctoral research, Decentralisation of Disaster Management in South Africa: A Multi-sphere Disaster Governance Perspective, reveals that more than 15 years after legislation required every municipality to establish a Municipal Disaster Management Centre (MDMC), nearly half of South Africa's municipalities still do not have functioning centres in place.
Through comparative case studies, Dr Mokhele found that many municipalities lack the funding, skilled personnel, locally relevant disaster management plans, flood risk maps and early warning infrastructure required to respond effectively to disasters.
"Good laws on paper mean nothing if local governments are not given the actual resources, authority and political backing to use them," he explains.
His findings carry particular urgency as climate-related disasters become increasingly frequent. Beyond institutional capacity, his research exposes another critical challenge: the exclusion of vulnerable communities from disaster warning systems.
In an isiXhosa-speaking informal settlement in Gqeberha, he found that many residents had never received an official early warning message, despite warning systems being operational.
Dr Mokhele describes this phenomenon as "disaster linguicism": a structural failure in which linguistic minorities are excluded from life-saving information because warnings are communicated in languages they do not understand.
His research demonstrates that trusted communication platforms such as community radio remain largely absent from formal early warning systems despite their effectiveness in reaching local communities.
"It is not enough to issue warnings," says Dr Mokhele. "They must reach people in languages they understand, through channels they trust, and in words they can act on."
His concern for the excluded extends beyond language to other vulnerable groups, including undocumented migrants and persons with disabilities. He argues that the failure to integrate disaster risk management into municipal development planning leaves these populations particularly vulnerable when disasters strike.
Dr Mokhele's influence extends beyond academia. He has contributed to the national review of South Africa's National Disaster Management Framework and continues to shape future generations of public sector leaders through his teaching at the University, where he lectures Public Decision-Making, Procurement and Logistics Management, Disaster Risk Management and Governmental Relations, while supervising honours and master's students.
Climate change is intensifying extreme weather events across South Africa at a time when many municipalities face significant institutional constraints. Dr Mokhele's research offers both a compelling diagnosis of why decentralised disaster management continues to struggle and practical recommendations for building more resilient systems grounded in collaboration, inclusivity and local capacity.
For Dr Mokhele, earning his PhD is not the culmination of his journey, but the beginning of a larger commitment to public service through scholarship. His work bridges the gap between national disaster governance policy and the lived realities of communities most vulnerable to disaster.
As South Africa confronts escalating climate risks, his research offers practical pathways towards more inclusive and resilient disaster governance.
His achievement stands not only as a personal milestone, but also as an example of what programmes such as nGAP seek to achieve: developing scholars whose research addresses some of society's most pressing challenges. And for that, Nelson Mandela University is proud.