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Office of Research Development
Navashni is a Plio-Pleistocene archeologist with a specific focus on reconstructing and explaining past environments that are associated with human life, culture and development through time. She has worked on a wide range of archaeological sites in South and East Africa, including: Elandsfontein, Gamohana, Knysna East Heads. the Klein Karoo, the Cederberg, Koobi Fora and Ledi Geraru. She has conducted isotopic research at the sites of Pinnacle Point, Klasies River Mouth, Elands Bay Cave, Tortoise Cave and Nelson Bay Cave. Navashni Is also interested on issues of built environment and heritage in the city, the politics of heritage and community engagement-especially in regard to Indigenous Communities and archeological sites.
Jacques Welgemoed is a lecturer in the Mechatronics Engineering Department, specializing in Control Systems for BEng Mechatronics students. His academic journey is deeply rooted at Nelson Mandela University, where he completed both his Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronics) in 2020 and Master of Engineering (Mechatronics) in 2022. Jacques began his academic career at Nelson Mandela University as a postgraduate student and contract lecturer before joining the department as a full-time lecturer in August 2025. Jacques is currently pursuing his PhD in Mechatronics at Nelson Mandela University, with research focused on communication for multi-mobile robot systems. His broader research interests centre on aerial robotics, while also encompassing generic mobile robotics applications. His work has been recognised through representing South Africa at the international FutureSkills competition for Aerial Robotics/Drone Operation in 2019 and receiving the Rupert Gesinstigting award for best Masters in Science, Engineering, and Technology in 2022.
Lilies Ratshidi is a dedicated Industrial Engineer serving as a lecturer in the School of Engineering; she is also pursuing a PhD in Industrial Engineering in the research area of Health Systems Engineering and Innovation at Stellenbosch University where she pursued both her undergraduate and post graduate qualifications. With an avid passion for community healthcare re-engineering research, she focuses on traversing avenues for addressing primary healthcare constraints in under-resourced contexts, bridging the theoretical and practical divide. Through her professional development, she hopes to synergise academia and industry by fostering critical thinking and intellectual curiosity in the next generation of engineers and contribute evidence-based knowledge to industrial engineering practices through research.
Obakeng Van Dyk hails from Barkly West, a small town in the Northern Cape. He has an LLB degree and a research LLM degree from the University of the Free State (UFS). His LLM degree was obtained with distinction. After obtaining his LLB degree, Obakeng worked at the Constitution Court of South Africa as a law researcher to Justice Chris Jafta. After his stint at the Constitutional Court, he managed the Office of the Arbitrator in the highly publicised Life Esidimeni Arbitration which was headed by the Former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke.
Obakeng lectured at UFS and North-West University before joining Nelson Mandela University Obakeng where he is lecturing Marine and Coastal Law and Maritime Law. Obakeng’s broad research interests are in public law: Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Environmental Law and Maritime Law. Obakeng is currently working on his Doctor of Law degree investigating the Administrative Law Regime of the South African Maritime Safety Authority. Obakeng is an avid reader who enjoys reading fiction in his spare time. His favourite author is Toni Morrison.
Nobubele is a lecturer in the Nelson Mandela University Department of Sociology and Anthropology under the New Generation Academics Programme (nGAP). She is a recipient of the Department of Science and Innovation Albertina-Sisulu Fellowship awarded for her Masters research on women in sport. She holds a MA (Sociology) Cum Laude and is currently working on her PhD. Her research interests are broadly located in cultural sociology, gender in sport, critical university studies and social movement theory. Outside of the university, Nobubele serves as the secretary of University Sport South Africa (USSA)-Netball and the co-convenor of the USSA Research Committee.
Muziwandile (Muzi) Gigaba is an nGAP Art Entrepreneurship Lecturer and is studying towards a PhD at the Nelson Mandela University Fine Art Department. A South African artist working across diverse art disciplines, Gigaba's practice draws from oral knowledge systems to explore novel modes of cultural production. His recent contributions include roles as a Community Curator, Art Business workshop facilitator, Indigenous Knowledge System Expert, and assistant producer and translator for the video documentary featured in the 'iNqikithi yokuPhica: Weaving Meanings South African Telephone Wire Exhibition,' currently on display at the Museum of International Folk Art in New Mexico. Gigaba is an Emma Smith Fellow (2012) and a Center for Arts, Design + Social Research Fellow (2018-2019). He has exhibited broadly in both local and international venues, and his work is included in the collections of numerous local and international museums. Gigaba has also participated in multiple international residencies. He is the founder of the community engagement project 'Hlonipha Ulimi Lwakho/Mind Your Language,' which investigates the development of home languages through various art production methods. Gigaba's work is featured in Elizabeth Perrill's 'BURNISHED ZULU CERAMICS BETWEEN RURAL AND URBAN SOUTH AFRICA' (Indiana University Press, 2022) and 'Zulu Pottery' (South Africa, 2012).
Ashvin Manga is an innovative lecturer in building science, specialising in environment and services. Part of the Construction Management Department, his students major in construction management, quantity surveying, and architecture. Ashvin's academic journey is deeply rooted at NMU, where he completed his undergraduate, honours, and master's degrees through the Construction Management Department. In 2022, Ashvin began his academic career by joining NMU as an NGAP lecturer. Ashvin is pursuing his PhD at NMU, with an expected graduation date of April 2025. His research is focused on the application of digital twins within the built environment.
Prior to joining Nelson Mandela University in May 2023, Samukelisiwe held a position at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), where her responsibilities included vegetation mapping and contributed to improvements of the National Vegetation Map. Samukelisiwe began her academic journey at Nelson Mandela University in 2014, enrolling in the National Diploma in Nature Conservation and in 2020 completed her master's degree. Her dissertation on the flammability of native and invasive alien shrubs in the southern Cape and was presented at the National Symposium of Biological Invasions and the Thicket Forum. The research was also featured on SABC news and resulted in the publication of three scientific articles. Her research interests are in vegetation and fire ecology. Samukelisiwe is driven to pursue a PhD to integrate the knowledge of plant flammability into wildfire management strategies and assess landscape flammability to better inform potential fire risks. Currently situated within the Natural Resource Science and Management Cluster in the Forestry Department on the George Campus. Her long-term goal involves contributing to innovative wildfire management approaches that address the specific needs of communities residing in proximity to highly flammable natural vegetation.
Ms T Hutton is a registered dietitian and food service lecturer at the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. She obtained a BSc. Dietetics from the University of the Free State and an MSc. Dietetics (cum laude) from Nelson Mandela University. Ms Hutton currently serves on the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee (FPGSC) and the Faculty Research and Engagement Committee (FREC). She has also done various educational courses. Ms T Hutton has experience in various facets of the dietetics profession, including therapeutic nutrition, community nutrition and food service management. She is currently pursuing a PhD. Her research interests are front-of-pack food labelling and interprofessional education (IPE).
Mr Mashego is a lecturer of Anthropology in the department of Sociology and Anthropology under the Faculty of Humanities. He holds a Bachelor of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and a Masters in Indigenous Knowledge Systems, both from the North-West University, where he also served as a lecturer in the B.IKS program. Mashego’s research interests are in African indigenous health knowledge and practices and medicinal plant use. He was part of the team tasked by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) to create awareness of the IK Act of 2019 and facilitate the development of Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) with local communities in South Africa from 2019. He is currently registered for PhD in Anthropology focussing on the integration of African healthcare practices into the national health system.
Mosekama Osia Mokhele is an emerging scholar, researcher, and lecturer in the Department of Public Management and Leadership at the Nelson Mandela University, who holds an MA in Public Management and Policy Analysis and a Magister in Governance and Political Transformation from the International University of Japan and the University of the Free State, respectively. The scholar is a joint doctoral candidate majoring in Disaster Management from the University of the Free State and Vrije University Amsterdam. His general teaching/research interests cover disaster management, public decision-making, procurement, and logistics management, and supervises and co-supervise research students at honours and master’s levels. His central research focus is the decentralisation of disaster management, disaster legislation and policy, disaster inclusivity and participation (which cuts across the community and marginalised groups' involvement, sectoral participation, and central-local participation). He is passionate about subjective disaster preparedness of the marginalised populations.
Imraan is a registered architect, urban designer and academic from Cape Town. He obtained his undergraduate degree in architecture from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, a master’s in architecture from the University of Cape Town and an MSc in Human Settlements (Urban Design) (magna cum laude) from KU Leuven in Belgium. Most recently, he completed an intensive two-month predoctoral programme at Hasselt University in Belgium, refining his research focus and trajectory. Before joining NMU in February 2025, Imraan gained over 12 years of experience practicing architecture, working on projects across both the private and government sectors. He also has 10 years of academic experience at various public and private institutions, both locally and internationally. His research interests focus on the challenges of human settlements in developing contexts, particularly the legacy of apartheid spatial planning and strategies for mitigating flood risks through participatory research. He examines how these risks impact both formal and informal housing in marginalised communities and explores the role of digital technologies as tools for flood mitigation. His work aims to reimagine housing typologies as productive urbanscapes. During his free time, Imraan enjoys travelling and architectural photography, particularly capturing buildings and cityscapes that have made meaningful contributions to architectural discourse and the evolution of architectural periods over time.
Lemohang Tebeli is a Lecturer in Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy within the Faculty of Humanities. He is also a PhD candidate in Bioethics at the University of Cape Town (UCT), based at the Neuroscience Institute's Ethics Lab. With a multidisciplinary academic background in philosophy and theology, his research critically engages Afro-Communitarian thought in relation to personhood, transhumanism, and bioethics. He holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy (Cum Laude) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), where he investigated suicide and agency within Basotho culture. He has contributed to multiple fields and is an active contributor to scholarly discourse on African ethics, AI ethics, and environmental philosophy. He is a member of the Philosophical Society of Southern Africa and the South African Society for Environmental Philosophy. His research interests include Afro-Communitarianism, African Ethics, AI, and Bioethics.
Thabelo Mohlala is a lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Nelson Mandela University. He holds both a BEng and MEng in Mechatronics from Nelson Mandela University. Prior to his academic role, he worked at the Advanced Mechatronics Technology Centre (AMTC) as an industrial automation instructor, where he delivered Siemens PLC training courses to industry professionals and TVET college engineering staff. Additionally, he supported various mechatronics student's projects and has led several local and international student competition projects through AMTC. He is also passionate about working with young people through various engineering, educational, and socio-economic development initiatives. His research interests include the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning, Digital Twin, Advanced Data Analytics, and Data Science.
Mr Jobo is a Lecturer in Maritime Economics and Management at the Nelson Mandela University Business School. His academic interests lie at the intersection of quantitative economics, maritime logistics, and global shipping systems, with a focus on applying econometric methods to maritime economics and transport systems. Mr Jobo holds a Master of Commerce in Economic Development from the University of Cape Town and began his academic career as a lecturer in economics. He has taught courses in economic theory, economic policy, and mathematical economics at two South African universities. He has extensive experience teaching undergraduate economics and has supervised more than ten Honours and Masters students. His teaching and research interests reflect a strong commitment to rigorous quantitative analysis and the development of applied economic research. In 2019, Mr Jobo was a Visiting Scholar at Pennsylvania State University, where he further developed his research interests in quantitative economic analysis and international academic collaboration. At NMUBS he is pursuing a PhD in Business Administration, with a research focus on quantitative maritime economics, particularly the econometrics of port competitiveness, maritime logistics systems, and global shipping networks in relation to South Africa’s emerging blue economy.