Departmental Chairperson

Prof RH Kaschula
Qualifications: BA LLB BA (Hons) HDE PhD (Rhodes)
T: 021 959 3570
E: rrkaschula@uwc.ac.za

Biography

Russell H Kaschula holds a PhD from Rhodes. He is Professor in the Department of African Language Studies at the University of the Western Cape. He also holds the Institutional Chair in Forensic Linguistics and Multilingualism.

He has published widely in the field of Applied Language Studies, including Forensic Linguistics, Intercultural Studies, Education and Multilingualism more generally.

In 2021 he published a book with Routledge in London and New York titled Languages, Identities and Intercultural Communication in South Africa and Beyond. He also co-edited A Handbook on Legal Languages and the quest for Linguistic Equality in South Africa and Beyond, published by African SUN Press (2021), as well as co-edited a book titled Language and the Law. Global Perspectives in Forensic Linguistics from Africa and Beyond, published in 2022. In 2023, Prof Kaschula co-edited Language, crime and courts in contemporary Africa and beyond (African SUN Press). In 2024 he co-edited Unlocking the chains of knowledge: Understanding the challenges, remaking pedagogies and curriculum renewal (African SUN Press).

Prof Kaschula acts as an international advisor to the Journal of Semiotics and Law as well as a number of other journals. He has a B1 rating with the NRF.

Prof Kaschula has taught at five South African universities and a liberal arts college in the USA. He has supervised 35 MA students and 36 PhD students to completion. Presently he supervises many postgraduates, more especially in the field of forensic linguistics. He has also acted as a postgraduate examiner for many universities both in South Africa and abroad.

His ORCID number is as follows: 0000-0002-54816748

Senior Lecturers

Dr SA Mokapela
Qualifications: BA.Ed (Unitra), BA (Hons- Cum-Laude), MA, DLitt (SU), PGDip Future Studies (USB)
T: 021 959 3915
E: smokapela@uwc.ac.za
ORDiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2992-7996 

Dr Sebolelo Mokapela is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of African Language Studies at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Her teaching and research interests engages critically with Language Policy and Planning, Translation Studies, and Literary and Cultural Studies for understanding self, healing, social cohesion and moral regeneration. She is supervising MA and PhD students under these fields of study and has published in these fields with her recent book chapter having been published in April 2025 titled: Language-in-education in South Africa: Prospects and challenges. In Jeroen Darquennes, Joe Salmons & Wim Vandenbussche (eds). Language Contact: An international handbook. Volume 2. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2025, pp. 641-658. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110443011-037.

Her current research focusses on the intellectualisation of African languages in higher education, particularly through translation as a pedagogy, work that foregrounds Ubuntu philosophy and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) as a de-colonial framework for curriculum transformation, intellectualisation of indigenous languages (isiXhosa and other isiNguni varieties such as isiMpondo and isiHlubi) and the development of culturally grounded learning resources. Dr Mokapela’s academic contributions seek to strengthen multilingual and multicultural scholarship in South Africa and advance discourse on linguistic and cultural inclusivity, heritage language and cultural preservation, and Afrocentric pedagogies.

Dr Mokapela worked in the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (POSA) as a Senior Language Practitioner in the Translation Unit of the Hansard Section from February 2008 until October 2016. She also translated the BEEP learning materials for the University of Cape Town and the IsiXhosa-English Language and Literacy Glossary for the University of Fort Hare. Dr Mokapela also translated the first children’s book written in /nu, a Nama language written by the only surviving original speaker of /nu, Ouma Katrina, a translation that was awarded the international 2022 IBBY Honour List.

In 2019, Dr Mokapela organised a colloquium on the Use of African Languages in Uniting the African Continent in collaboration with key stakeholders in the province and nationally.
Dr Mokapela initiated access to education projects, one with the Department of Astrophysics, the other with the Departments of Chemistry and Information Sciences and the latest with the Department of Earth Sciences - Environmental and Water Science Programme (in progress) in which the academic resource materials of these Departments are translated into isiXhosa to ensure that students from the isiXhosa linguistic background have epistemological access to knowledge through translation.

Awards:
2024-2026: The Interdisciplinary Mentorship Program for Advancing Collaborative Transformation (IMPACT) - meant for capacity strengthening.
2024-2026: Mellon Inclusive Professoriate Program (2024-2026)
2022-2023: UCDG Purpose Equipping Environment People (PEEP)  - first cohort.
2022: IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List Diploma for the translation of Ufudo neNciniba by Ouma Katrina.
2018-2019: UCDG Program for Academic and Professional Leadership (P4APL)  - second cohort.
 
She is the co-Principal Investigator of the IMPACT Project titled: TRANSFORMING THE EDUCATION LANDSCAPE IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH THROUGH DE-COLONIALITY IN RESPONSE TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND THE AGENDA 2063: A CASE STUDY OF A HISTORICALLY DISADVANTAGED INSTITUTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

THESES EXAMINATION, PROPOSALS AND JOURNAL MANUSCRIPTS REVIEW
External Examiner for MA & PHD theses – University of South Africa (since 2022)
External Examiner for MA & PHD theses - UKZN (since 2023)
External Examiner for MA & PHD theses – Rhodes University (2023)
External Examiner for MA & PHD theses – Nelson Mandela University (since2022)
External Moderator – Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) – (since 2018)
Internal Examiner – MA & PHDs – Faculty of Arts and Humanities (since 2019)
Research Proposals reviewer – MA & PHDs – Faculty of Arts and Humanities (since 2017)
External Reviewer and Examiner – MA theses – Faculty of Education (2019 – to date)
Manuscript reviewer for the Journal of African languages and Literary studies (JoALLS) – (since 2023)
Manuscript reviewer for the OASIS – (since 2021)
Manuscript reviewer for the Literator (2019)
Manuscript reviewer for the SALALS (since 2021)
Manuscript reviewer for the Southern African Journal of African Languages (since 2022)
Manuscript reviewer for the SPiL – (2019)

Book Reviews
Avoiding Potholes in Translation: A Practical Perspective on Translation between English and isiZulu (2021)
New Frontiers in Forensic Linguistics: Themes and perspectives in language and the law in Africa and beyond (2019)

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES AND MEMBERSHIP AT UWC:
Head of Department: African Language Studies – 2019-2021
Arts and Humanities Faculty Board Member – 2017 – to date
Faculty of Arts and Humanities Management Committee – 2019-2021
Arts and Humanities Faculty Teaching & Learning Committee – 2017-2018
Senate Member – 2019 – 2022
Department of African Language Studies Postgraduate Coordinator – 2019-2021
Joint Appointments and Promotions Committee of Senate and Council (SA) – 2019 & 2022
Faculty of Arts and Humanities Academic Planning Committee – since 2019 

Membership
Names Society of Southern Africa (NSSA)
South African Association of Language Teaching (SAALT)
African Language Association of Southern Africa (ALASA)
Southern African Linguistics and Applied Linguistics Society (SALALS)
Southern African Folklore Society (SAFOS)
Bua-Lit – Language and Literacy Collective

Executive Board
2025-2030: Member of the PanSALB Xhosa National Language Body (XNLB)
2021-2024: Member of the PanSALB Xhosa National Language Body (XNLB)

Dr T Ntwana

Qualifications: BA, BA (Hons), HDE, BEd (UWC), MPhil (SU), Acting for Camera (City Varsity), PhD (UWC)
T: 021 959 3405
E: tntwana@uwc.ac.za

Lecturers

Mr Z Jama 
Qualifications: BA (Vista University), BA (Hons) (UPE), MA (UCT)
T: 021 959 2382
E: zjama@uwc.ac.za

Ms SG Mlonyeni 

Qualifications: HDE (UWC), BA Hons (UWC), Public Administration Hons (USB), MA in General Linguistics (UFS)
T: 021 959 2373
E: sgmlonyeni@uwc.ac.za

NGAP lecturer

Dr MS Dhlamini
Qualifications: ND, BTech, MTech (Language Practice) (TUT), PhD (UWC).
T: 021 959 3983
E: mdhlamini@uwc.ac.za

Associate Lecturers

Mr Bonke Xakatha

 

Ms Bongeka Mhawuli

 

Mr Aviwe Mvabaza

Mr Nkosekaya Hlitane

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies, Organisational Psychology and isiXhosa; Bachelor of Arts with Honours in African Languages (Vice-Chancellor’s Award recipient); Master of Arts in Translation Studies (cum laude) - all obtained from Rhodes University. He is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society for his academic performances during his undergraduate phase.

Mr Hlitane is a published author of a book chapter that aims to identify challenges and provide solutions to the translation of specialised terms in different natural science fields so that the said terms can be competently used for tuition in academic isiXhosa settings. Outside of academia, Mr Hlitane has had a burgeoning print journalism career where his journalistic pieces were published in established and reputable newspapers in the Eastern Cape. Furthermore, he has a measurable contribution in the broadcast journalism scene both in front of the microphone and behind the scenes. He has worked in myriad seismic translation projects both in his individual capacity and as a part of a collective. His interests in academia are, but not limited to, sociolinguistics, translation, literature, media studies and forensic linguistics. 

Mr Hlitane is an emerging scholar who draws from a diverse ecosystem of schools of thought. His application and understanding of scholarship are underscored by his yearning for a broader and meticulous comprehension of different subfields within African Languages. He
believes that knowledge production should be grounded on interdisciplinary research that translates to the improved wellbeing of society and advancement of human civilization in a just manner. He has worked in different fields in the public services, the higher education sector and has experience in media and translation.

Extraordinary Professors

Prof E Wolff
Qualifications: Dr. phil./PhD (Afrikanistik): Hamburg

Prof S Makoni

Qualifications: (PhD Edinburgh)   

Research Fellows

Dr Michael Kretzer
Name: Dr Michael M. Kretzer
Current position: Research Scientist at RWTH Aachen University and
Honorary affiliation with UWC
Identifiers: ORCiD: 0000-0002-8603-0141, Scopus Author ID 36149917900,
Google Scholar

Dr Michael M. Kretzer is an interdisciplinary researcher whose work bridges language policy, education systems, and geography in Sub-Saharan Africa. His innovative approach combines sociolinguistics, development studies, and environmental geography to examine the intersection of language and education with social and ecological change. He earned his PhD from Justus-Liebig University Giessen (2018) with a study on language policy implementation in South African education. Before joining RWTH Aachen University as Principal Investigator (2024), he held research positions at Rhodes University (NRF SARChI Chair Postdoctoral Fellow, 2018–2020) and Ruhr University Bochum (2020–
2023). He also maintains an honorary affiliation with the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Dr Kretzer has conducted extensive fieldwork in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, and Mozambique.

Dr Kretzer has authored and co-authored numerous journal articles, book chapters, and encyclopaedia entries, featured in prestigious outlets such as:
➢ Journal of Cultural Geography
➢ Current Issues in Language Planning
➢ International Journal of Multilingualism
➢ European Journal of Language Policy
➢ South African Journal of African Languages
➢ South African Geographical Journal
➢ Applied Environmental Education & Communication
➢ Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Politics
➢ Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
➢ Universal Journal of Agricultural Research

He is also the Chief Editor of the Handbooks of Language Policies in Africa (HLPA) series, published by Brill (since 2022) — a groundbreaking collection that brings together scholars from across the continent and beyond to explore the dynamic interplay of language, policy, and identity in African contexts. www.brill.com/hlpa

Research Field
➢ Language policy and education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, mainly South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Botswana, Seychelles, Ghana and Lesotho
➢ Quantitative and Qualitative methods of empirical research
➢ (Virtual) Linguistic Landscapes (LL), including schoolscapes, ecoscapes and touristscapes
➢ Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and Science Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
➢ Environmental Education in Africa
➢ Health crisis communication

Qualifications and Career
➢ 2024-present: PI at the DPWS-funded project MESSAGE and project leader “Socio-cultural impacts of climate crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa” at
RWTH Aachen University
➢ 2020 – 2023: Research Scientist at Ruhr-University Bochum, Department of Human Geography “AG Gesellschaft und Nachhaltigkeit im
Wandel”
➢ Since 2022: Affiliated Research Fellow at the University of The Western Cape (UWC), Department of African Language Studies
➢ 2022 – 2024: Andrew W Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of The Western Cape (UWC), Department of African Language
Studies
➢ 2022 – 2023: Research Scientist, RWTH Aachen University, Physical Geography & Climatology
➢ 2020 – 2022: Honorary appointment as Research Associate at Rhodes University, Schools of Languages and Literatures, African Language
Section
➢ 2018 – 2020: NRF SARChI Chair Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, School of African Languages, Rhodes University, South Africa
➢ 2018: Dr. rer. nat. in Geography, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Title: “Potential of the implementation of language policy in the education system of South Africa: Case study of Gauteng, Limpopo and North West Province” (magna cum laude)
➢ 2012 – 2017: Research Scientist at the Centre for International Development- and Environmental Research (ZEU) in Section 3 (Education
and Development), Giessen
➢ 2004 – 2010: Master of Education in Political Science, History and Geography, (JLU) Administration, Research and Teaching Activities
• Administrative and scientific positions: Member in various RWTH working groups, Member of the Executive Board “MultiLingNet: Scholars
investigating Multilingualism,” Edinburgh Circle on the Promotion of African Languages (ECPAL), Arbeitskreise Subsaharisches Afrika &
Bildungsgeographie
• Publications: 16 peer-reviewed articles, 2 edited books, 34 book chapters and many other publications as well as many invited talks and conference presentations
• Editorial board member of and reviewer in several international peer-reviewed journals
• Mentoring and supervising 4 PhD students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Rhodes University, South Africa, supervision of > 25
B.Sc. and > 5 M.Sc. theses at JLU Gießen, RUB, UWC, and Rhodes University
• Teaching lectures, seminars, advanced seminars, and methodology courses at all B.Sc./Honours (South Africa) levels at RWTH Aachen University,
JLU Gießen, Ruhr University Bochum, UWC, Rhodes University

Academic Distinctions
• 2024 – 2029: Officially rated South African NRF researcher (C-rated)
• 2022 – 2024: Andrew W Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), Department of African Language Studies,
Cape Town, South Africa
• 2023: AILA Solidarity Travel Award for the AILA conference in Lyon
• 2018 – 2020: NRF SARChI Chair Post-Doctoral Research Fellow School of African Languages, Rhodes University, Makhanda/Grahamstown, South
Africa
• 2019: Financial Support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) to present at the DKG, Christian-Albrechts-University in
• 2018: T&S Funding, Rhodes University, South Africa, to present at the Sociolinguistics Symposium 22, University of Auckland, New Zealand
• 2012 – 2015 DEY-Scholarship (Diocese Limburg, Germany)
• 2010 – 2011 DAAD Promos funded research stay at the South African NPO, Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy, Johannesburg, South
Africa)

Reviewing
➢ Peer reviewing (Journals):
➢ Cogent Arts & Humanities (since 2025)
➢ Discover Education (since 2025)
➢ Environmental Education Research (since 2022)
➢ Journal of Literary Criticism, Comparative Linguistics and literary studies (since 2022)
➢ SN Social Studies (since 2022)
➢ Linguistic Landscape (since 2022)
➢ Literator (since 2022)
➢ International Journal of Multilingualism (since 2022)
➢ International Journal of Bilingualism (since 2021)
➢ Linguistics and Education (since 2021)
➢ Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies (since 2020)
➢ Journal of Multilingual Theories and Practices (since 2020)
➢ South African Journal of African Languages (SAJAL) (since 2019)
➢ Per Linguam (since 2019)
➢ Journal for Language Teaching (JLT) (since 2019)
➢ Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus (since 2019)
➢ African Education Review (since 2018)

Memberships
➢ Gesellschaft for Angewandte Linguistik (GAL)
➢ Reading Association of South Africa (RASA)
➢ African Language Association of Southern Africa (ALASA)
➢ Gießener Geographische Gesellschaft (GGG)
➢ Edinburgh Circle on the Promotion of African Languages (ECPAL)
➢ Verband der Geographen an deutschen Hochschulen (VGdH)
➢ Alumni Netzwerk Subsahara Afrika e.V.
➢ Verein zur Förderung der Entwicklungs- und Umweltforschung e.V.
➢ African Studies Association (ASA)
➢ Arbeitskreis Subsaharisches Afrika
➢ Arbeitskreis Bildungsgeographie

Editorial Board
➢ Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (since 2025)
➢ Language Policy in Africa (since 2024)
➢ Afrika Süd (since 2021)
➢ Journal of Multilingual Theories and Practices (since 2019)

Executive Board
➢ MultiLingNet: Scholars investigating Multilingualism (since 2019)

 

Dr Zakeera Docrat
 

Administrator

Ms Nokuzola Lusani
Qualification: O.M.T (CPUT), ADM (UWC)
T: 021 959 2979
E: nlusani@uwc.ac.za

Contact us

Department of African Language Studies
New Arts Building
1st Floor
Room D132
University of the Western Cape
Private Bag X17
Bellville 7535

Nokuzola Lusani
Tel: 021 959 2979
Email: nlusani@uwc.ac.za