Professor Frank Lekaba

	Name	Frank Lekaba
	Highest qualification	PhD (University of Johannesburg, South Africa)
	Position	Associate Professor
	Contact details	flekaba@gmail.com
	Research interests/expertise	The role of civil society in peacebuilding, nation-building and state-building in post-conflict societies in Africa, South Africa’s foreign policy in Africa and global governance architecture, political transitions in the continent, democracy, peace and governance in Africa.
	Teaching	Peace Studies, Security Studies, Foreign Policy, Public Policy
	Current projects	Research project on electoral politics, democratic resilience from below, and national dialogues in South Africa, Botswana, eSwatini and Lesotho.

Short biography

Frank Lekaba is an Associate Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies at UNISA’s Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, and a Visiting Fellow at the Wits School of Governance. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Peace Studies and International Relations and a Master of Social Sciences in International Relations from the North-West University, and a DLitt et Phil in Politics from the University of Johannesburg.  He previously worked as a Senior Lecturer at Wits School of Governance, a Lecturer at the North-West University, and a researcher in the Human Sciences Research Council’s Africa Institute of South Africa.

His research interests include the role of civil society in peacebuilding in Africa, Nation-Building and State-Building in Africa, and South Africa’s foreign policy in Africa and in multilateral institutions. He publishes, supervises and conducts research in these areas. He has further presented papers at national and international conferences on these specific themes.

He is a Treasurer of the African Association of Political Science (2025-2027), a Chairperson of the South African Chapter of Democracy Without Borders, a member of the North-West University’s Faculty of Humanities Research Ethics Committee, and a member of the Gauteng Chapter of the South African Association of Public Administration. He is a reviewer of various national and international journals.

Selected publications

• Dagada, R. and Lekaba, F. (2025). Borderless Africa and Blockchain Technology: Catalysts for South Africa’s Reindustrialisation. Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 60, No. 2, 570-586. Available at; https://doi.org/10.53973/jopa.2025.60.2.a7
• Lekaba, F. (2025). Centering the African Union in the discourse of democratic decline in Africa: What are the issues? OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, 18:11, 2025. Available at; https://www.ssrn.com/index.cfm/en/oida-intl-journal-sustainable-dev/
• Lekaba, F. and Motloung, S. (2025). Constitutionalism and the Shifting Political Culture in South Africa: Implications of the 2024 Election Results and the Coalition Government.  Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 60, No. 1, 438-457. Available at; https://doi.org/10.53973/jopa.2025.60.1.1a12  
• Dagada, R and Lekaba, F. (2024). Has South Africa’s Macroeconomic Policy Framework Been Successful in Reindustrialising the Economy? Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 59, No.2, 188-209. Available at; https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.53973/jopa.2024.59.2.a3
• Maphunye, K and Lekaba, F. (2023). Political and Judicial Contestations Affecting Election Management in Africa: South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe as case examples.  Africa Insight, Vol. 53 (3), 9-23. Available at; https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/ejc-afrins_v53_n3_a2
• Lekaba, F. (2023). The impact of All Basotho Convention intra-party conflict upon its electoral performance in Lesotho’s 2022 elections. Journal of African Elections, Vol. 22, No. 1, 82-100. Available at;https://www.eisa.org/storage/2023/06/2023-journal-of-african-elections-v22n1-the-impact-intra-party-conflits-electoral-performance-basotho-convention-eisa.pdf      
• Lekaba, F. (2022). Nation-building in Madagascar, the place and role of Fihavanana in the country’s Reconciliation process. International Journal of African Renaissance Studies, Multi-, Inter- and Transdisciplinary. Vol. 17, No. 2, 149-168.