ADVISORY BOARD

Professor Tsoaledi Daniel Thobejane is a scholar within the discipline of Gender studies and International Education and is presently a professor at the University of Venda, South Africa. He holds a doctoral degree in International Education from the University of Massachusetts (USA).  He obtained his Master of Science degree in Community Economic Development which he attained with a cum laude, at the Manchester State University in Manchester in 1998.  He was actively involved in the Liberation Struggle in South Africa and was subsequently arrested under the state of emergency from 1985 until 1988. Upon his release, he went to exile in the US after his life was threatened by the oppressive apartheid regime. He also lost sight of his left eye during the torture he endured in prison, while one of his comrades was killed in this ordeal. For the past 20 years, Prof. Thobejane worked as the Director for the School of International Training which was based in Brattleboro (USA) and was later deployed to South Africa where this institution had a satellite campus in Durban, South Africa.

He also worked as a qualified Teacher at Somavunga High School based in Limpopo, South Africa. Upon his release from prison, his teaching certificate was revoked, which compelled him to open an advice center that offered help to those workers who did not know their rights about labor law and industrial disputes. When the country was transitioning from apartheid to democracy, Prof. Thobejane was nominated to participate in a 12-month Programme on Leadership. He served at the Baltimore Civil Service Center under the leadership of Mayor Schmoke who was the first African American to hold such a position in the city. The Programme was sponsored by the National Forum for Black Public Administrators and the US Congress, to prepare South Africa for a democratic dispensation. He also participated in the moderator development courses which were offered by Rhodes University in 2011. His research interests are gender studies, education, and community development. Thus far, he has published close to 70 articles and four books in the area of politics and Education. He has also delivered keynote addresses and has organized conferences at the University of Venda and abroad. His articles have received more than 800 citations internationally. He presently serves as an external examiner for many Universities in South Africa while also serving as a peer reviewer for many journals. Prof Thobejane is blessed with two girls aged 16 and twenty- five as well as one boy aged nine years.