Prof Zondi is a political scientist and scholar of international relations with a distinguished record of teaching, research, and leadership in African and global political thought. He currently serves as Professor of Politics and International Relations and Acting Director of the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg and is also a Commissioner on South Africa’s National Planning Commission, chairing its International Partnerships Task Team.

A graduate of the University of Durban-Westville and the University of Cambridge, where he completed both his MPhil and DPhil in African Studies, Prof Zondi has spent more than two decades advancing decolonial and Pan-African scholarship. He has held senior academic roles at the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa, where he led the Institute for Global Dialogue and taught at the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute.

His prolific research spans African political economy, diplomacy, foreign policy, peace and security, and decolonial theory. Prof Zondi is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous books and peer-reviewed articles and serves on editorial boards of leading journals including the African Journal of Political Science and the International Journal of African Renaissance Studies.

NRF C2-rated scholar, Prof Zondi is widely regarded for his contribution to developing African-centred approaches to global governance and for mentoring a new generation of scholars committed to the renewal of the Humanities and Social Sciences across Africa.