Prof Dumisani Moyo

Dumisani Moyo is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at North West University (NWU). He is Professor of Media and Communication Studies, and his research interests include media policy and regulation; and media, politics, culture and technology in Africa, and he has published widely in these areas. His major works include four co-edited books: Radio in Africa: Publics, Cultures, Communities (Wits Press, 2011); Media Policy in a Changing Southern Africa: Critical Reflections on Media Reforms in the Global Age (UNISA Press, 2010); Mediating Xenophobia in Africa: Unpacking Discourses of Migration, Belonging and Othering (Palgrave, 2020); and Re-imagining Communication in Africa and the Caribbean: Global South Issues in Media , Culture and Technology (Palgrave, 2021). He has served as a board member for a number of international organisations, including the African Studies Association (ASA); the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation (IPATC); the Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and the Investigative Journalism Hub (IJ-Hub) where he is currently Board Chairperson.

Mrs Doris Viljoen

Doris Viljoen is the director of Institute for Futures Research (IFR) at Stellenbosch Business School, where she endeavours to interpret global as well as local trends and assess their relevance for South Africa and Africa. She has specialised skills in environmental scanning, the application of foresight methodology, scenario planning as well as strategy development. She has a wide range of research interests and is passionate about asking the right questions, searching for and finding relevant data as well as designing tools and techniques to facilitate thinking about plausible futures. She also lectures on Stellenbosch Business School’s Postgraduate Diploma and M Phil in Futures Studies.

Prof Barend Prinsloo

Barend Prinsloo, PhD, is an Associate Professor and serves as the Programme Leader for International and National Security within the School of Government Studies at the NWU. His expertise lies in the analysis of geopolitical events and their impact on South Africa, with a specific focus on threats to the State, including terrorism and transnational organized crime. As an author, he has contributed to numerous accredited academic, as well as opinion pieces in popular literature. As a speaker, panelist, and moderator, he has presented various papers on international platforms. His professionally accredited to the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals (IACSP) since his acceptance in 2017.

Niki Govender

Nikita Govender is an nGAP lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the North-West University (NWU), Potchefstroom Campus. Nikita began her academic journey at the NWU in March 2023 and is also a doctoral candidate at the University of Pretoria. She holds an LLB (cum laude) degree and an LLM Research (cum laude) degree from the Nelson Mandela University. Having worked in the field of international humanitarian law, Nikita is a humanitarian at heart. Her research is rooted in issues of global and regional armed conflict with specific focus on vulnerable, marginalised, and ostracised groups of persons.

Prof Blessed Ngwenya

Blessed Ngwenya is an Associate Professor in the Optentia Research Unit at North-West University, South Africa. He is the Director of Inclusion and Decolonial Praxis, a programme that focuses on research regarding the enhancement of the capabilities of diverse individuals, groups, and institutions. Prof. Ngwenya, who graduated with a DPhil in Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford, has worked on inclusivity, diversity, decoloniality and sustainability projects. He is a transdisciplinary scholar who works on decolonising knowledge and has interests in structural inequities that encompass the law, identity, transformation, education rights and the media.

Prof Piet Croucamp

Piet Croucamp is an associate professor in the School of Government Studies, and is also involved in the Business School, at the North-West University. His research and writing are mostly on violence as a feature of vulnerable democracies. Interrogating the origins of public opinion is a curiosity and part-time hobby.

Mr Johan van Heerden

Johannes Goosen van Heerden (Johan) has a background in intelligence analysis. He was employed with the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), Defense Intelligence for eleven years focusing on strategic intelligence. He then spent ten years at the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) with one of the focus areas the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and representing the FIC at the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (NICOC). He is currently a Fraud Analytics Manger at one of the major financial institutions in South Africa. He holds a master’s degree in development & management (Security Studies) whose topic focused on the concept of national security and he is currently working to the completion of a PhD in Security Studies & Management.

Mr Willem Els

Since April 2013, Willem Els has been a Senior Training Coordinator at the Enact Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria. His work focuses on terrorism and the nexus between terrorism and transnational organised crime, with specific emphasis on Africa. Within this context, he also facilitates and renders technical assistance to various bomb disposal and terrorism investigation units in Africa. Willem has travelled extensively throughout Africa, where he delivered specialised training on various aspects of the threat of terrorism, extremism, radicalisation, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE), and counter-terrorism to law enforcement and criminal justice officials. Prior to his current position at the ISS, he served in the South African Police Service for 28 years, including as the commander of the Pretoria Explosives Unit. Willem joined SAPS in 1984 and served in various specialised units, including the VIP Unit, Anti-Hijack Unit, Crime Intelligence Service, and Explosives Unit. Willem has completed various bomb disposal and investigation and CBRNE courses in South Africa and abroad. Willem holds a BA Hons Degree in Policing Practice from the Southern Business School.

Mr Richard Chelin

Richard Chelin is a governance specialist focusing on issues of anti-corruption, governance and criminal justice. He is currently the anticorruption advisor at the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office in Pretoria. Previously, Richard was a senior researcher exploring issues of corruption and organised crime. His research interests are in the field of governance and development. He holds a MSocSci in Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Prof Barend Prinsloo

Barend Prinsloo, PhD, is an Associate Professor and serves as the Programme Leader for International and National Security within the School of Government Studies at the NWU. His expertise lies in the analysis of geopolitical events and their impact on South Africa, with a specific focus on threats to the State, including terrorism and transnational organized crime. As an author, he has contributed to numerous accredited academic, as well as opinion pieces in popular literature. As a speaker, panelist, and moderator, he has presented various papers on international platforms. His professionally accredited to the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals (IACSP) since his acceptance in 2017.

Prof Heath Grant

In addition to being full-time faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Dr. Grant was recently the Director of Research at the Police Executive Research Forum, a leading Washington policing think tank. A 15-year program executive, he has led the creation of both crime prevention programs and innovative methods to promote the rule of law in public schools, police agencies, and correctional facilities throughout Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas on behalf of the US State Department. He is the author of numerous books, training curricula, and articles on the rule of law and social crime prevention efforts globally.

Mr John Melkon

Mr. John Melkon is the Director of the Center for the Study of Civil-Military Operations and an Assistant Professor at the United States Military Academy. He teaches the Geography of the Middle East and Africa and the Civ-Mil Ops Colloquium. From 2006-2012, Mr. Melkon served as a Senior Operations Advisor to the United States Army Africa with service to OPERATION ODYSSEY DAWN, and a Strategic Operations Officer for the Department of Defense globally with service to OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. He is a retired Army Special Forces Officer with tours in Europe, Africa, SE Asia, the Middle East and multiple combat tours in Afghanistan. He has been awarded the Ranger Tab, Special Forces Tab, and the Combat Infantry Badge. John is a PhD candidate at Stellenbosch University. He holds an AB History from Princeton, an MA European Politics and Certificate of Professional Achievement in Enterprise Risk from Columbia, and an MBA and MAIA from Texas A&M University.

Prof Pieter du Toit

Pieter is a professor of law at the North-West University in South Africa. His teaching and research activities focus on criminal law and procedure. He established the Professional LLM in Criminal Law and Procedure, the first qualification of its kind at a South African law faculty. Some of his research outputs have been considered in judgments of the High Court and the Constitutional Court. Pieter was initially in private practice as an attorney. Before joining the university in 2006, he was employed by the national prosecuting authority as a prosecutor in the regional court and the High Court.

Adv Adele Barnard

As a seasoned Senior State Advocate at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of South Africa, I have dedicated 26 years to serving justice. My expertise lies in prosecuting complex criminal cases, particularly those related to terrorism and specialized commercial crime offenses. Notably, I successfully led the prosecution in the high-profile case of State vs Brandon-Lee Thulsie and another, involving twin brothers linked to the Islamic State group in South Africa. Additionally, I have extensive experience prosecuting high-profile matters involving commercial crimes such as corruption, fraud, and racketeering. My commitment to upholding the law and ensuring that those who threaten national security and economic stability are held accountable has been a driving force throughout my career.

Mr Sello Moerane

Mr. Sello MOERANE is a citizen of the Republic of South African, with vast experience in law enforcement in the employ of South African Government. He boasts a highly decorated career that spans 32 years of both national and international police cooperation, having served in numerous positions and portfolios such as financial investigations, intelligence collection and analysis, multi-agency and interagency collaboration. Mr. Moerane is the current Head of INTERPOL Regional Bureau for Southern Africa in Harare, which doubles as the operational implementation coordination office of Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation (SARPCCO) in partnership with Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat. He worked at INTERPOL I.C.P.O. Lyon-France for a period of ten (10) years, as a Criminal Intelligence Officer, Program and Project Manager and Head of the Drugs Unit, covering thematic operational matters on Aviation, Maritim\e and border security on transnational organized crime and financial investigative matters. He coordinated, facilitated, and managed the implementation of international joint activities and projects with agencies such as World Custom Organization (WCO), United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), European Union Commission (EU), and various regional police organizations such as EUROPOL, AMERIPOL, ASEANPOL and AFRIPOL. He holds qualification on Postgraduate Degree in Public Management in Security, BTECH in Policing, Diploma in Policing and has number of certificates including Fraud Examiner, Certificate on PRENCI Project Management, Project approach on highly organized syndication and follow proceeds of crime.

Warrant Officer Wynand Olivier

Warrant Officer Wynand Olivier is an individual with an exemplary career in law enforcement, starting with the South African Police Service in January 1992. He began his service in the Uniform Branch, where he rose to the rank of Warrant Officer in 2001. By 2008, he transitioned to the Detective Branch, specializing in the investigation of serious violent crimes. Since 2011, he has served with the DPCI, focusing on high-profile, complex cases related to terrorism, espionage, and sabotage. His dedication has earned him numerous commendations, including for his role in prosecuting South Africa’s first ISSI-related case.