WSG student visits War Studies department for PhD
- Kemantha Govender
A Wits School of Governance PhD student, Donny Thebus had an opportunity to spend time at the Kings College War Studies department in the United Kingdom.
He shares his experience and PhD journey thus far.
What is your background?
During the 1980s, I was a United Democratic Front political activist in Manenberg, Western Cape. This lived experience reinforced my ontological and epistemological outlook of the security sector governance in post-apartheid South Africa. With the transition to democracy in 1994, I was integrated into the renamed South African Police Services as part of the non-statutory forces. Here, I had the privilege to serve in the Presidential Protection Unit for 10 years. The integration process was fraught with the incongruences associated with the overall political transition. This experience triggered my academic journey. I completed an undergraduate degree with UNISA, majoring in Criminology and Political Science.
What made you pursue a PhD at WSG?
In 2008, I attended the inaugural Postgraduate Diploma in Security Management at Wits. This further set me off on the next stage of my academic journey. After the completion of my Master’s Degree at Wits, it was natural to pursue a PhD. Moreover, in continuing to focus on the broader concern of security sector governance; the School had two experienced academics in security sector governance Professor Gavin Cawthra and Associate Professor Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk to supervise my proposed research.
Can you tell us about your research?
The re-modelling, layering and displacement of old apartheid intelligence institutions to suit new “rules, practices and narratives” at the inception of the political transition in South Africa could have had an adverse effect on the politicisation of the civilian intelligence services. My research will explore the sense making and sense giving processes of individuals (with the identity roles of enemy, functionary, proxies or collaborators) who underwent the organisational changes of the amalgamation of the civilian intelligence services on the 1 January 1995.
Please tell us about your highlights of your stay at Kings College?
The Kings College War Studies department is a phenomenal institution. The 7 and 8th floors house some of the key scholars, researchers and authors in the fields of security, intelligence and war studies. Through the initiative of Professor JE Spence, I was permitted to attend the KCL MA classes on intelligence. The approach to the pedagogy of intelligence, especially the lectures by Professor Joe Maiolo were invaluable. This interaction will not only be reflected in my PhD thesis, but will impact my own teachings in security and intelligence.
The War Studies induction programme for Doctoral students introduced the academic support structure of the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS DTP), a noteworthy resource, I was enrolled for a few of its training initiatives. I identified key development areas (writing and literature review) ? that not only has a benefit for me as an academic but, will provide a qualitative value when writing my PhD thesis.
What advice do you have for someone considering their PhD in your field?
I believe that it is essential that we increase our PhD output within the fields of security sector governance in South Africa. The field should be of interest as safety and security is a central feature of South African life. Moreover, with the increasing threat to the international rules-based system, academics should increase their assistance to government and society to make sense of this changing environment.
The young academics in the field of security sector reform should be seeking the opportunities to study abroad as this improves both their academic reflexivity as well as seeing their field from a different perspective.