Sam Mokhaloane is from a small rural area called Viljoenskroon in the Free State Province, South Africa. He is currently a PhD Candidate in International Relations at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he focuses on conflict, the Covid-19 pandemic and South African humanitarian interventions in Africa.

He holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary. His Master’s thesis is entitled “Pursuit of Ubuntu? Exploring South African role in DR Congo. The case of Force Intervention Brigade”. Sam is passionate about researching issues related to socioeconomic, conflict, peace-keeping interventions, pandemics, human rights, diplomacy, nonstate actors, and state relations.

Additionally, he obtained an Honours Degree in Political Science and International Relations from the North-West University, South Africa, where his mini dissertation focused on a “Comparative study between China and the United States of America relations with the African Union”. Likewise, he holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and International Relations, majoring in Public Administration, from North-West University.

He received an academic excellence recognition award in 2015 from Golden Key and later led this organization as the Public Relations Officer. In Hungary, Sam held the leadership position of Entertainment Officer (June 2019 to June 2020) under the South African Students Committee. Sam is the International Scholarship Alumni Ambassador under the Department of Higher Education and Training. In addition, he is the lead editor of Humanities and Politics for DG Sentinel. Additionally, working under contract for Independent Electoral Commission”.

Sam has worked as the Assistant Project Coordinator at the Independent Electoral Commission, assisting with preparations and rollbacks of the 2020 South African Local Elections. He also served as the Administration Intern at the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to resolve the conflict between landowners and occupants while ensuring human rights are protected. Furthermore, he worked as the Academic Facilitator at the North-West University under the Department of International Relations and Politics to mentor, prepare and guide students, encourage learning, facilitate academic team development, and assist in preparing assessments.

In 2021, The South African National Research Foundation (NRF) featured Sam Mokhaloane on their website for “Youth of the NRF who are Advancing Knowledge, Transforming Lives and Inspiring a Nation”.

Likewise, he also presented at the 15th Biennial Conference for the South African Association of Political Studies, and his topic was entitled “Is COVID-19 the Remaking of New World Order? China’s rise to global leadership”. In the same year, Sam wrote a blog article for the “African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Dispute entitled Socio-political dilemmas faced by Uganda and South Africa in the third wave: The impact of lockdown measures.”

Sam is still on the road to professional, research and academic growth. The battle remains uncertain, but we forge ahead.