Writing & Scholarship
The New Apartheid (2021) examines how racial exclusion and inequality are reproduced through private power in democratic South Africa. It develops the argument that “apartheid did not die; it was privatised”.
Explore my books, essays and academic research below. My scholarship focuses on nuclear politics, disarmament, international order and South Africa.
Much of my work involves using words, whether in speeches, books, academic articles or opinion editorials. In this section, you can explore my written thoughts.
Books
Democracy & Delusion
A fresh, different perspective on South African politics. Many common political arguments come pre-packaged in a very old and dusty box – and in this book, Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh sets out to dismantle that box. The self-evident truths are not so inarguable. He argues that free education is far from impossible, land reform is not the first step to chaos, and the media is not free… In this incisive, informed book we
find challenges to commonly held opinions and new solutions to old problems.
The New Apartheid
Published in 2021 · Shop at SMWX
Has South Africa truly vanquished apartheid? In The New Apartheid, Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh argues that: apartheid did not die; it was privatised. He explores this argument in five realms of South African life: space, law, wealth, punishment and technology.
Scholarship
My research examines nuclear politics, disarmament and international order, with a particular interest in Africa and South Africa. The selection below brings together journal articles, book chapters and my doctoral research.
Selected publications
- “‘Triple lock’: South Africa’s shift from deterrence to disarmament, 1989–98”. The Nonproliferation Review, 31(4–6), pp. 237–255. Published online 2 December 2025. Read the article.
- “Polar Paradoxes: Antarctic Borders and the African Conundrum” (2024). In Regional Drift: Remapping Africa’s Southern Oceans, edited by Pamila Gupta and Caio Simões de Araújo. View the book.
- “State Capture and the Popular Imagination: Narrowing the Narrative” (2023). In State Capture in South Africa, edited by Mbongiseni Buthelezi and Peter Vale, pp. 175–196. Wits University Press. View the chapter.
- “Obedient rebellion: conceiving the African nuclear weapon-free zone” (2022). International Affairs, 98(1), pp. 145–163. Read the article.
- Obedient Rebellion: Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones and Global Nuclear Order, 1967–2017 (2020). DPhil thesis, University of Oxford. View the thesis.
Explore more publications on Google Scholar →
Earlier contributions
DPhil Thesis
“Obedient rebellion: nuclear-weapon-free zones and global nuclear order, 1967 – 2017.” PhD diss., University of Oxford, 2020.
Book chapters
“The game’s the same: ‘Must Fall’ moves to Euro-America.” Fees must fall: Student revolt, decolonisation and governance in South Africa (2016): 74-86.
Academic Podcasts
The WiSER Podcast.
The Futures of the Constitution (Part 1): A Conversation with Professor Tshepo Madlingozi. The WiSER Podcast. 2021.
Academic Podcasts
The Futures of the Constitution (Part 2): The Constitution and the New Apartheid.
Speeches
Black Lives Matter Panel. Chatham House
2020
Finding my academic rap voice at Oxford | TEDxUFS
2020
On Free Speech and the Right to a Platform | All Souls College, Oxford | 2016
2016
Freedom is a Sacred Thing: Speech to the St John’s College Valedictory | St John’s College, JHB
Op-eds
Selected recent writing
Why South Africa Is Torn Over the Trump-Ramaphosa Showdown
TIME · 23 May 2025
Why President Cyril Ramaphosa should resign
Mail & Guardian · 1 December 2022
DA flirts dangerously with Western Cape separatists
Mail & Guardian · 24 October 2022
Why is everyone in power in South Africa so old?
Mail & Guardian · 21 September 2022
Earlier writing
Sci-Fi, Hip-hop, and other fantasies
OkayAfrica | June 2020
Was Apartheid Truly Defeated?
The Economist | January 2018
South Africa Needs a National Wealth Fund
IG Knowledge Bureau | July 2018
Appropriation is a multi-layered term
Free Tuition is Easily Affordable
News24 | January 2017
Don’t Ban No-platforming
Free Speech Debate | March 2016
Neutrality Entrenches Racial Inequality
March 2016
