Roger Southall is Emeritus Professor in Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He lectured in Politics and International Relations at the National University of Lesotho (1975-80), Carleton University (1980-82) and University of Ottawa (1983-85) in Canada and University of Leicester (UK) before moving to Rhodes University in South Africa in 1989, where he became Professor of Political Studies before moving to the Human Sciences Research Council as Executive Director of its Democracy and Governance programme in 2001, before he moved to Wits. During his career, he has written extensively on politics and sociology in Africa, southern Africa and notably, South Africa, numerous of his contributions appearing in the media.