Savo Heleta

• Researcher, Nelson Mandela University

I am a researcher, internationalisation scholar and practitioner, educator, analyst and author with more than ten years' experience in higher education, academic research, curriculum development, teaching, research supervision and internationalisation. I also have more than eight years' experience in project planning, development and implementation, capacity building and leadership development, youth leadership development, peace-building and work in the NGO sector. I have worked at Nelson Mandela University and Durban University of Technology in South Africa. I am currently a research associate with Nelson Mandela University's Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation (CriSHET).

My research interests include decolonisation of knowledge; international and comparative education; higher education policy analysis; international research collaboration; bibliometric analysis; analysis of foreign aid flows to higher education; rebuilding higher education in conflict settings; conflict analysis; and post-war reconstruction, development and peacebuilding.

• 2025–present Research associate, Nelson Mandela University
• 2021–2024 Internationalisation specialist, Durban University of Technology
• 2013–2021 Manager: Internationalisation at home and research, Nelson Mandela University

• 2013 Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, DPhil, Development Studies
• 2009 Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, MPhil, Conflict Transformation and Management
• 2006 St. John's University, Minnesota, United States, BA, History, Business Management

• 2026 Higher education in conflict settings: Realities, challenges and possibilities of international solidarity and support, Globalisation, Societies and Education, 24(1)
• 2026 The neglect of higher education in conflict settings: Analysis of a decade of foreign aid flows [with Logan Cochrane], Globalisation, Societies and Education, 24(1)
• 2026 Supporting and learning from universities in times of conflict: Towards resilience and resistance in higher education [with Helen Murray, Birgul Kutan, Samia Al-Botmeh, Sardar Saadi and Mario Novelli], Globalisation, Societies and Education, 24(1)
• 2025 Global citizenship education and the internationalisation of higher education: Critical perspectives from South Africa [with Samia Chasi], International Review of Education
• 2025 Do donors provide foreign aid based on needs? An analysis of funding flows to higher education during the implementation of the SDGs [with Logan Cochrane], Sustainable Development
• 2025 Scholasticide in Gaza and Palestine as a portal: A duoethnography on silence, silencing and the struggle for a better world [with Hiba Ibrahim], Journal of Global Higher Education, 1(1)
• 2025 On education during a war and displacement and the importance of rebuilding the sector after violent conflict: A personal reflection, Perspectives in Education, 43(2)
• 2025 Foreign aid commitments vs disbursements to higher education in Palestine: An analysis of donors' intentions and deliveries over two decades [with Logan Cochrane], Development Studies Research, 12(1)
• 2025 The impact of the SDGs on donors' choices: Analysis of trends and types of aid to higher education at the SDG implementation halfway point [with Logan Cochrane and Salwa Al-Mannai], The Journal of Development Studies, 61(8)
• 2025 Analysis of two decades of aid flows to higher education in Palestine: Implications for rebuilding destroyed higher education in Gaza [with Sultan Barakat and Logan Cochrane], Higher Education
• 2025 Challenging the South-North dichotomy in international partnerships: Beyond Global South and North [with Samia Chasi], In Tavares, V. (ed.) Global South-North dichotomies in higher education: Critical dialogue, reflection and collaboration. Routledge
• 2025 From global citizenship to critical global competence: More than semantics, In Bosio, E. (ed.) New conversations on global citizenship education: Plural voices, ethical commitments, and emerging futures. Routledge
• 2024 Curriculum decolonization and internationalization: A critical perspective from South Africa [with Samia Chasi], Journal of International Students, 14(2)
• 2024 Bibliometric coloniality in South Africa: Critical review of the indexes of accredited journals [with Pedro Mzileni], Education As Change, Vol. 28
• 2024 Decolonisation is not even a footnote: On the dominant ideologies and smokescreens in South African higher education [with Isha Dilraj], Transformation in Higher Education, 9(0), a416
• 2024 The 'quest for relevance': Reconceptualizing and redefining internationalisation of higher education in South Africa, In Yu, C. & Woldegiorgis, E.T. (eds.) Critical reflections on the internationalisation of higher education in the Global South. Emerald Publishing
• 2024 The role of internationalisation in improving intra-African research collaboration [with Divinia Jithoo and Lavern Samuels], In Fomunyam, K.G. (ed.) Theorising research, innovation and internationalisation in African higher education institutions. UJ Press
• 2023 Rethinking and redefining internationalisation of higher education in South Africa using a decolonial lens [with Samia Chasi], Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 45(3)
• 2023 International research collaboration between South Africa and rest of the world: An analysis of 2012-2021 trends [with Divinia Jithoo], Transformation in Higher Education, 8(0), a246
• 2023 Differing priorities: International research collaboration trends of South African universities, 2012-2021 [with Divinia Jithoo], Perspectives in Education, 41(4)
• 2023 'Dem European teachings in my African school': Unpacking coloniality and Eurocentric hegemony in African education through Burna Boy's 'Monsters you made' [with Sakhile Phiri], In Andrews, N. & Khalema, E. (eds.) Decolonizing African Studies pedagogies: Knowledge production, epistemic imperialism and Black agency. Palgrave Macmillan
• 2023 Long road to decolonization in neoliberal and Eurocentric South African higher education, In Maringe, F. (ed.) Colonization and epistemic injustice in higher education: Precursors to decolonization. Routledge
• 2023 Critical review of the Policy Framework for Internationalisation of Higher Education in South Africa, Journal of Studies in International Education, 27(5)
• 2023 Towards more sustainable, equitable and just internationalisation practices: The case of internationalisation conferences [with Samia Chasi], Journal of Studies in International Education, 27(4)
• 2022 Eurocentrism, racism and academic freedom in South Africa, In Watermeyer, R., Raaper, R. and Olssen, M. (eds.) Handbook on academic freedom. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• 2021 Coloniality, knowledge production and the racialized socio-economic inequality in South Africa, In Ruprecht Fadem, M.E. and O'Sullivan, M. (eds.) The economics of empire: Genealogies of capital and the colonial encounter. Routledge.
• 2021 Sustainable Development Goals and higher education in low-income countries: Leaving many behind [with Tohiera Bagus], Higher Education, 81(1)
• 2020 Improving the contribution of foreign voluntourists in South Africa: the importance of training and supervision [with Carina Strohmeier], The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 16(1)
• 2018 Higher education in post-conflict settings, Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions. Dordrecht: Springer.
• 2018 Decolonizing knowledge in South Africa: Dismantling the 'pedagogy of big lies', Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. Vol. 40. No. 2.
• 2018 Disrupting coloniality: Student-led resistance to the oppressive status-quo in South Africa [with Awethu Fatyela and Thando Nkala], Universities and Conflict: The Role of Higher Education in Peacebuilding and Resistance. Routledge.
• 2017 The role of higher education institutions in developing intercultural competence in peace-building in the aftermath of violent conflict [with Darla Deardorff], Intercultural competence in higher education: International approaches, assessment and application. Routledge.
• 2017 Higher education and its international dimensions in post-conflict settings, Chapter in The Globalization of internationalization: Emerging voices and perspectives. Routledge.
• 2017 Global Citizenship vs Globally Competent Graduates: A Critical View From the South [with Nico Jooste], Journal of Studies in International Education. Vol. 21. No. 1.
• 2016 Decolonisation of higher education: Dismantling epistemic violence and Eurocentrism in South Africa, Transformation in Higher Education. Vol. 1. No. 1.
• 2016 Securitising Humanitarian Assistance and Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Africa: A Critical Review of South Africa's New Defence Policy, African Security Review. Vol. 25. No. 1.
• 2015 Higher Education in Post-Conflict Societies: Settings, Challenges and Priorities, Handbook Internationalisation of European Higher Education. Volume No. 1.
• 2014 Internally Driven Post-War Reconstruction and Development: The Case of Somaliland, Africa Insight. Vol. 44. No. 3.
• 2013 Building Leadership Capacity for Post-War Recovery: The Case of South Sudan, Journal for Development and Leadership. Vol. 2. No. 1.
• 2009 Teachers' Experiences of Conflict and Violence in Township Schools: A Case Study of Walmer-Gqebera, South Africa [with Snodgrass, L], Commonwealth Youth and Development. Vol. 7. No. 2.
• 2008 Not My Turn to Die: Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia, Amacom Books, New York

MENAFN06022026000199003603ID1110704178