Dr. Silindile Nanzile Mlilo is a migration scholar, practitioner, and consultant with extensive experience in research and project management at the intersection of migration and mobility governance, xenophobia and social cohesion, youth, and policy development across Africa and Asia. She is also a part-time content creator, producer, and interviewer, committed to amplifying African voices in migration scholarship and public discourse.
Silindile is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher and Project Manager at the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand, where she leads research and monitors xenophobic discrimination in South Africa through the Xenowatch project. She is also the co-founder of Meraki Afrique, a social enterprise focused on advancing regional integration in Africa.
Silindile holds a Ph.D. in Migration and Displacement, an MA in Advanced Development in Social Work through a consortium of European universities, including the University of Lincoln, Aalborg University, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas (University of Lisbon), and Université Paris Nanterre, MA in Human Rights and a Bachelor of Social Work both obtained at the University of Fort Hare, respectively. Her doctoral dissertation, “Political Subjectivities in Post-colonial States: Identity and Belonging Among Botswana’s non–Tswana Migrant Descendants,” examined how postcolonial nation-building in mono-ethnic states shapes identity, belonging, and citizenship for people of migrant descent, introducing new theoretical insights into hybrid identities and everyday practices of citizenship.
Silindile was a 2024 Next Gen Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellow. She is also an alumna of the Young African Leaders Programme at the European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance and an Erasmus Mundus Scholar.
Briefly describe the central argument of your doctoral dissertation. What is its main contribution to knowledge in your field?
My doctoral dissertation, titled “Political Subjectivities in Post-colonial States: Identity and Belonging Among Botswana’s non–Tswana Migrant Descendants,” explores how postcolonial nation-building in mono-ethnic African states shapes identity, belonging, and citizenship for long-term residents of migrant descent. Focusing on Botswana, I argue that the construction of a unified Tswana identity has produced exclusionary frameworks of citizenship that marginalise non-Tswana groups, despite their historical presence in the country.
The thesis presents a nuanced narrative of the hybrid, ambivalent, and tactical nature of contemporary citizenship in Botswana, as contested and practised by citizens with migrant origins. Drawing on in-depth interviews and archival research, I foreground lived experiences of marginalisation, ambiguity, and everyday negotiations of belonging. By centering interpretations of citizenship from the margins, the study challenges legalistic understandings of citizenship and demonstrates the multiple, fluid forms it can take when enacted and lived.
My research contributes to debates in migration studies and African studies on state-building by advancing a bottom-up perspective of postcolonial citizenship. It introduces novel theoretical concepts such as hybrid identities—not only as markers of identity but as instruments of political citizenship. In doing so, the thesis positions African postcolonial states as critical sites for theorising exclusion, belonging, and the workings of statecraft.
How did the Next Gen fellowship program impact your doctoral journey?
The Next Gen fellowship programme provided critical intellectual and financial support during the final year of my doctoral journey. It offered me the opportunity to take time off from work to dedicate myself to writing, gain access to experienced mentors, and join a community of African scholars facing similar structural challenges. The program created space for me to reflect more deeply on my research questions and methodology, while sharpening my scholarly voice. Beyond the dissertation, it equipped me with tools to navigate academia with greater confidence and purpose, especially as a first-generation scholar working across complex national and disciplinary boundaries.
Now that you have completed your PhD, what are your plans for the future?
Having completed my PhD, I recently began a Postdoctoral Fellowship with the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University). I am now focused on turning my thesis into a book project and expanding my research into a comparative project on postcolonial citizenship, legal belonging, and mobility in Southern Africa. I am also developing a podcast platform to de-centre migration knowledge production by amplifying the voices of African academics, practitioners, and migrants themselves at the ACMS. In the long term, I aim to be recognized as one of the leading voices in African migration scholarship and contribute to reshaping migration governance and policy on the continent through both academic research and engaged public scholarship.
What advice do you have for upcoming doctoral students?
Doctoral research is as much a journey of personal transformation as it is an academic exercise. My advice to future students is to be curious, stay grounded, and build community with others through meaningful contributions. Your topic matters, but so does your well-being. Seek mentors and peers who challenge and support you, and don’t be afraid to rethink your approach when things don’t go as planned.
Finally, remember that your voice matters, especially if you are working from or on the margins. Let that guide your scholarship.
A list of Dr. Silindile Nanzile Mlilo’s Published Works
Mlilo, S.N. (2023). Policy decision-making pandering to political populism? The non-renewal of Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEPs) by South Africa, as of 29 June 2023, according to the European University Institute (EUI).
Mlilo, S.N.; Soropogui, M.; Tayo, T.T.; Hafez, M; Foboi, M; Kankam, T.A. & Anika, J.D., Opening up Africa for Africans: a proposal in support of the protocol for the Free Movement of Persons, European University Institute (EUI), 29 June 2023.
Muleya, E, & Mlilo, S. N. (2023). The Use of Ubuntu in Social Work Practice: Lessons from the Gauteng Province Homelessness Programme in The Ubuntu Practitioner: Social Work Perspectives (eds) Mayaka, B.; Uwihangana, C, and van Breda, A.D International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), Rheinfelden, Switzerland.
Mlilo, S.N. (2023). Addressing Xenophobia and Populism is Key to Advancing the Adoption and Implementation of the AU Free Movement of Persons Protocol, Annual Report on Geopolitics in Africa, Policy Centre for the New South. September 2023. https://www.policycenter.ma/sites/default/files/2023-10/RAGP%202023%20VF%2005-10-2023%20preview.pdf
Kallali, Y & Mlilo SN (2022) “Leaving No One Behind” An assessment of the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Strategy in Africa – Comparative reflections of Ethiopia, Tunisia & South Africa, Policy Report, Young Policy Network on Migration (YPNM), Université de Neuchatel, September 2022.
Misago, J.P., Bule, K, & Mlilo, S.N. (2021). Xenophobic Violence in South Africa: An Analysis of Trends, Casual Factors & Responses – A Xenowatch Quinquennial Report, African Centre for Migration & Society. December 2021. http://www.xenowatch.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Xenowatch-Report_Final_Dec_2021_.pdf
