Chitja Twala is an Associate Professor and former Head of the History Department at the University of the Free State (UFS), Bloemfontein, South Africa. He is currently occupying the position of Vice Dean (Teaching and Learning) in the Faculty of the Humanities at the UFS. Twala has a substantial publication record on the liberation and public history. His publications include:

• Warrior Queen Mmanthatisi of the Batlokoa in pre-colonial southern Africa: A re-appraisal of her power, dominance and leadership qualities. In S. Ndlovu (ed.), The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Volume 9: The Power and Authority of African women in southern Africa and in the African diaspora during ‘precolonial’ and colonial times. Johannesburg. Skotaville Publishers, pp. 165-185. 2021. ISBN: 978-0-620-96019-9.
• The Qwaqwa Bantustan and the nuances of political transition and integration into the Free State Province, 1989-1996. In S. Ndlovu (ed.), The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Volume 4, Part 3. Austin. Texas, Pan-African University Press, pp. 1957-1977. 2019. ISBN: 978-1-94353-3-442.
• ‘Ga re ye go nna karolo ya Aforika Borwa’: Thaba Nchu and the challenges of integration into the Free State, 1989-1994. In S. Ndlovu (ed.), The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Volume 4, Part 3. Austin. Texas, Pan-African University Press, pp. 1979-2016. 2019. ISBN: 978-1-94353-3-442.
• ‘Bargaining with land: Borders, Bantustans, and Sovereignty in 1970s and 1980s Southern Africa’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 2021, pp. 1-17.

   

  The recent conference presentations include:

• ‘Liberation protest signs and symbols: Rhetoric acts of resistance?’, Historical Association of South Africa (HASA) Conference, Sol Plaatje University, Kimberley, 13 December 2021 (Virtual Presentation).
• ‘Dangling the land as a carrot: The Bantustans and the extension of land under the apartheid regime’, Africana Studies Workshop: James Madison University, Virginia, USA, 15 November 2021 (Virtual Presentation).
• ‘The ANC, processes, legacies and the integration of Bantustans into South Africa’, Paper presented at the Government and Public Policy Conference on the sub-theme: State Integration, the Homelands and Public Service, (Virtual Presentation), 28 April 2021.

He has conducted research at the following institutions: Harvard University (USA); University of California, Los Angeles; International Institute of Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA) Ethiopia; etc. He has presented papers in the following countries, USA; Russia; Zimbabwe; Ethiopia; Botswana; Greece; Finland; Singapore; Zambia; etc. Twala is currently working on a joint book project on the Borderlands Studies funded by the National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) and the Faculty of the Humanities Interdisciplinary Grant.