Professor Phago is a respected scholar in public administration and governance, bringing extensive academic and policy experience to the role.
Before joining UMP, Professor Phago served as Professor and Director of the School of Government Studies at North-West University. He previously held the position of Full Professor and Head of Department for the Master of Public Administration postgraduate programme at the Faculty of Management and Law at the University of Limpopo.
He also holds an Adjunct Professorship in Governance at the Graduate School of Business Leadership at the University of South Africa and previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Uganda Technology and Management University.
Beyond academia, Professor Phago has contributed extensively to governance and public sector development. He has facilitated short learning programmes for municipalities as well as provincial and national government departments, and has collaborated with several departments of the South African government, the African Union Commission and the BRICS partnership. He also served as an expert member of the Presidential Remuneration Review Committee in South Africa.
His work has included participation in international capacity-building initiatives, including programmes that trained senior civil servants from South Sudan in South Africa, as well as similar programmes supporting officials across local, provincial and national spheres of government.
Public Administration and Governance Expert
Professor Phago began his academic career at Vista University in 2002 before lecturing at Tshwane University of Technology. He later joined the University of South Africa, where he served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Management until 2012.
He is actively involved in scholarly publishing and academic leadership, and currently serves as Africa Editor for the Journal of Local Economy and Associate Editor for the Journal of Public Affairs, both SCOPUS-indexed journals. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Public Administration and recently co-edited the book Local Government Administration in Eastern and Southern Africa.
He is a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Curriculum and Quality Assurance (2025 – 2029) and serves on the board of the South African Association of Public Administration and Management.
Professor Phago's research interests include public administration, good governance, local government, municipal service delivery, local economic development, integrated development planning, and housing and public policy. He has presented widely at national and international conferences and supervised numerous Master’s and doctoral candidates.
“We are pleased to welcome Professor Phago to UMP. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, which will contribute to the growth and impact of our institution as we forge ahead to fulfil our 2030 institutional goals,” said UMP Vice-Chancellor and Principal Thenjiwe Meyiwa..
Story and picture supplied. Copyright © UMP.