The Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) is pleased to announce Dr Keolebogile Mbebe as the winner of the 2026 Christof Heyns Memorial Thesis Award. The award recognises outstanding doctoral legal scholarship that engages with human rights, good governance, or social justice from an African perspective.
Dr Mbebe’s winning thesis, titled Negation and Naturalisation: Tracing the Logic of Discovery in the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, was completed under the supervision of Prof Joel Modiri at the University of Pretoria.
Dr Simon Mateus was selected as the runner-up for his thesis, Are We There Yet?: Assessing the Duty to Eradicate Poverty (and Its Prospects) as a Peremptory Norm of General International Law (Jus Cogens), completed under the supervision of Judge Dire Tladi at the University of Pretoria.
The winner and runner-up each receive a cash prize and the opportunity to publish their doctoral thesis as a monograph with PULP.
A rigorous assessment of doctoral scholarship
The 2026 award was assessed by a panel comprising Prof Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, Prof Narnia Bohler-Muller and Adv Salim A. Nakhjavani. The panel completed its assessment on 30 October 2026.
A total of 21 entries were considered. Each thesis was assessed against the award’s prescribed themes and competition criteria, with particular attention to the quality and depth of the research, the originality of the approach, its contribution to knowledge, and its relevance to African challenges. The panel’s deliberations recognised the significant scholarly contributions represented by this year’s submissions.
PULP warmly congratulates Dr Keolebogile Mbebe on receiving the 2026 Christof Heyns Memorial Thesis Award and extends its sincere congratulations to Dr Simon Mateus as runner-up. Their achievements reflect the importance of rigorous, original doctoral research in advancing legal scholarship on the African continent.
PULP also extends its sincere appreciation to the members of the panel for their expertise, time and commitment to the assessment process, and thanks all 21 entrants for submitting their research. The quality and diversity of the submissions demonstrate the continued value of doctoral scholarship engaging with pressing questions of human rights, good governance and social justice in Africa.
The award continues to honour the legacy of Professor Christof Heyns, one of PULP’s founders, whose dedication to advancing scholarship, research and publication in Africa remains central to the Press’s mission.
About the Christof Heyns Memorial Thesis Award
The Christof Heyns Memorial Thesis Award was introduced in honour of the late Professor Christof Heyns, who passed away in March 2021. The annual award recognises outstanding doctoral theses completed at African universities and promotes scholarship in the fields of human rights, good governance, and social justice from an African perspective. The winning thesis is awarded the opportunity to be published as a monograph by the Pretoria University Law Press.
About PULP
The Pretoria University Law Press (PULP) is an open-access publisher based at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. Established in 2005, PULP is committed to publishing innovative, high-quality scholarly texts on law in Africa and making these works accessible to a broad readership.
For more information, please contact:
Dr Liesl Hager
Lecturer, Department of Private Law, University of Pretoria
Tuks Young Research Leadership Program Fellow (June 2024)
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-
Email: liesl.hager@up.ac.za
Law Building, Office 4-20
Office Tel: 012 420 3962
