Field of research

• Energy Transitions
• Energy Economics

Profile

Mlondi has three degrees from the University of Zululand including a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Planning and Development; and a Master of Arts in Development Studies (specialising in Regional Economics). Between 2017 – 2020, he was awarded five scholarships, namely, National Research Foundation (NRF) [Freestanding Grant – 2017]; Moses Kotant Institute Bursary (2018); the NRF (Innovation and Priority Research Areas Scholarship – 2019), NRF Innovation Doctoral Scholarship and Moses Kotane Institute Bursary for 2020. He also participated in two academic conferences; Unizulu Humanities and Social Sciences Conference – 2018, held in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal and Social Sciences and Arts Conference – 2019, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mlondi is currently working on his PhD which falls within the joint project between the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition and the Environmental Justice Programme (Georgetown University, Washington – USA). His study addresses the absence of an integrated general non-equilibrium economy-climate model for South Africa. This is so because a number of energy models have not incorporated macro-economic benefits and pitfalls, as a result, there is inadequate knowledge to understand the potential energy transition benefits and pitfalls in terms of the gross domestic product, unemployment rates, inflation, consumption, and other macro-economic factors. The non-linkage between the energy transition and macro-economic factors is evident from models developed by Applied Development Research Solutions (ADRS), Meridian Economics, University of Cape Town (UCT) and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). To address this problem, the study aims to use a IEEC model developed in partnership with GTU in order to simulate BAU and alternative scenarios for South Africa’s energy transition within the wider macro-economic context.