Phil Mtimkulu is a governance specialist in the school of governance at the University of South Africa. He previously taught politics at the university, specialising in African Politics, ideologies of South African black political movements and democratisation processes in Africa.
He is a a former journalist and worked at major South African newspapers based in Johannesburg. He served as a commissioner of the Press Freedom Commission of South Africa. Mtimkulu holds a doctorate in political science from the Unisa.He has published articles in accredited journals and chapters in books.