Judith February describes herself as a ‘governance specialist, lapsed lawyer, columnist, lover of words, latte drinker, fellow traveler, Classicist & cricket fan’. She is based at the Institute for Security Studies and is also a Visiting Fellow at the WITS School of Governance. Prior to that she was executive director of the HSRC’s Democracy and Governance unit and also head of IDASA’s South African governance programme for nine years. February is a regular columnist for Daily Maverick, Eyewitness News and other publications as well as a frequent commentator on politics on radio and television. February is also a Conflict Dynamics accredited commercial mediator.