Unizulu’s first black Rector dies
UNIZULU's first black Rector Prof. AC Nkabinde dies at the age of 85.
FORMER University of Zululand lecturer and now Commissioner for Traditional Leadership, Disputes and Claims, Prof. Jabulani Maphalala has described the passing of the much celebrated academic and first Black Rector of the University of Zululand, Prof Abram Charles Nkabinde as a big blow to the education fraternal.
Nkabinde (85) died on Thursday, 7 August. Maphalala described Nkabinde as a giant who will always be remembered for his passion for education.
‘I still remember when I came to Unizulu as lecturer, Nkabinde was head of African languages. He was a strict disciplinarian, who was committed to his work.
‘He was also the longest serving Vice-Chancellor, and was very fluent in Afrikaans, a language hated by many of us. Under his administration, he played a huge role and was instrumental in the building of a university library,’ he said.
Maphalala’s sentiments were echoed by the current Rector and Vice Chancellor, Prof Fikile Mazibuko, who described Nkabinde as a distinguished scholar of African literature and academic administrator who had a great impact on the institution, in all its facets.
‘For this we applaud his efforts and are honoured to have been part of his academic journey. Last year we recognised and celebrated his contribution to higher education, the preservation and promotion of African literature. As the longest serving administrator (1963-1993) at Unizulu he provided unwavering supportive and influential leadership and passion for education.
‘To his family we pray that the memories of him as a father, husband, provider and parent lessen their grief over the coming years,’ she said.
His life
Born in Witbank, Nkabinde matriculated from Kilnerton High School in 1950 and qualified as a teacher at the Pretoria Bantu Normal College in 1953. He taught Zulu and maths at two high schools and was Chief Translator at the Department of Bantu Administration and Development.
In 1963 he joined the Zulu Department at the then University College of Zululand, and completed his MA in 1966, and was promoted to the position of Senior Lecturer in 1967. In 1975 he completed his DLitt and was promoted to Professor, and spent a year as a Research Fellow in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh.
He translated Waldemar Bonsels’ ‘Die Biene Maya’ from German into Zulu, as ‘Umaya imigido yenyosi’ and established a team which initiated the compilation of a Zulu-Zulu dictionary, and was appointed as Unizulu Rector and Vice Chancellor in 1978, a position he held for 15 years.
Nkabinde was a published academic whose work fuelled a desire to preserve Zulu as an African indigenous language. His commitment to furthering education in Zulu has enabled Black South Africans to engage in academia in a language they are familiar with, and has fostered the culture of academic discourse in an indigenous African language.
He will be laid to rest today (Thursday) at Fourways in Johannesburg.
Dr. Norbert Bermanseder
Founding Professor of the Department of Engineering at the University of Zululand
Hamba Kahle Professor Nkabine, I shall miss you!
The sad and shocking news of the death of Professor Nkabinde also reached me in Germany at time when already several bad news hit me.
Only around Easter this year I phoned him at his new home in Fourways. He sounded quite well, energetic and enthusiastic about his long-term “companion”, the Zulu dictionary project.
Ok, writing was no longer so easy, as Esther, his spouse wrote me but he always added a few lines when I got a letter. Most important, his mind was sharp and his kindness as well as humbleness has never changed.
I met Professor Nkabinde the first time shortly after the cyclone in 1988 to finalize my appointment as professor and founder of an engineering department at UNIZUL.
He was instrumental in convincing BMW in Germany to sponsor an Engineering Department not only with money but also with a qualified engineer to teach hands-on engineering.
Professor Nkabinde had a determination for this university, namely an engineering department, an agriculture department and a faculty of medicine. Two-third of it became reality under his leadership.
My planned three years at Zululand lasted more than 10 years and I had the honour to serve UNIZUL under the leadership of Professor Nkabinde. He became a mentor and fatherly friend during these turbulent times on the campus.
As a small department and newcomer it was not always easy to “survive” next to long-time established departments at the Faculty of Science. But Professor, as I used to call him, supported me when it was necessary. Despite fighting hard at Pretoria, we never managed to get a full fletched Engineering Faculty and degree course due to lack of student numbers. The closest we could get was an Industrial Science degree course similar to a European Industrial Engineering degree course.
Professor Nkabinde’s interest in engineering probably has its roots in his son, one of a few black engineers at those times. He was very proud of his son’s achievements and that might have been the reason why the “chemistry” between him and me was so excellent.
His other big interest was agriculture which he documented when he retired and bought a farm.
Both, Engineering and Agriculture were roughly established at the same time and the founding professor of agriculture, the late Professor G D C Power, and me were a good team to develop our departments under the wings of Professor Nkabinde.
With all his successful progress at UNIZUL he remained the humble and respectful great African leader in education.
Hamba Kahla Professor
Prof Nkabinde is NOT being “properly” celebrated because he was a bush rector, appointed, and was associated with Inkatha Freedom Party
On the other hand Prof Jakes Gerwel also a BUSH rector was “properly” celebrated because he was in and associated with the right political party.
Nkabinde was a rector at an institution Zululand that was to become a battle ground for IFP-ANC
I hope South African none aligned historians as we move into the next 20 years of democracy will set the records straight.
The are a lot of South Africans similar to Prof Nkabinde who have not been properly honored because they were NOT considered part of the struggle for liberation as understood by ordinary man in the street.
Prof Nkabinde was involved in educating the black person
Education was and will remain a liberation tool.