TRAILBLAZER: PROFESSOR NJABULO NDEBELE BY JESSIE TAYLOR
Prof Njabulo Ndebele: Safeguarding Mabiba’s legacy
A
s chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Prof Njabulo Ndebele is one of the influential figures tasked with keeping the legacy of the late Nelson Mandela alive. An award-winning author, he has published fiction and essays to critical acclaim. He has also been honoured for his contribution to the academic world and has received honorary doctorates
from universities in South Africa, the United States, Japan, Europe and the United Kingdom.
removals of people from Western Native Township and Sophiatown to Soweto.
A LIFETIME OF LEARNING Prof Ndebele was born in Johannesburg in 1948, the third son of a nurse and teacher. The family lived in the then Western Native Township before moving to Nigel on the East Rand shortly before the mass
In 1960, he went to boarding school in Eswatini. He was one of many South African boys to attend St Christopher’s Anglican High School, as their parents sought to remove them from Bantu Education. H continued his education at the University
28 | Public Sector Leaders | July 2023
