Nokukhanya Bhengu
Nokukhanya Bhengu | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 March 1904 |
| Died | 16 December 1996 (age 92) |
| Burial place | Congregational Church, Groutville, South Africa |
| Education | Ohlange Institute Inanda Seminary School |
| Alma mater | Adams College |
| Spouse | Albert Luthuli (m. 1927) |
| Children | 7, including Albertina Luthuli |
Nokukhanya Bhengu (3 March 1904–16 December 1996) was a South African teacher, farmer, women’s leader and anti-apartheid activist.[1] She was married to Albert Luthuli, who was president of the African National Congress (ANC) between 1952 and 1967.[2]
Early life and education
[edit]Bhengu was born in 1904 at the Umngeni American Board Congregationalist Mission,[3] near Durban,[4] in the British Colony of Natal. Her parents were Maphitha Bhengu, son of Ndlokolo Bhengu (the chief of the Ngcolosi people),[5] and his wife Nozincwadi Ngidi from Mzinyathi, making her a member of the royal family of the Ngcolosi.[1] Her family were amakholwa (African Christian) and she had five older siblings.[1] Her mother died in 1914 and when her father remarried, she went to live with her elder brother.[4]
She began her education at the Ohlange Institute, Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal,[6] then studied at the Inanda Seminary School,[7] an American Board Mission school for girls. One of her teachers at the Inanda Seminary recommended her to Adams College, Amanzimtoti, for a teachers training course.[3] After completing her teacher training, in 1922 Bhengu began to teach at Mpushini, near Pietermaritzburg. When educator and social worker Sibusiswe Makhanya left her teaching position at Adams College in 1923, the administration invited Bhengu to replace her.[1]
Marriage and activism
[edit]In 1925, Bhengu met Albert Luthuli, then a fellow teacher at Adams College, who taught Zulu history, music, and literature.[8] On 19 January 1927, they married and moved to live with his family in Groutville.[9] They had seven children,[3] including the politician and medical doctor Albertina Luthuli. Bhengu had to leave her job after her marriage as Adams College did not allow for married women to teach,[4] but supplemented the family income by growing and selling vegetables, sugar cane and fruits.[10] Local women in Groutville would often speak to Bhengu for advice about farming, raising children and relating to their mother in law.[1] When corruption caused issues at the local post office, she set up a post office in the Luthuli home and delivered letters on foot.[1][11]
Bhengu was a supporter of the Women's Enfranchisement Association of the Union (WEA), founded by Charlotte Maxeke and Emily Hobhouse.[12][13] In the 1930s, Bhengu launched a Groutville branch of the women's cooperative the Daughters of Africa (DOA).[14]
She was active in the anti-apartheid movement and joined the ANC in the 1950s, later reflecting that "I have always treasured the decision I made to throw in my lot with you all in the African National Congress who wish to see Africa become free."[15] Her husband was elected president of the ANC in 1952,[2] and his wife corresponded with equal rights activists across the globe, such as the American philanthropist Mary Louise Hooper.
When King Bhekuzulu of the royal family in Durban announced his support for apartheid passes, Bhengu and nine other representative women of the African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) met him to urge him to oppose pass laws.[1] In a letter to the editor of Ilanga in 1957, she called out her royal paternal ancestors: "intombi kaMaphitha, oyisokanqangi lika Ndlokolo kaNkungu kaMepho kaNgwane kaLamula."[1]
In 1960, Bhengu joined Mewa Ramgobin in participating in a five-day fast, in the Gandhian tradition, in protest of the Sharpeville massacre and subsequent banning of anti-apartheid organisations by the state.[16][17]
In 1961, Bhengu's husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[18] He acknowledged his wife's role in his acceptance speech and stated that she richly deserved to share the honour of receiving the prize with him.[3] They used the prize money to purchase farms in Switzerland which provided shelter for ANC members needing to escape from South Africa. Bhengu would spend time there every year looking after the crops, property and guests.[4]
Later life
[edit]Bhengu's husband died in 1967,[2] after being struck by a goods train.[19] Nelson Mandela wrote to her in condolence from prison.[20] After her husbands death, Bhengu managed his legacy both nationally and internationally, performed the official unveiling of his tombstone and supported the establishment of Luthuli Memorial Foundation (LMF).[1] Bhengu also remained active in campaigning and civic life, and in 1971 she opened the October convention of the Natal Indian Congress,[21] writing later in the 1970s in support of the Congress through their newsletter.[22]
She was awarded an Organisation of African Unity award in 1974[1] and attended international events such as the Soweto Day 1977 in London as a special guest. In 1981, she opened the inaugural meeting of the Natal Organisation of Women, and she publicly spoke out against the renewal of the ban on Robert Sobukwe.[1]
Even when she became wheelchair bound, Bhengu was still active in the anti-apartheid movement, taking part in a Mass Democratic Movement march in Stanger (KwaDukuza) in 1989. She was also part of the welcome when Nelson Mandela was released from jail.[4] Shortly before Bhengu's death, in 1996, the first black American consul general, Pamela Bridgewater, travelled to visit her in South Africa.[1]
Death and legacy
[edit]Bhengu died in December 1996, days after the new democratic constitution of South Africa was signed into law.[1] She was buried at the Congregational Church in Groutville beside her husband.[3] President Mandela spoke at her funeral, describing her as "Mother of the Nation par excellence."[23] The Luthuli family home is now a living museum.[24]
She was the subject in a 1989 praise poem by Gcina Mhlophe,[25] and has also been included in poems by Thoko Remigia Makhanya and Sue Williams.[1]
When President Thabo Mbeki addressed the National Conference on Racism in 2000, he shared a direct quote from Bhengu, from shortly before she died: "this simple but profoundly humanist and African wish: My wish before I die, is to see blacks and whites living harmoniously in a united South Africa."[26]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Kelly, Jill E. (2024-08-21), "Nokukhanya Luthuli", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1442, ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4, retrieved 2025-01-23
- ^ a b c Vinson, Robert (2022-09-15), "Albert Luthuli", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1103, ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4, retrieved 2025-01-23
- ^ a b c d e "NOKUKHANYA LUTHULI". Luthuli Museum. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ a b c d e Daymond, Margaret J. (2003). Women Writing Africa: The Southern Region. Feminist Press at CUNY. p. 413. ISBN 978-1-55861-407-9.
- ^ Benson, Mary (1963). Chief Albert Lutuli of South Africa. Oxford University Press. p. 8.
- ^ "Nokukhanya (Bhengu) Luthuli's Life Timeline". South African History Online. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ Healy-Clancy, Meghan (2014-06-19). A World of Their Own: A History of South African Women's Education. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-3609-3.
- ^ Vinson, Robert Trent (2018-08-09). Albert Luthuli. Ohio University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-8214-4642-3.
- ^ Luthuli, Albert John (1991). Luthuli: Speeches of Chief Albert John Luthuli. Madiba Publishers. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-9583169-6-5.
- ^ "A Women's Month tribute to Nokukhanya (MaBhengu) Luthuli (1904 – 1996)". University of Pretoria. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ Beinart, William (2014-07-01). A Long Way Home: Migrant worker worlds 1800–2014. NYU Press. pp. 190–192. ISBN 978-1-86814-994-0.
- ^ Barr, James (2023-06-16). "A Comprehensive History of Women's Suffrage in South Africa". WeChronicle. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1970-1980. Unisa Press. 2004. p. 886. ISBN 978-1-86888-406-3.
- ^ Curry, Dawne Y. (2022-04-11). Social Justice at Apartheid’s Dawn: African Women Intellectuals and the Quest to Save the Nation. Springer Nature. p. 198. ISBN 978-3-030-85404-1.
- ^ Nokukhanya Luthuli, (December 1955) “Our Standard Is Not What the White Woman Does,” Izwi Le Congress 2: 6, 2Z14/6, Reel 28B, Carter-Karis Collection, Cooperative Africana Microform Project.
- ^ "Mewa Ramgobin". South African History Online. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ Pillay, Ravi (23 October 2016). "Hamba kahle, Mewa, you brought us all closer". Sunday Tribune. Retrieved 25 January 2025 – via PressReader.
- ^ Hofmeyr, Isabel; Williams, Michelle (2011-05-01). South Africa and India: Shaping the Global South. NYU Press. ISBN 978-1-86814-948-3.
- ^ Couper, Scott (2010). Albert Luthuli: Bound by Faith. University of KwaZulu-Natal Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-86914-192-9.
- ^ Mandela, Nelson (2019-08-13). Prison Letters. Liveright Publishing. ISBN 978-1-63149-674-5.
- ^ Vahed, Goolam; Desai, Ashwin (2014-01-02). "A case of 'strategic ethnicity'? The Natal Indian Congress in the 1970s". African Historical Review. 46 (1): 22–47. doi:10.1080/17532523.2014.911436. ISSN 1753-2523.
- ^ Desai, Ashwin; Vahed, Goolam (2021). Colour, Class and Community - The Natal Indian Congress, 1971-1994. NYU Press. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-77614-716-8.
- ^ Speech by President Nelson Mandela at the Funeral of Nokukhanya Luthuli, December 22, 1996, Groutville, South Africa.
- ^ Hlongwane, Ali Khangela; Ndlovu, Sifiso Mxolisi (2019-04-11). Public History and Culture in South Africa: Memorialisation and Liberation Heritage Sites in Johannesburg and the Township Space. Springer. p. 232. ISBN 978-3-030-14749-5.
- ^ Kindig, Jessie (2020-10-20). The Verso Book of Feminism: Revolutionary Words from Four Millennia of Rebellion. Verso Books. ISBN 978-1-78873-927-6.
- ^ Reflection, The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic (2015-02-01). Nation Formation and Social Cohesion: An Enquiry into the Hopes and Aspirations of South Africans. Real African Publishers. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-920655-72-3.