Cornelius Tennyson Daniel Marivate

Cornelius Tennyson Daniel Marivate (10 April 1927 – 4 December 2020) was a South African politician, academic and writer, known for his work in Tsonga. He won the South African Literary Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

Marivate worked at the University of South Africa (UNISA) from 1963 to 1992. He served briefly in the government of the Gazankulu bantustan and later represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1996 to 1999.

Early life and career Marivate was the second-born son of Daniel Marivate, a renowned South African composer and writer. He was born on 10 April 1927 and raised at a Swiss mission station in Valdesia in the former Transvaal province, where his father was a teacher and pastor. He himself began teaching in 1948 at a nearby primary school, while studying by correspondence for his school-leaving certificate. the main task of the commission was to reintegrate the Gazankulu, Lebowa, and Venda homelands with parts of the Transvaal provincial administration. In October 1996, he was sworn in to the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament, where he filled a casual vacancy in an ANC seat. He advocated for a political programme involving self-reliance, reconciliation, and cooperation among political parties. Like his father, he was also involved in composing and conducting choral music.

Personal life and death He was married to Stephina and had seven children. He was an adherent of the Moral Rearmament movement and a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. He died on 4 December 2020, aged 93.