Mbulelo Mzamane

Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane (28 July 1948 – 16 February 2014) was a South African author, poet, and academic. He was described by the late President Nelson Mandela as a "visionary leader and one of South Africa’s greatest intellectuals".

Early life Mbulelo was born in Port Elizabeth, and grew up first in Soweto and then in the Brakpan-Springs area. His mother Flamma Cingashe Nkonyeni was a nurse and his father Canon Joshua Bernard Mbizo Mzamane was an Anglican priest; both were community leaders. His early schooling was in Soweto, and he later attended high school at St. Christopher's in Swaziland, where he was taught by distinguished writer and journalist Can Themba.

Education and Work Mbulelo did his undergraduate education at the then University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (UBLS, Roma Campus), obtaining dual degrees in English and Philosophy and a Certificate in education cum laude. He also obtained an M.A. in English from UBLS.

Activism and exile Mbulelo was an activist against the apartheid government of South Africa. He spent many years in exile in Nigeria and the USA and spread South African literature there and conscientious people on the South African struggle. where he also held the faculty rank of Professor in the Department of English Studies and Comparative Literature. After leaving the University of Fort Hare, he was a vocal contributor to international debate on issues confronting African populations on the continent and in the diaspora of the Americas.

Mbulelo chaired and served on numerous boards, including: the African Arts Fund (affiliated to the U.N. Center against Apartheid) and the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (affiliated to the University of the Witwatersrand). Mbulelo was also the director of the Center for African Literary Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). (ESAACH).

Published collections Mbulelo was a popular personality on the international speaking scene and some of his works have been translated into several languages including German, French, Russian, Dutch and Slavic. His publications include: Mzala: The Short Stories of Mbulelo Mzamane (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1980). My Cousin Comes to Jo'burg (Harlow: Longman, 1981). The Children of Soweto: A Trilogy (Harlow: Longman, 1982). The Children of the Diaspora and Other Stories of Exile (Western Cape: Vivlia Publishers, 1996). Where There Is No Vision the People Perish: Reflections on the African Renaissance (University of South Australia: Hawke Institute, 2001). The Race Between the Turtles and Cheetahs (Children's Book) (Canberra, The Australian National University: The Herbert and Valmae Freilich Foundation, 2004). Children of Paradise (UKZN Press, 2011). Of Minks and Men and Other Stories of Our Transition and The Mbeki Turn: South Africa after Mandela (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2013).