By Lincoln Mali and Thami Mseleku
A few days ago, Prof. Sibusiso Mandlenkosi Emanuel Bengu passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. As we celebrate his life, those of us close to him also celebrate a second lease of life for this remarkable man.
The highlight of Prof. Bengu’s illustrious career was when he was appointed by President Nelson Mandela as the Minister of Education in 1994. This joy and excitement were short lived as he suffered a debilitating stroke.
Given the importance of the portfolio and the huge challenges that lay ahead, there was much speculation as to whether he would come back and resume his duties. What the public did not know, and what a few of us learnt very quickly, was that Prof. Bengu was a fighter, who had been underestimated and written off so many times in his life.
He had a steely resolve and fierce determination to go back to his job and tackle the challenges that faced our education system. The unsung heroine in this story is the unconditional love, support and faith of his wife, aunt Funeka Bengu, and his children during this time. They rallied behind Prof. Bengu and nursed him back to health.
Aunt Funeka took charge of the minister’s health, diet, exercise and schedule. Everyone outside the family spent weeks speculating as to whether he would survive, let alone return to a highly stressful role as Minister of Education.
When he made his first speech, held his first press conference and held meetings with our teams, it was quite an emotional moment – the triumph of this exceptional man against all odds.
To fully understand Prof. Bengu and what made him tick, you must trace his footsteps for over 90 years.
He was born in Kranskop in KwaZulu-Natal. He excelled at school, obtaining his bachelor’s degree and later his honours degree in history in 1966. He completed his PhD studies in Political Science at the University of Geneva’s Graduate Institute of International Studies in 1974.
However, Bengu’s true love was teaching. He began his career as a teacher in 1952 and was renowned throughout education circles for the quality of pupils he produced. One of the highlights of his career, that brought him national prominence, was what he achieved as the inaugural principal of the famous Dlangezwa High School near Empangeni between 1969 and 1976. Even today, pupils, teachers and parents of the school talk about it as a model school for excellence and achievement.
He left the school in 1977 to become Director of Student Affairs at the University of Zululand. He was fully engaged with students and some of South Africa’s best leaders were influenced by him during his time at the university.
Bengu was also involved in political and cultural issues facing the country.
He was one of the founders of Inkatha, a political/cultural movement, that would dominate the landscape for decades to come. He served as the secretary general of the IFP until policy differences and conflicts within the movement forced him to leave his job at the university, resign from the party, and go to into self-imposed exile in Geneva. This was one of the lowest moments in his life, with attempts on his life and attacks on his home forcing him to leave behind all that he loved.
In 1978, Prof. Bengu joined the Lutheran World Federation as Secretary for Research and Social Action. This role enabled him to combine his deep Lutheran religious roots with his passion for research and social action. He built a powerful network across the world.
He joined the banned African National Congress and became very close to its president, OR Tambo.
In the early 1990s, South Africa was characterised by violence, conflicts and instability at higher education institutions. The University of Fort Hare, founded in 1916, was one of the focal points of these struggles. It chose Prof. Bengu to become the first Black Vice-Chancellor in 1991.
After having left South Africa to flee violence and conflict, Prof. Bengu was now being called home to stabilise the institution.
The university has hailed the late education minister.
“Prof. Bengu played a pivotal role in stabilising the institution during the 1990s. He laid the foundation for the university’s transition to democracy, enhancing academic standards, establishing its academic reputation, and securing vital funding from international organisations and donors. His leadership ensured the university’s survival and growth as a prominent centre of African intellectualism,” it said.
Three years later, South Africa held its first democratic elections in 1994 and Prof. Bengu was elected as an MP and to Mandela’s Cabinet as education minister.
It was crucial portfolio as education is a highly emotive issue in any country. It touches every family and is vital to the health and prosperity of an economy.
The South African education policy space instantly became a contested terrain, with highly polarised views on what was best for our children, the country and economy. The high level of expectations of a new government on education by some stakeholders were equally matched by anxiety and fear from others.
Prof. Bengu had to acknowledge and respond to these diverse sentiments. He had to galvanise all stakeholders in a manner former president Thabo Mbeki describes, “to act together to address both the fears and the expectations, without allowing that these fears are used to perpetuate racism, without allowing that the justified expectations are addressed in a manner that will create new crises”.
Prof. Bengu’s approach to all stakeholders in the education sector was to build understanding, not vengeance, focus on reparation, not retaliation, and craft a vision of the future based on the need for ubuntu and not victimisation.
He served only one parliamentary term in government, declining to seek re-election to the National Assembly in the June 1999 general election. Two months later Mbeki appointed Bengu as South Africa’s ambassador to Germany. He held that position until 2003 when he retired.
As we reflect on Prof. Bengu’s impact on our lives, the following things stand out:
• Leadership is not a title held, status achieved, nor position occupied. It is rather about the profound influence a leader has. Prof. Bengu influenced so many people positively here and abroad, from his time as a teacher, principal, dean of students, vice-chancellor, education minister and ambassador. He was always teaching in his unique style.
• Prof. Bengu built a diverse team with great skills and encouraged all of us to play our part towards a greater cause. Some of the luminaries in his team included people such as Chabani Manganyi, Sheila Sisulu, Teboho Moja, Pundy Pillay, Trevor Coombe, Ihron Rensburg, Khetsi Lehoko, Nasima Badsha, Cassius Lubusi, Palesa Tyobeka and Roelf du Preez. He treated us with respect and dignity. He never asserted himself over us, never abused his position and was never dictatorial. He commanded respect, not by virtue of his position, but because of the way he conducted himself.
• As an accomplished academic and administrator, he never interfered with the administration of the education department under Dr Manganyi and did not involve himself in matters of procurement and tenders in the department. Neither did he have any outside business interests nor abuse state resources. Prof. Bengu was a man of integrity and he instilled probity in all our dealings with public funds. These were profound lessons from a public servant leader, whose commitment was to education and not the politics of the day, nor popularity or the accumulation of wealth.
• South Africa remains one of the most unequal countries in the world with diverse views on how the country should proceed for the next 30 years. Our policy discourse, political rhetoric and social media arguments have become more ugly, polarising and dangerous. In a country as diverse as ours, it is natural that we won’t see eye to eye on most things and that is why we need leaders such as Prof. Bengu who can listen with empathy and understanding. He could make progress through extending good faith and grace – even to people with whom he deeply disagreed on policy matters. Our country cries out for leaders like Prof. Bengu, who could find mutually beneficial solutions on intractable challenges.
• Lastly, Prof. Bengu was a role model family man. We could see how he treated aunt Funeka, his children and the broader Bengu clan. He did not change based on his new status. He remained a loving husband, doting father to his children (and later grandchildren) and a committed member of his family. When his time came to retire, he gracefully left the stage, disappeared from public life and spent the last 21 years of his life quietly enjoying time with his family and friends. In those times we visited him, we would find a man at peace with himself, in touch with his God and connected to his family.
Conclusion
We hope Ngcolosi has that trade mark smile as he reflects on his life, and we hope he will be comforted by the seminal words of US President Theodore Roosevelt who said in 1910: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
As we look back at a remarkable life of 90 years, we feel blessed to have shared a few special moments with Prof. Bengu. His life is a testimony of what can be achieved through grace, humility, integrity and hard work.
In the end, he leaves the stage without a blemish to his name, without a whiff of scandal and thousands who have been directly impacted positively by his guidance and leadership.
Hamba kakuhle Ngcolosi, your place “shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat”.
Ugqatso ulufezile.
Bengu, who died on 30 December, will be laid to rest in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal. His Special Official Funeral Category 2, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday, will be held at the University of Zululand on Friday.
Mali is Bengu’s former spokesperson and Mseleku his former political advisor.
INSIDE EDUCATION
