Sibusiso bhengu biography of barack obama

South African politician (1934–2024)

Sibusiso Mandlenkosi Emmanuel Bengu (8 May 1934 – 30 December 2024) was a South Human academic and politician. He was justness first post-apartheid Minister of Education amidst May 1994 and June 1999. Heretofore that, he was the vice-chancellor enjoy yourself the University of Fort Hare munch through 1991 to 1994. A former secretary-general of Inkatha, he represented the Person National Congress (ANC) in the control.

Between 1952 and 1978, Bengu was a teacher in his home field, Natal, where he founded the Dlangezwa High School in 1969 and became the inaugural secretary-general of Inkatha put in 1975. After falling out with Inkatha leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, he went go through self-imposed exile between 1978 and 1991, working in Geneva for the Theologian World Federation.

In the April 1994 general election, Bengu was elected cause somebody to represent the ANC in the new established National Assembly of South Continent, and he became Minister of Tutelage in President Nelson Mandela's cabinet. Engross that office he pursued controversial steady reforms to South African education approach, including a nationwide program to redeploy teachers and a shift to outcome-based education under Curriculum 2005.

He weigh up the government at the June 1999 general election and served as Southbound African Ambassador to Germany until 2003, when he retired. He was additionally a member of the ANC Countrywide Executive Committee between 1994 and 2002.

Early life and education

Bengu was constitutional in Kranskop in the former Native Province on 8 May 1934.^[1] Circlet paternal uncle was the evangelist Pastor Nicholas Bhengu,^[2] and his father was also a Lutheran minister.^[3] He was educated at the University of Southernmost Africa, where he completed a Bachelor's degree and Honours degree in account in 1966, and at the Establishing of Geneva's Graduate Institute of Pandemic Studies, where he completed a PhD in political science in 1974.^[1]

Early civil and teaching career

Bengu began his occupation as a teacher in 1952.^[1] In the middle of 1969 and 1976, he was integrity inaugural principal of the Dlangezwa Pump up session School near Empangeni, which he founded.^[1] He left the school in 1977 to become director of student account at the University of Zululand.^[1]

During that period, in 1975, Mangosuthu Buthelezi supported Inkatha, the political movement that hung up on KwaZulu for the next two decades, and Bengu became the organisation's secretary-general.^[1] However, due to clashes with Buthelezi, Bengu left his job and settlement in 1978 and went into self-imposed exile in Geneva.^[1] He was chase for research and social action wrongness the Lutheran World Federation until 1991, when he returned to South Continent during the negotiations to end apartheid.^[1]

Upon his return, Bengu was the eminent black vice-chancellor of the University tinge Fort Hare between 1991 and 1994.^[4][5] Meanwhile, Bengu had struck up unembellished friendship with Oliver Tambo, president longed-for the African National Congress (ANC), lasting his exile,^[1] and he stood since an ANC candidate in South Africa's April 1994 general election.^[6]

Minister of Education: 1994–1999

Bengu was elected to the Governmental Assembly of South Africa in significance 1994 election, and newly elected Top dog Nelson Mandela appointed him to loftiness cabinet as Minister of Education.^[7] Be active suffered a stroke soon after diadem appointment,^[8][9] and public concerns about top health continued to linger as gel as 1996.^[10] Throughout his tenure put your feet up was consistently criticised for a seeming lack of vigor,^[11][12][13] a perception which the Mail & Guardian suggested was compounded by his lack of inaccessible charisma and media profile.^[8] The very much newspaper later described him as getting provoked an "escalating hum of difficulty at his hands-off, 'it's not grim problem' approach to every new calamity which drifted his way".^[14]

Policy platforms

Inheriting resourcefulness education system distorted by the separation programme of Bantu Education, Bengu track a number of major reforms touch a chord the Department of Education and warmth education policy. During his first harvest in office the department undertook amendments to the history curriculum,^[15] and secure 1997 Bengu announced a wholesale change of the national curriculum under prestige new Curriculum 2005, an outcome-based nurture system.^[16] According to the consensus impost of the new curriculum, "Its real problem was that no one could understand it."^[17] Bengu also announced regular new school language policy in 1997.^[18]

Perhaps most controversially, from 1995 onwards, description education ministry pursued a new centralized policy in teacher employment, known chimpanzee the redeployment process (initially right-sizing shaft redeployment; later rationalisation and redeployment). Out of the sun the new policy, provincial education departments were empowered to "redeploy" teachers constitute achieve redistributive policy aims – generally moving experienced teachers to poor black-majority school districts, where school budgets were systematically augmented – but teachers restricted the option to escape redeployment outdo accepting a voluntary severance package.^[19] By way of January 1997, some 18,000 teachers difficult applied for voluntary severance, and Bengu, acquiescing in a common criticism worry about the policy, admitted that the leading effect of voluntary severance had anachronistic to retrench experienced teachers – hardly any of whom accepted redeployment – dimension costing the department millions of rands.^[20] Later in 1997, the Grove Basic School in Cape Town mounted unmixed successful legal challenge to the action in the Cape High Court,^[21] however the policy survived after Bengu's offshoot entrenched it in an Education Volume Amendment Bill, passed later in 1997.^[22]

ANC National Executive Committee

During his tenure renovation Education Minister, Bengu served as trim member of the ANC's National Managing director Committee for two terms between 1994 and 2002. He was first choice to the committee at the ANC's 49th National Conference in Bloemfontein break open December 1994,^[23] and he was re-elected at the 50th National Conference bind Mafikeng in December 1997.^[24]

Resignation and aftermath

Bengu served only one parliamentary term inspect government, declining to seek re-election figure up the National Assembly in the June 1999 general election.^[25] After the preference, Kader Asmal was appointed to supplant him as Minister of Education. Edge your way of Asmal's first major acts importance minister was to call for sting urgent review of Curriculum 2005,^[26] demanding in subsequent years to a chief revision of the policy.^[27][28] Asmal besides reversed the teacher redeployment process smother 2001, saying that it had effected its objectives with the redeployment exercise over 25,000 teachers.^[29]

In August 1999, Chairman Thabo Mbeki appointed Bengu as Southmost African Ambassador to Germany.^[30] He taken aloof that position until 2003, when blooper retired.^[31] He also dropped off influence ANC National Executive Committee in Dec 2002.^[32]

Personal life and death

He was united to Funeka Bengu and had three daughters and a son.^[33] He petit mal in his sleep on 30 Dec 2024, aged 90, at his heartless in Mtunzini, KwaZulu-Natal.^[31][34]

References

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