John Langalibalele Dube

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John Langalibalele Dube
Dube c. 1910
Born22 February 1871 (1871-02-22)
Inanda, Colony of Natal
Died11 February 1946 (1946-02-12) (aged 75)
NationalitySouth African
Occupations
  • Writer
  • Educator
  • Politician
Known forFounding president of the
South African Native National Congress
Notable workuShembe (in Zulu) (1936) A Biography of Isaiah Shembe, Shuter & Shooter Publishers Pty Ltd, Pietermaritzburg
Spouse(s)Nokutela Dube (née Mdima), m. 1894
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John Langalibalele Dube

Oberlin Preparatory Academy.[1]

He returned to South Africa, where in 1901 he and his first wife,

Tuskegee Institute founded by Booker T. Washington. In 1903, the Dubes founded the isiZulu newspaper Ilanga (now Ilanga lase Natal
). In 1930, John Dube published Shaka's Body Servant. He died in 1946.

Early life

John Langalibalele Dube was born in

Adams College, Amanzimtoti. The Reverend William Cullen Wilcox was called in to talk to Dube, who was misbehaving at the Adams School. His father James Dube was then the Congregational minister at Inanda.[2]

In 1887, the Wilcox family were returning to the United States and John Dube and his mother persuaded the missionary couple to take Dube to America, where he could further his education. The Cullens agreed, on the condition that Dube was to maintain himself financially; however, they advised him, and William found him his first work on the road gang when he arrived in America. In late 1888, Dube enrolled at

Oberlin Academy Preparatory School[1][3]
and, although he studied printing and self-help, he did not graduate.

In 1893, he returned to Inanda, where in January 1894 he married Nokutela Mdima.[4]

Statesman

South African Native National Congress delegation to England, June 1914. Left to right: Thomas Mapike, Rev. Walter Rubusana, Dube, Saul Msane, Sol Plaatje

For a missionary-educated person, there was conflict between the newly arrived Western education and African traditional society. However, Dube navigated this social schism with a statesman-like ability, as in his later years, when he was able to win the trust of the Zulu royal family. It is conceivable that Dube would never have been part of the SANC, except that his teaching and discourse on the necessity of unity chimed in with the then-nascent political atmosphere.

Dube's speeches as president of a black political mass-movement have never been made available. The next formation of black people into a coherent socio-political movement was to come into being with Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, founded in 1914. In his politics Dube was cautious and conservative, yet he was forthright on the rights of blacks and the paramount tenet of unity – he foresaw the necessity of the unity of black people long before Garvey came to the international scene.

Educator

Mid-1930s, Dube and his second wife Angelina, with (l. to r.) Nomagugu, Joan Lulu, James Sipho and Douglas Sobanto.

Dube was also an educator, a speaker of note on the circuit engaging whites in lectures around the country. In 1901, he and his first wife,

Phoenix and EkuPhakameni. This was the first educational institution in South Africa to be founded by black people.[5]

He gave lecturers by invitation and he was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy as a result. His role as an educator has been less documented, but he held and proposed views on education and culture that were to be used in inimical ways by the

Bantu Education Act
. Dube had identified the need to combine Western education with local customs and traditions, all grounded in broad African communal behaviour. His theories on education are found in both Ukuziphatha and Isita.

Man of letters

He was among the pioneering men of letters who helped to establish Zulu literature. He was one of the first published Zulu authors, although the first published Zulu book was written by

Magema Fuze
, whose history of the Zulus, Abantu abamnyama lapo bavela ngakona (translated as The Black People and From Whence They Came), was published in 1922, having been written in the 1880s and early 1890s.

Dube's first published work was an essay in English on self-improvement and public decency that was published in 1910. The work that was to earn him the honorary doctorate of philosophy was the 1992 essay Umuntu Isita Sake Uqobo Lwake ("A man is his own worst enemy"; text in pre-1936 Zulu old orthography). He went on to publish, in 1930, a historical novella that has proven to be popular and influential in Zulu canon titled Insila kaShaka (Shaka's Body Servant).[6]

He embarked on writing biographies of the Zulu royal family, especially that of King Dinizulu, making him the first biographer in African literature. There are numerous other works of less significant literary quality such as the 1910 essay "Ukuziphatha" ("On Behaviour").

In addition to his literary works, Dube and his wife founded the first Zulu/English newspaper,[7] Ilanga laseNatali (The Sun of Natal), in 1903, a publication that in 2003 celebrated its centenary. Ilanga laseNatali is no longer independent since being bought by the then proto-political association Inkatha yeNkululelo yeSizwe in 1988, led by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, later to be known as a political party in post-apartheid South Africa called Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).

Dube and his first wife, Nokutela Dube, are credited with popularizing the Enoch Sontonga song "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika".[7] This later became a national anthem after Ohlange Institute's choir used it. They played it at the South African Native National Congress meeting in 1912. It was sung after the closing prayer and the ANC adopted it as its official closing anthem in 1925.[8]

Influenced by Booker T. Washington

Dube had experienced first-hand the influence of

Tuskegee Institute
; years later Marcus Garvey attempted to see Washington because of a similar inspiration, though he arrived in the US in 1916, Washington had died the previous year. Dube's school is still functioning today. Dube was a firm believer in self-reliance, both as an ethical and spiritual quest towards realisation of dignity and respect in the eyes of others. In Isita, he preached self-reliance and the need for black people to initiate economic ventures to gain respect in the eyes of the world.

Nokutela and John Dube's organisation success was not matched in their marriage. Their failure to have children was seen to reflect badly on Nokutela and John fathered a child with one of their pupils. A committee was set up to investigate John, but they took no action and Nokutela felt humiliated.

Transvaal until she became ill with kidney disease. She returned to live with John Dube in Johannesburg, and died in 1917 at the age of 44. Her funeral was attended by Pixley ka Isaka Seme and other prominent members of what was to become the African National Congress.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "John Dube" profile, Oberlin.edu. Accessed 6 August 2023.
  2. ISBN 978-1770098138
    . Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  3. ^ Hughes (2011). First President: A Life of John Dube, Founding President of the ANC. p. 50.
  4. ^ Hughes (2011). First President: A Life of John Dube, Founding President of the ANC. pp. 57, 58.
  5. ^ Simanga Kumalo; Neville Richardson (2010), "Seth Mokitimi and education for ministry: What's in a Name?", [dead link] Missionalia, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 259–274.
  6. ^ "John Langalibalele Dube". South African History Online. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b Martin Vennard (13 June 2014). "The pioneering woman the world forgot". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Enoch Mankayti Sontonga", SAHistory.org.za. Retrieved July 2013.
  9. ^ Hughes (2011). First President: A Life of John Dube, Founding President of the ANC. p. 189. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  10. ^ Nokutela Dube, Johannesburg City Parks. Retrieved 14 June 2014.

External links

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