Sibusiso Bengu
Sibusiso Bengu | |
|---|---|
Bengu in 2007 | |
| South African Ambassador to Germany | |
| In office 1999–2003 | |
| President | Thabo Mbeki |
| Preceded by | Lindiwe Mabuza |
| Succeeded by | Moss Chikane |
| Minister of Education | |
| In office 11 May 1994 – 14 June 1999 | |
| President | Nelson Mandela |
| Deputy | Smangaliso Mkhatshwa |
| Preceded by | Piet Marais |
| Succeeded by | Kader Asmal |
| Vice-Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare | |
| In office 1991–1994 | |
| Preceded by | J. A. Lamprecht |
| Succeeded by | Mbulelo Mzamane |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sibusiso Mandlenkosi Emmanuel Bengu 8 May 1934 Kranskop, Natal Province Union of South Africa |
| Died | 30 December 2024 (aged 90) Mtunzini, South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
| Other political affiliations | Inkatha Freedom Party (1975–1978) |
| Spouse | Funeka Bengu |
| Alma mater | University of South Africa University of Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies |
Sibusiso Mandlenkosi Emmanuel Bengu (8 May 1934 – 30 December 2024) was a South African academic and politician. He was the first post-apartheid Minister of Education between May 1994 and June 1999. Before that, he was the vice-chancellor of the University of Fort Hare from 1991 to 1994. A former secretary-general of Inkatha, he represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the government.
Between 1952 and 1978, Bengu was a teacher in his home province, Natal, where he founded the Dlangezwa High School in 1969 and became the inaugural secretary-general of Inkatha in 1975. After falling out with Inkatha leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, he went into self-imposed exile between 1978 and 1991, working in Geneva for the Lutheran World Federation.
In the April 1994 general election, Bengu was elected to represent the ANC in the newly established National Assembly of South Africa, and he became Minister of Education in President Nelson Mandela's cabinet. In that office he pursued controversial early reforms to South African education policy, including a nationwide program to redeploy teachers and a shift to outcome-based education under Curriculum 2005.
He left the government at the June 1999 general election and served as South African Ambassador to Germany until 2003, when he retired. He was also a member of the ANC National Executive Committee between 1994 and 2002.