Herbert W. Vilakazi (18 May 1943 in

Nongoma Nongoma is a town in Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the seat of the Nongoma Local Municipality. It is situated 300 km north of Durban and 56 km from Ulundi; it is surrounded by the Ngome Forest. It is a busy market town ...

– 26 January 2016 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

) was a South African sociologist. He was known for his opposition to South Africa's

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

system, which motivated him to try to dismantle it from the inside by becoming a professor at the

University of Transkei The University of Transkei was a university in Umtata in the former bantustan of Transkei in South Africa. It was founded in 1976 as a branch of the University of Fort Hare and after the Transkei gained nominal independence in 1977, it became the ...

, despite the protests of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

. He was also a prominent critic of

Western medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

, and promoted ubhejane as a treatment for

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Biography

Vilakazi was born on 18 May 1943 in Nongoma,

Zululand District Municipality Zululand is one of the 11 district municipalities ("districts") of KwaZulu-Natal province. The seat of Zululand is Ulundi. The majority of its 803,575 people speak IsiZulu (2011 Census). The district code is DC26. It is part of a larger historic ...

, South Africa. In 1957, he moved to

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

after his father accepted a teaching position there. In 1958, at the age of 15, he wrote a letter to

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, in which he praised King's then-recently published book '' Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story''. He was educated at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(B.A., 1966; M.A., 1968), and then taught sociology at

Essex County College Essex County College (ECC) is a public community college in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. History In August 1966, the Essex County Board of Freeholders approved the creation of Essex County College and in September 1968, more than a ...

from 1969 to 1980. He then left Essex County College to become a professor at the University of Transkei, remaining on their faculty until 1984. During his tenure at the University of Transkei, he and several of his colleagues were deported for alleged subversive activities. His subsequent positions included stints teaching at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

from 1985 to 1986, at

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

during the 1987 academic year, and at the

University of Zululand The University of Zululand or UniZulu is the only comprehensive tertiary educational institution north of the Tugela River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Its new status is in accordance with South Africa's National Plan for Higher Education ...

from 1988 to 1998. From 1997 until his retirement in 2004, he was the Deputy Chair Person of the

Electoral Commission of South Africa The Electoral Commission of South Africa (often referred to as the Independent Electoral Commission or IEC) is South Africa's election management body, an independent organisation established under chapter nine of the Constitution. It conducts el ...

. He died on 26 January 2016 of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

References

1943 births 2016 deaths People from Nongoma Local Municipality Zulu people South African sociologists South African emigrants to the United States Anti-apartheid activists Columbia University alumni University of Cape Town academics University of the Witwatersrand academics University of Zululand academics University of Transkei academics Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in South Africa {{Sociologist-stub