Zachariah Keodirelang "ZK" Matthews (20 October 1901 – 11 May 1968) was a prominent black academic in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, lecturing at South African Native College (renamed

University of Fort Hare The University of Fort Hare is a public university in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was a key institution of higher education for Africans from 1916 to 1959 when it offered a Western-style academic education to students from across sub ...

in 1955), where many future leaders of the African continent were among his students.

Life

Early years

Z.K. Matthews was born in Winter's Rush near Kimberley in 1901, the son of a

Bamangwato The Bamangwato (more correctly BagammaNgwato, and also referred to as the BaNgwato or Ngwato) is one of the eight "principal" Tswana chieftaincies of Botswana. They ruled over a majority Bakalanga population (the largest ethnic group in Central Dis ...

mineworker. Z.K. grew up in urban Kimberley, but maintained close connections with his mother’s rural

Barolong Barolong is a tribe of Tswana people from Botswana and South Africa. Their King, Tau was the descendant of King Morolong who is the founder of Barolong tribe. He reigned around 1240 and adopted ''Tholo'' (the Kudu) as the Barolong totem. King Tau w ...

relatives. He went to Mission high school in the eastern Cape where he attended Lovedale. After Lovedale he studied at South African Native College in

Fort Hare Fort Hare was an 1835 British-built fort on a rocky outcrop at the foothills of the Amatola Mountains; close to the present day town of Alice, Eastern Cape in South Africa. History Originally, Fort Hare was a British fort in the wars between t ...

, and in 1923 he wrote the external examination of the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

. In 1924, he was appointed head of the high school at

Adams College Adams College is a historic Christian mission school in South Africa, associated with the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA). It was founded in 1853 at Amanzimtoti a settlement just over south of Durban by an American missio ...

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, where Albert Luthuli was also a teacher. With Luthuli he attended meetings of the Durban Joint Council and held office in the Natal Teacher’s Association, of which he eventually became President. It was while he was in Natal, in 1928, that he married

Frieda Bokwe ''Frida'' is a 2002 film about artist Frida Kahlo Frida, Frieda, or Freida may also refer to: People *Frida (given name), a feminine given name *Frieda (surname) * Frieda (''Peanuts''), a character from the comic strip ''Peanuts'' *Afroditi Fri ...

, daughter of

John Knox Bokwe John Knox Bokwe (15 March 1855 – 22 February 1922) was a South African journalist, Presbyterian minister and one of the most celebrated Xhosa hymn writers and musician. He is best known for his compositions ''Vuka Deborah'', ''Plea for Africa'', ...

, whom he had met as a student at Fort Hare. Their son,

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, was born in 1929 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. In 1930, after private study, Matthews earned an

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in South Africa, a degree he was awarded once again by the University of South Africa. He was admitted as an attorney and practiced for a short time in Alice. In 1933, he was invited to study at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and there in the following year he completed an MA. He then went on to spend a year at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

where he studied anthropology under Bronisław Malinowski. He returned to South Africa in 1935 and in 1936 was appointed Lecturer in Social Anthropology and Native Law and Administration at University of Fort Hare. After

Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu (20 October 1885 – 3 August 1959) was a Xhosa educationist and politician, and a founder of the All African Convention (AAC), which sought to unite all non-European opposition to the segregationist measure of the South A ...

’s retirement in 1944, Matthews was promoted to Professor and became head of Fort Hare’s Department of

African Studies African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's history (pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial), demography ...

Political activism

Matthews did not confine himself to academic studies; he combined his study of

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and the law with an active political involvement. He found his true political home in the

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

. He had attended meetings as a boy in the company of

Sol Plaatje Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (9 October 1876 – 19 June 1932) was a South African intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator and writer. Plaatje was a founding member and first General Secretary of the South African Native Nation ...

, a senior relative, but it was only in 1940 that he became a member of the organisation. In 1943, he was elected to the

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

and at the same time he became a member of the Native Representative Council, a purely advisory body that has been condemned as a “toy telephone” and which Z.K. found generally frustrating, although he found dealing with the Native Education Act of 1945 a “valuable experience” not for the process but for the people he met. In June 1949, Matthews succeeded

James Calata James Arthur Calata (1895 – 1983) was a South African priest and politician. He was the Secretary-General of the African National Congress from 1936 to 1949. He was appointed a canon of the Grahamstown Cathedral making him the first Black c ...

as ANC provincial president in the Cape. In June 1952, on the eve of the

Defiance Campaign The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress (ANC) at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa in December 1951. The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conference. The demonstrations, ...

, he left South Africa, and took up a position as visiting professor at New York’s Union Theological Seminary. He returned home in May 1953, and although not present at the Congress of the People in 1955, he assisted Lionel "Rusty" Bernstein in drawing up the

Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...

that was adopted there.

Denis Goldberg Denis Theodore Goldberg (11 April 1933 – 29 April 2020) was a South African social campaigner, who was active in the struggle against apartheid. He was accused No. 3 in the Rivonia Trial, alongside the better-known Nelson Mandela and Walter ...

credits him with being one of the driving forces behind the proposal for gathering and documenting the wishes of the people for the Charter. Matthews was arrested in December 1956 and was one of the accused in the

Treason Trial The Treason Trial was a trial in Johannesburg in which 156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason in South Africa in 1956. The main trial lasted until 1961, when all of the defendants were found not gu ...

. On his release from the trial in late 1958, he returned to Fort Hare, but resigned his post in protest against the passing of legislation that reduced the university to an ethnic college for the

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

community only. In 1961, he moved to

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

to become secretary of the Africa division of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

. In 1966, he accepted the post of newly formed Botswana ambassador to the United States and he died there in Washington on 11 May 1968.

Selected publications

*''A New Native Teachers' Course'', Ilanga lase Natal, November 4, 11, 1927 *''Bantu Law and Western Civilisation in South Africa: A Study in the Clash of Cultures '' Yale University, 1934. Master of Arts thesis. *''A Short History of the Tshidi Barolong'', Fort Hare Papers, vol. 1 no. 1, June 1945 *Foreword, in ''Responsible Government in a Revolutionary Age'', d.Z. K. Matthews, Association Press, New York, 1966. *''Freedom For My People'', Cape Town: Collings, 1981. (Published posthumously in 1981) *''Africa holds her own''. An appreciation of Bantu tribal and national culture in the Imperial Protectorates and in the Union of South Africa. By W. Bryant Mumford. in co-operation with Hugh Ashton . ndZ.K. Matthews. *''African awakening and the universities'',

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

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 ...

, 1961.

References

External links