Benedict Wallet Vilakazi (6 January 1906 – 26 October 1947) was a South African

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, a descendant of the Zulu royal family, and a radically innovative

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

who created a combination of

traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

and

Romantic poetry Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Neoclassical ideas of the 18th c ...

in the

Zulu language Zulu ( ), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language of the Nguni languages, Nguni branch spoken in, and indigenous to, Southern Africa. Nguni dialects are regional or social varieties of the Nguni language, ...

. Vilakazi was also a professor at the

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

, where he became the first

Black South African Ethnic groups in South Africa have a variety of origins. The racial categories introduced by the colonial apartheid regime remain ingrained in South African society with the governing party of South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) c ...

to teach University classes to

White South Africans White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original colonists, known as Afr ...

. In 1946, Vilakazi also became the first Black South African to receive a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

. Vilakazi Street along which the poet lived in the formerly segregated township of

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

, is named after Benedict Vilakazi. Vilakazi Street is now very famous as the street where both

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

and Archbishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

also once lived.

Early life and education

Benedict Vilakazi was born Bambatha kaMshini in 1906 at the Groutville Mission Station near

KwaDukuza KwaDukuza, previously known as Stanger, is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2006, the municipal name was changed to KwaDukuza (which incorporates towns such as Stanger, Ballito and Shakaskraal), but the Zulu people in the area called ...

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 ( ...

(now

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

), the fifth child of

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

converts Mshini ka Makhwatha and Leah Hlongwane. His mother, Mrs Leah Hlongwane Vilakazi, was the daughter of Bangile, who was the sister of Queen Ngqumbazi mother to King etshwayo wife to King Mpande ka Senzangakhona, and also the sister of the Right Reverend J Mdelwa Hlongwane ka Mnyaziwezulu, the son of Chief

Matiwane Matiwane ka Masumpa (died c.1830, uMgungundlovu), son of Masumpa, was the king of an independent Nguni-speaking nation, the amaNgwane, a people named after Matiwane's ancestor Ngwane ka Kgwadi. The amaNgwane lived at the headwaters of the White ...

. Vilakazi split his childhood between herding the family's

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

and the local mission school until the age of 10, at which point he transferred to the St. Francis College in

Mariannhill Mariannhill is a cluster of suburbs and townships south of Pinetown in eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. In 1882, Trappist missionary Father Franz Pfanner established Mariannhill Monastery 16 km west of Durban. He promo ...

, a coeducational

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

founded by the

Mariannhillers The Mariannhillers, officially named the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill (; abbreviated CMM) are a religious institute of the Catholic Church founded by Franz Pfanner. They were originally a monastery of Trappist monks founded in ...

' local Trappist monastery. Here he was baptized with the name "Benedict Wallet," although at his mother's insistence he kept the

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

of Vilakazi. He obtained a teaching certificate in 1923 and taught at Mariannhill and later at a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

Ixopo Ixopo, also known as Stuartstown, is a town situated on a tributary of the uMkhomazi River along the R56 highway in the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Background The town was laid out in 1878 and named after M Stuart, Resident Magistr ...

Writing, teaching, research

In 1933, Vilakazi released his first novel ''Nje nempela'' ("Really and Truly"), one of the first works of Zulu

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

to treat modern subject matter. He followed it in 1935 with the novel ''Noma nini'' as well as a poetry collection ''Inkondlo kaZulu'', the first publication of European-influenced Zulu poetry. His poetry, heavily influenced by the verse of the

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an Romantics, introduced literary themes as well as both

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

and poetic meters previously unknown in Zulu literature, while combining them with elements of the '' Izibongo'' tradition of

praise poetry A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of - 'a ...

Earning a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (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, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

in 1934, Vilakazi began work in the

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

studies department at the

in 1936 under

C. M. Doke, with whom he created a Zulu-English dictionary. Vilakazi's teaching position made him the first black South African to teach

white South Africans White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original colonists, known as Afr ...

at the university level. Vilakazi's later novels continued to explore daily life in traditional Zulu culture, such as ''UDingiswayo kaJobe'' (1939) and ''Nje nempela'' (1944), which is the story of a

polygamous Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one h ...

Zulu family. His poetry became increasingly political in the course of his life, dramatizing the exploitation and discrimination not only against the

Zulu people Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

, but also against other

black South Africans Bantu speaking people are the majority ethno-racial group in South Africa. They are descendants of Southern Bantu-speaking peoples who settled in South Africa during the Bantu expansion. They are referred to in various census as ''blacks'', or ...

as well. Vilakazi is also noted for his scholarly work on

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

and the Zulu and

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 ...

languages, which on 16 March 1946, earned him the first PhD to be awarded to a black South African. A year after receiving his doctorate, Benedict Wallet Vilakazi died in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

. Both his novels and poetry were well received in his own lifetime and remain so today.

Legacy

Vilakazi Street in

is where two Nobel Laureates,

and

, once lived and it was named in honour of Vilakazi, who was also a former resident. Dr B.W. Vilakazi Secondary School in Zola 3, Soweto was named after the late Dr Vilakazi in order to commemorate his legacy. On 28 April 2016, the

Order of Ikhamanga The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African civilian honour that recognises achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports. Before the order was established on 30 November 2003, such achievements were recognised by the ...

- Gold (OIG) was conferred on Dr Benedict Wallet Vilakazi posthumously‚ for "his exceptional contribution to the field of literature in indigenous languages and the preservation of isiZulu culture". A

literary translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

by R.M. Mfeka and Peggy Rutherfoord of Benedict Vilakazi's poem ''Umamina'' was published in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''African Voices: An Anthology of Native African Writing''. In his 1974 book about the history of the Zulu royal family, historian Brian Roberts wrote, "the first Zulu King", meaning

Shaka Zulu Shaka kaSenzangakhona (–24 September 1828), also known as Shaka (the) Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reform ...

, "must remain an enigma." Roberts, however, praised Benedict Vilakazi, the last lines of whose

poem ''UShaka KaSenzangakhona'' ("Shaka, Son of Senzangakhona"), contain, "perhaps the most fitting epitaph to Shaka": :"The nations, Shaka, have condemned you, :Yet still today, they speak of you, :Still today their books discuss you, :But we defy them to explain you."Brian Roberts (1974), ''The Zulu Kings'',

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

. Page 163.

Works

*''Inkondlo kaZulu'' (poetry), Witwatersrand University Press (Johannesburg), 1935. *''Noma nini'' (novel), Yacindezelwa Emshinini Wasemhlathuzane (Mariannhill, Natal), 1935. *''UDingiswayo kaJobe'' (novel), Sheldon Press (London), 1939. *''Nje nempela'' (novel), Mariannhill Mission Press (Mariannhill, Natal), 1944. * Amal'eZulu (poetry), Witwatersrand University Press, 1945. *''Zulu-English Dictionary'' (with C. M. Doke), Witwatersrand University Press, 1948. * Nini indawo, Groutville, Natal.

References

External links

*Zulu Kingdom
Benedict Vilakazi - a short biography and bibliography - of this KwaZulu-Natal author.
*"Benedict Wallet Vilakazi." ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilakazi, Benedict Wallet 1906 births 1947 deaths People from KwaDukuza Local Municipality Zulu people 20th-century South African poets Academic staff of the University of the Witwatersrand Linguists from South Africa University of the Witwatersrand alumni Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga Neurological disease deaths in South Africa Infectious disease deaths in South Africa Catholic poets Deaths from meningitis 20th-century South African linguists Zulu-language poets South African Catholic poets South African Roman Catholics South African political writers