This is the home of the DBZ Ntuli Foundation, dedicated to the ongoing development, promotion and preservation of isiZulu literature, in the original and in translation.
Professor Deuteronomy Bhekinkosi kaZebulon (D.B.Z.) Ntuli was born at Gcotsheni, near Eshowe in KwaZulu-Natal, on the 8th of May 1940.
In his 85 years with us, Mphemba has published prolifically in a wide range of genres: novels, autobiography, poetry, drama (both radio and stage plays), short stories, childrens literature and essays.
Mphemba’s work with radio broadcasting in isiZulu is legendary, beginning in October 1964 when he began work as an Announcer, Translator and Producer for the isiZulu service of the SABC. Since then he has worked closely with all the incarnations of isiZulu radio, and is especially loved for his serialised radio plays that continue to draw listeners to UKhozi FM on a daily basis.
Prof Ntuli is also a respected academic – he worked at UNISA from 1967 to 1999, first as a Lecture and then as the Head of the isiZulu Sub-Department. He has contributed to 7 academic book publications, 15 academic journal articles and presented over 25 academic papers at conferences on a wide range of topics.
DBZ is a fierce proponent of isiZulu. Over the course of his life he has been a member of the Zulu Language Board, the isiZulu National Language Body, and the Bureau for Zulu Language and Culture, as an active member of the African Languages Association of South Africa (ALASA), as well as working as an active committee member of the Names Society of Southern Africa and as the Vice Chairperson of the Survey of Southern African Geographical Names.
As a writer, Mphemba was a founding member of the Usiba Writers’ Guild in 1984, and has devoted his life to developing writers and literature in all indigenous South African languages – as an editor, publisher and critical friend throughout his life.
DBZ has also worked as a translator into isiZulu, including the isiZulu version of Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom and Kahlil Gibran’s Prophet.
Over the course of his life, Prof Ntuli has been awarded the Usiba Writers’ Guild BW Vilakazi Award 4 times, and the NN Ndebele Centaur Award for Drama 3 times. He has also received awards for his short stories, his poetry, his contribution to literature, and many lifetime achievement awards for his overall contributions to promotion of culture and language in South Africa.
His literature has been the subject of 10 Honours Disserations, 8 Masters Theses and 6 Doctoral Theses. In addition to his own PhD, he was also awarded 2 Honorary PhDs by the University of Zululand and UKZN.
It is fitting that his contributions now extend to this Foundation, whose aim is expressed so eloquently in its motto: Akugqame Wena – Let your Light Shine!