Dr Cedric Namedi Phatudi (27 May 1912 – 7 October 1987) was the Chief Minister of

Lebowa Lebowa was a bantustan ("homeland") located in the Transvaal in northeastern South Africa. Seshego initially acted as Lebowa's capital while the purpose-built Lebowakgomo was being constructed. Granted internal self-government on 2 October ...

, one of the

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 ...

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now ...

Early life

Born in Ga-Mphahlele, the son of the chief of the Mphahlele tribe. He earned his basic education in mission schools.

Education

Phatudi initially worked as a teacher and educational administrator before attending the

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 ...

, gaining a BA in 1947 and a teaching diploma in 1950 at the

University of the Witwatersrand 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 ...

, graduating with a BEd in 1965. It was during this time that he made his contributions to the Sepedi language. He authored and co-authored a few books in Sepedi. He is also known to have translated some of Shakespeare's works into Sepedi. Books: Lehlabile Series, co-authored with G.O. Mojapelo : , published by Educum. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the

University of the North The University of Limpopo is a university in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2005, by the merger of the University of the North and the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA). These previous institutions form ...

in 1973, after which Phatudi encouraged others to use the Dr prefix wherever possible when referring to him. Phatudi served as President of the Federation of Inspectors of Schools in South Africa from 1958 to 1969.

Chief Minister of Lebowa

Phatudi became involved in the nascent Lebowa nation building exercise and had risen in prominence to the extent that when Lebowa was granted self-government on 2 October 1972, Phatudi was appointed Minister for Education before his election as Chief Minister on 8 May 1973. Not one for wasting time settling into the role, Phatudi had been Chief Minister for one day when he informed the South African government that if Lebowa was to become self-sufficient then substantial tracts of South Africa, including a number of white towns, would need to be added to Lebowa territory. The statement was not well received in

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

, although they did eventually transfer several small tracts of land to Lebowa. The earlier outburst aside, Phatudi was considered the most tactful of the bantustan leaders, with a modus operandi directed more at calm negotiations with Pretoria and dissident bodies than the angry outbursts epitomised by leaders like the

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...

Kaiser Matanzima King Kaiser Daliwonga Mathanzima, misspelled Matanzima (15 June 1915 – 15 June 2003), was the long-term leader of Transkei. In 1950, when South Africa was offered to establish the Bantu Authorities Act, Matanzima convinced the Bunga to accep ...

. However, when these failed, Phatudi was not above unleashing his police against political opponents. Economic problems continued to plague Lebowa however and Phatudi struggled to maintain control over the increasingly disgruntled homeland population throughout his rule. Phatudi died in office in 1987. He was succeeded by Noko Nelson Ramodike from Tzaneen. Lebowa itself only lasted another seven years before its reintegration into Transvaal. Phatudi also successfully negotiated that

Es'kia Mphahlele Es'kia Mphahlele (17 December 1919 – 27 October 2008) was a South African writer, educationist, artist and activist celebrated as the Father of African Humanism and one of the founding figures of modern African literature. He was given the ...

, who was then a prohibited person, be allowed back into the country. After this success, he later also attempted to negotiate the release of Nelson Mandela, but unfortunately this was not realised.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phatudi, Cedric 1912 births 1987 deaths Northern Sotho people Chief ministers of South African bantustans University of Fort Hare alumni University of the Witwatersrand alumni