John June Nquku (born 1899, date of death unknown) was an early

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

nationalist and creator of Swaziland's first political party, the

Swaziland Progressive Party The Swaziland Progressive Party was one of the first political parties founded in Swaziland. It was banned in 1973 due to the banning of all political parties. Background A Progressive Association was founded in 1929 under the auspices of the ...

Early life and education

Nquku was born in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

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 ...

to a Zulu family. He went to Natal, South Africa and attended St. Chad's College before moving to Swaziland in 1930.

Career

Nquku began his career as a principal, later becoming an inspector of Swazi schools. He resigned from the position in 1940, joining the Swazi National Council. In 1944, Nquku became the secretary-general of the United Christian Church of Africa. In 1945, Nquku became President of the Swaziland Progressive Association, which then evolved into the

(SPP) in 1960.

Politics

On May 18, 1961, during a meeting to establish the constitution for Swaziland, Nquku was banished for having an unapproved and detrimental party. The following year, in February 1962, Nquku was deposed as party leader for allegedly corrupt and dictatorial practices. Ambrose Phesheya Zwane was elected to replace him. Later that year, in August 1962, Nquku was suspended from the SPP due to allegations of fraud, and was replaced by K.Y. Samketi. In 1963, Nquku regained his position as party leader of the SPP after being appointed by the secretary of the government.

Literature

Outside of his political career, Nquku wrote multiple pamphlets which include a biography of the King of Swaziland

Sobhuza II Sobhuza II (; also known as Nkhotfotjeni, Mona; 22 July 1899 – 21 August 1982) was ''Ngwenyama'' (King) of Swaziland (now Eswatini) for 82 years and 254 days, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history. Sobhuza was bo ...

and a collection of folk tales in the

Swazi language Swazi or siSwati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 4.7 million including first and second langua ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nquku, John 1899 births Year of death missing Swazi journalists People from Pietermaritzburg Zulu people Swaziland Progressive Party politicians South African emigrants to Eswatini