The Director of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), Professor Thengani Ngwenya will be laid to rest this coming Saturday, 9 January 2020, in Pinetown.

DUT received the sad news of his passing on Sunday morning, 3 January 2020 after suffering a short illness. Condolences are extended to the Ngwenya family at this difficult time and sympathies to his colleagues at CELT. 

His passing came as a huge shock to his colleagues who will always remember him for his humbleness, respect and hard work. May his soul rest in eternal peace. 

Prof Ngwenya had a 30-year academic career in higher education in South Africa. 

Biography 

• Prof Ngwenya has been involved in higher education as a lecturer, researcher and manager for over 30 years.  
• His first appointment was as a Junior Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Natal (Durban Campus) in 1989.  
• He subsequently taught English Literature at Vista University (Soweto Campus) and at the Durban-Westville University.  
• He is an established literary scholar and, in addition to journal publications, has contributed to the Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms (2001); the Encyclopedia of African Literature (2003) and the Cambridge History of South African Literature (2012).  
• Ngwenya’s most recent publication is a case study of academic development at DUT published in a book titled Transformation of Higher Education Institutions in Post-Apartheid South Africa (2019). 
• Ngwenya’s management career began in 2005 when he was appointed Deputy Dean responsible for Continuing Professional Development in the Faculty of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). It was during his tenure as a Deputy Dean that he began reviewing programmes for the Council on Higher Education (CHE).  
• He chaired some of the panels that reviewed teacher training qualifications in various South African universities.  
• For his Master of Education dissertation Ngwenya researched quality assurance and enhancement in the South African higher education sector.   
• Prof Ngwenya is one of the few academics who can claim that their understanding of and involvement in education ranges from Early Childhood Development (ECD) to Doctoral Studies. 

Pictured: Prof Thengani Ngwenya

Simangele Zuma and Waheeda Peters