Jabulani 'Mzala' Nxumalo: revolutionary intellectual

Abstract

Jabulani Nobelman 'Mzala' Nxumalo has been described as "one of the most outstanding revolutionary intellectuals of the 1976 generation", who, through 'his sharp mind and pen' left a legacy of intellectualism, writing about the revolutionary process in the country at the time 'Nxumalo' died at the age of 35 in London on 2 February 1991, exactly a year to the day after the unbanning of the South African liberation movements. Despite his death at such a young age, Mzala, as Nxumalo was popularly known, made a significant contribution to South African revolutionary theory in several publications that are still the subject of debate among revolutionary theorists inside the country. Mzala was an organic intellectual whose theorising about the revolution was linked closely to his involvement in revolutionary activities. His intellectual activity was initiated through involvement in political activities inside the country as a youth during the early 1970s and in the 1976 Soweto uprising, and reached maturity in later years through his involvement in the activities of the ANC's military wing, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), in exile.