Getting a Jewish helping hand to a PhD

CHARISSE ZEIFERT

Maluleke was born in 1956 in Pfukani, a small village in the northern part of Limpopo. Later, he was forcibly removed to Mphambo – another small village in the province – under the apartheid regime.

To this day, there is no running water, WiFi or much infrastructure at all in Mphambo. The nearest recognisable towns (with the closest post office) are Giyani and Malumelele. 

The majority of the village’s youth leave home for bigger cities in search of a job after they have completed matric. While it has a vibrant community, the inhabitants who remain, do the best with what they have. 

Educational aspirations are generally put aside for a chance of work and earning some money. 

Maluleke was different. He started his career as an assistant at the University of South Africa (Unisa). He then became a journalist at the South African Council of Churches, before taking a job on The Citizen in 1998.

In the same year, he started his bachelor of arts degree. While employed at this daily newspaper, he went on to do an honours and masters degree.

It was while at the Citizen that he came in contact with the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, who he would frequently call for comment on stories.

Maluleke wanted to improve his already impressive academic education. So, in 2011, he enrolled for his PhD at the Hebrew department at the University of the Free State, where he wanted to do a dissertation entitled, “The Role of Bible Translations in Enhancing Xitsonga Cultural Identity”. 

For him, the study was not about money or earning a big salary. Rather his aim was, he says, “to contribute to the Xitsonga language and to proclaim our people’s cultural identity to the whole world”.

He applied for bursaries to help make this possible. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) gave him one. David Saks, who oversees the various bursaries administered by the SAJBD, gave him a small bursary because he knew Maluleke was committed to his studies and was deserving.

The SAJBD bursary committee assists South African students of all races in their studies, based on the twin criteria of academic merit and financial need. Saks was delighted to hear about Maluleke’s success, adding how gratifying it was to know that the Board had been able to play a small part in it.

He had told the Board he also wanted to “inspire the young generation in Vutsong to carry on with the scientific research of our people as well as their culture”. In addition to this, he “wanted to make a contribution, however small, to the large body of Bible translation studies”. 

Maluleke’s research investigates the ways in which Bible translation has enhanced Xitsonga cultural identity. The focus is on the 1929 and the 1989 editions of the Xitsonga Bible, with the aim of understanding the role that the Xitsonga Bible translations recreate, rearrange and reshape Vatsonga cultural identity.

According to his university supervisor, Professor Jacobus Naudé, his research contributes to the history of Bible translation by providing the first thorough socio-historical description of the Xitsonga Bible translations.

Naudé explains that Maluleke’s treasury of information enhances the understanding of language development for future Bible translation projects in Africa. His thesis will now be turned into a book, written in Xitsonga, so that “his people can know about their history and the power of their language.

“In this way, he will give back to the community the knowledge that he gained about Vatsonga and their language so that they also can benefit from knowing their history.” 

For his part, Maluleke has acknowledged the role the SAJBD played in his research: “I would like to share my research with the whole Jewish community in the Republic. From this community I learnt many things, but the most important of them all, generosity – without its open hands, I would have remained mediocre –  not have been able to be called a man of letters today.”

Maluleke has five daughters, each of whom he is putting through university.  He has also published three novels in Xitsonga and, together with Prof NCP Golele, translated Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country into his language. He has also established the Chivirika Community Project for preserving Xitsonga heritage.