Faculty

of Education

ISEA
Institute for
the Study of
the Englishes
of Africa

ANNUAL
REPORT
2024
 ISEA
Institute for the Study of the Englishes of Africa

Annual Report 2024

©ISEA, Rhodes University, 2025

NOT TO BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT
PERMISSION FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE ISEA
 1

CONTENTS
ISEA Board ________________________________________ 2
Donors ____________________________________________ 2
Staff ______________________________________________ 3
Conspectus ________________________________________ 4
Objective Alignment: _____________________________________ 4
Staff News _________________________________________ 6
ISEA Publications ___________________________________ 7
English in Africa ___________________________________________ 7
New Coin Poetry journal ____________________________________ 8
Shakespeare in Southern Africa ______________________________ 8

The New Coin Poetry Prizes ___________________________ 9

Other Publications _________________________________ 13
Contributions to Books________________________________ 13
Articles and Reviews in Journals, Magazines and Online 13
Poetry in Literary Journals – Print and Online______________ 13
Conferences, Colloquia and Public Lectures _____________ 14
Research _________________________________________ 15
Guy Butler Research Award __________________________ 16
Language Teacher Professional Development Project 17
Under-graduate _____________________________________ 17
Post-graduate Studies ________________________________ 21
Campus Creative Writing Programme: 2024_____________ 23
Graduate Supervision and Examining __________________ 23
Degrees in Progress ________________________________ 24
External Responsibilities_____________________________ 24
ISEA 60th Anniversary Celebrations ____________________ 24
Conclusion ________________________________________ 25
 2

ISEA Board
* Prof E Rosenberg (Dean of Education) Chair
* Prof M Mbelani (Director)
Prof Mark de Vos (HoD, Department of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies)
* Mr T van Niekerk (Executive Director, Dictionary Unit for South African English)
* Ms C Warren (Amazwi South African Museum of Literature)
* Dr Kavish Jawahar (Department of Secondary and Post Schooling)
* Prof Anton Krueger (HoD, Department of Literary Studies in English)
* Dr B Nosilela (Head of African Language Studies, School of Languages and
Literatures)
Prof P Mwepu (Deputy Dean of Humanities)

*Member of the Executive Committee

Donors
Financial support from the following sources is acknowledged with gratitude:
African Humanities Programme for the New Coin Poetry Prize.
 3

Staff
Director
Prof M Mbelani, BAEd (UNITRA), BEd (Hons) (UNISA), ACE (ELT), MEd (ELT),
PhD (Rhodes)
Alan Macintosh Research Fellow
Dr R Mawela, STD (UNITRA), BA (Andrews), HDE, MEd (Solusi), PhD (Rhodes)
Research Officer
Ms N C Fulani, BEd Hons (Rhodes), SPDT (Cape College), BEd (ELT) (Rhodes),
MEd ELT (Rhodes)
BEd (ELT) Lecturer, BEd (ELT) Coordinator and School Visit Facilitator
Mr S Sibanda, ACE (UJ), BEd Hons (UJ), MEd (Rhodes)
BEd (ELT) Lecturer and School Visit Facilitator
Mr R Townsend, BA, BEd Hons, HDE (PG) (Rhodes), MA (English) (NMU)
Associate Professor Emeritus
Prof M G Hendricks, BA, HDE (UCT), BA Hons, MEd (Rhodes), PhD
(Witwatersrand)
Research Associate
Mr R Berold, BSc (Eng) (Witwatersrand), MA (Cantab)
Senior Research Associate
Prof B Willan, BA Hons, MA, PhD (London)
Secretary, Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa
Dr C Leff, BA (Witwatersrand), BA Hons, MA, PhD (Rhodes)
Editors: English in Africa
Profs D Attwell, T Voss, G Fincham
Editorial Assistants: Drs E Kowalska, R Matsha
Editor: New Coin
Mr K Allan, MA (UKZN)
Editor: Shakespeare in Southern Africa
Prof C J Thurman, BA Hons (Rhodes), MA (London), PhD (UCT)
Publications Manager
Dr C Leff, BA (Witwatersrand), BA Hons, MA, PhD (Rhodes)
Administrator
Ms U Ntshakaza
Secretary
Ms N Kelemi
 4

Conspectus
The Institute for the Study of Englishes of Africa (ISEA) has been a driving force in
advancing language education, literacy development, and scholarly research. This report
highlights the achievements and contributions of the ISEA for the year 2024, reflecting its
alignment with Rhodes University's Institutional Development Plan (IDP) 2023–2028.
The initiatives and outcomes reported here are guided by several key IDP goals and
objectives aimed at fostering excellence in teaching, research, and community engagement.

Goal 1: Ensure Quality Scholarly Teaching and Learning

The ISEA’s efforts contribute significantly to enhancing scholarly teaching and learning
through:
● The BEd (ELT) programme equips educators with advanced skills and fosters
professional growth in teaching English in diverse contexts.
● The successful graduation of five MEd candidates, enhancing their expertise and
the academic standing of English educators.
● The development of African Language Teaching Resources, promoting
multilingual scholarship and expanding the role of African languages in education.
Objective Alignment:
● 1.3: Develop an enabling multilingual environment in which African Languages can
thrive.
● 1.6: Recognize and reward innovation and excellence in teaching and community
engagement.

Goal 3: Create an Engaging and Transformative Student Experience

The ISEA supports transformative educational experiences for student teachers by:
● Ensuring the success of BEd recruitment and contact sessions, providing
structured and impactful learning experiences.
● Offering logistical support for rural students, ensuring equitable access and
fostering a supportive learning environment.
Objective Alignment:
● 3.5: Ensure an inclusive institutional environment that embraces human rights,
celebrates diversity, and respects all identities.

Goal 4: Strengthen Rhodes University’s Standing as a Research-Intensive

University
The ISEA contributes to research excellence and creative outputs through:
● Publications such as English in Africa and New Coin Poetry, which underline the
Institute’s commitment to impactful scholarship and the promotion of literary
studies.
 5

● Research initiatives, including the COVID-19 literacy impact study, which address
relevant educational challenges and enhance the ISEA’s research profile.
Objective Alignment:
● 4.1: Support the culture of research excellence across the University.
● 4.9: Increase interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research opportunities.

Goal 6: Attract, Develop, and Retain Quality Staff

The ISEA’s activities enhance professional growth and institutional capacity by:
● Recognizing staff achievements, such as Dr Mawela’s international presentations,
which elevate the Institute’s academic profile.
● Recruiting skilled personnel, including a new Administration Assistant,
strengthening operational efficiency.
Objective Alignment:
● 6.6: Provide strategies for the professional development, promotion, succession, and
retention of staff.

Goal 8: Position and Promote Rhodes University as an Institution for the Public
Good
The ISEA continues to contribute to the public good through:
● Partnerships with organizations such as the Sishen Iron Ore Company
Development Trust (SIOC-CDT), ensuring sustained impact in underprivileged
communities.
Objective Alignment:
● 8.1: Implement purposeful and equitable partnerships with the local community,
advancing educational and social well-being.

The report demonstrates how the ISEA’s achievements and initiatives align with the IDP’s
strategic vision, reinforcing its commitment to academic excellence, diverse access, and
meaningful community engagement.
 6

Staff News

Prof Mbelani, Ms Ntshakaza and Prof Mbelani, Ms Kelemi, Dr Leff & Mr Sibanda planted a
Prof Rosenberg tree in honour of Rhodes University retiring staff

Ms Unathi Ntshakaza was appointed as the Administrator in July 2024 and brought needed
stability. Dr Carol Leff retired at the end of December 2024. Dr Leff attended online
webinars to update her copy-editing and proofreading skills and wrote the gruelling
Professional Editors’ Guild (PEG) Accreditation exam in September (result pending).

In her capacity as President of the Africa English Language Teaching Association, Dr

Rethabile Mawela was in Egypt and Brazil.
 7

ISEA Publications

PERIODICALS
The Director, Carol Leff, Nomangesi Kelemi.

English in Africa 51.1 (May 2024). Eds Renée Schatteman and Meg
Vandermerwe. pp. 139
English in Africa 51.2 (October 2024). Eds David Attwell, Tony Voss and Gail
Fincham. pp. 112
English in Africa 51.3 (December 2024). Eds David Attwell and Gail Fincham.
(forthcoming)
New Coin 59.2 (Dec 2023). Ed. Kyle Allan. pp. 107
New Coin 60.1 (June 2024). Ed. Kyle Allan. pp. 90
New Coin 60.2 (Dec 2024). Ed. Kyle Allan. pp. 81
Shakespeare in Southern Africa 36 (2023). Ed. Christopher Thurman. pp. 118.
Shakespeare in Southern Africa 37 (2024). Ed. Christopher Thurman. pp. 83.

English in Africa

The special issue on Bessie Head (EiA 50.3, Dec 2023) arrived in hard copy in April
2024 and has been distributed. The first issue of 2024, a special issue on Sindiwe Magona
(EiA 51.1, May 2024) is also available in print and online. EiA 51.2, Oct 2024 (an open
issue) is at the printers, and EiA 51.3, Dec 2024 is currently in review.

Eng lish in Africa 51.1 was a special issue edited by Renée Schatteman and Meg
Vandermerwe on the work of writer Sindiwe Magona. It carried articles by Namrata
Dey Roy on ‘Creating Multilingual Spaces: Sindiwe Magona’s Autobiographical Works’,
Swati Baruah on ‘“Where is my own father?” – Studying the Missing Father and the
Abusive Paternal Government in Mother to Mother’, Jessica D. Lyons on ‘Realities of
Apartheid and Idyllic Futures: Afropessimism and Afro-Optimism in Magona’s Mother
to Mother’, Marcia Blumberg on ‘Performing Sindiwe Magona’s Mother to Mother: The
Transformative Power of Theatre Adaptation’, Cathryne Cherop and Thulani Mkhize
on ‘The Quest for Living: Resilience and Coping Mechanisms in Sindiwe Magona’s
Beautu’s Gift’, Ewald Mengel on ‘Between Nostalgia and Trauma: Love, Loyalty, and
Betrayal in Sindiwe Magona’s Chasing the Tails of My Father’s Cattle’, and Antjie Krog on
‘Some Influences from isiXhosa Literary Texts on Sindiwe Magona’s When the Village
Sleeps’.
 8

Eng lish in Africa 51.2 is a colourful issue for which Zakes Mda approved the use of one
of his paintings for the cover which complements the lead article by Lauren Isaacs and
Hermann Wittenberg titled ‘Making Black Creativity Visible: Reading the Intermediality
of Zakes Mda’s Fictions’. This is followed by Marek Pawlicki’s article ‘There Might Be No
Bottom To It’: Unplumbed Depths and Uncanny Emotions in Damon Galgut’s The
Quarry. Kim Daniells writes on ‘A sense of longing she had nowhere to put’: Heterotopic
Suburbia in Yewande Omotoso’s The Woman Next Door. R.J. Lim’s article on ‘The Paradox
of Silence and ‘Dark Swoops’: Unmooring Women’s Language in Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun’ is followed by Cristovão Nwachukwu’s essay ‘A Call to
Return: Rerouting Healing Pathways in Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater’.

English in Africa 51.3 (in process)

New Coin Poetry journal

New Coin 59.2 ran poems by 21 poets and carried three book reviews. The Judge’s Report
for the New Coin Poetry Prize 2022 was by Dimakatso Sedite.

N ew Coin 60.1 ran poems by 20 poets and carried two book reviews.
N ew Coin 60.2 ran poems by 21 poets. The Judge’s Report for the New Coin Poetry
Price 2023 was by Marike Beyers.

Shakespeare in Southern Africa

Sha kespea re in Southern Africa 36 (2023) and 37 (2024) were special issues carrying
papers from the Shakespeare Towards an End conference held at Spier from 24–27 May
2023. Volume 36 carried an Editorial by Chris Thurman and Marguerite de Waal followed
by research articles by Peter Holland, Frances Ringwood, Naomi Nkealah and John
Simango, Marta Fossati, Catherine Addison, Linda Ritchie, Peter Merrington, Marc
Maufort and Zwelakhe J. Mtsaka. There was also poetry by Geoffrey Haresnape and a
book review by Tony Voss. Volume 37, again with an editorial by Chris Thurman and
Marguerite de Waal featured articles and essays by Lydia Valentine, Stephen Collins and
Nii Kwartelai Quartey, Giuliana Iannaccaro, Henry Bell and David Schalkwyk. The issue
closes with ‘Roundtable: Othello in Cape Town, 2024’ facilitated by Chris Thurman with
contributors Lara Foot, Gerhard Marx, Mike van Graan, Shose Kessi and Sanele
kaNtshingana.
 9

The Shakespeare in Southern Africa (SiSA) Editorial Board engaged in a series of

discussions on the transformation of the journal. Prof Chris Thurman, President and
Editor of the Shakespeare in Southern Africa Journal, visited Prof Mbelani at Rhodes
University on 13th of June 2024 to discuss possibilities surrounding the future of the
journal including a name change, a vision, and a new editor.

Professors Chris Thurman and Deyi Mbelani at St Peter’s Building, Rhodes University

As a result, Volume 37 of SiSA is the journal’s last issue. The Shakespeare Society's
journal will be re-launched as Bakwethu: A Journal of Shakespeare Studies in 2025. The
historical allusion is to “Zihlobo, Bakwethu, MaRomani...” from K.E Masinga's
translation-adaptation of Julius Caesar into an isiZulu radio drama that was hugely popular
in the 1950s. The idea is to take advantage of the twin uses of Bakwethu as meaning
“compatriots” but also, more casually, “companions”, my peeps. So, the new title is
intended to disrupt the category of the nation or the national, which has always been a
limitation of the journal under its current title. The term also implies a calling together
of fellow Shakespeareans within digital earshot to listen up and join in the conversations.

The New Coin Poetry Prizes

The 2022 Prizes, awarded for the best poems in New Coin of that year, were judged by
Dimakatso Sedite, whose report appears in the December 2023 issue of New Coin and is
reproduced below. The 2023 Prizewinning poets appear in the December 2024 issue.

Judge’s Report by Dimakatso Sedite

In the two 2022 New Coin issues, there seems to be an attempt to make sense of the
world and spaces within it. The three winning poems are transcendental yet subtle, as
they depict what the world is, when we allow transient moments to not slip away.
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New Coin 2022 Prize Winners:

o ‘Details’ by Donald Parenzee
o ‘Bitter’ by Zeenit Jacobs
o ‘Desert Spirit’ by Warren Jeremy Rourke

Donald Parenzee (1948–2022), was a poet with an acute sense of his surroundings.
‘Details’ captures magic on a cusp of flight, at its most impossible moment, just before it
falls back into obscurity. He captures how living spaces are occupied by sounds, people,
and things, with such precision, it stirs the spirit. Never missing a moment, slowing time
in its haste, Parenzee drifts across spaces, looking for ways to curve the sharp edges of life,
to relieve those crammed in the crumbles of life, not wanting anything to suffer. The poem
has a meditative tempo and rhythm that portray an observant speaker in pensive mode.
Unsettled, the speaker has a turn of thought, expressed through a variation of lines, to
emphasise tension, a spasm of thought, or a rush of it, as he listens to what thrives in its
forgotten space. He draws attention to the tension between humans and all else: animals,
nature, industrial objects. We hence inhabit the soul of these objects, the inanimate, which
themselves are not passive actors in this world that man has made his own: a musical chord
is pulled from an industrial metal that grinds, showing the agency imbued in what humans
have utterly disregarded. ‘Details’ reads like an orchestral stroke, a thrum on a wave:
tasteful and timeless.

Zeenit Jacobs’s words are economical yet robust, sparse yet stark. In her elliptical poem
‘Bitter’, the speaker appears to be in conversation with herself, hesitant and disruptive,
swallowing a gasp as the grotesque unfold. The speaker dissociates from the trauma,
fragments it into shards, as if its totality is too much to bear. The trauma remains fractured,
nonsensical, for that way it cannot hurt. Mundane objects morph into phantoms haunting
themselves, absorbing the ire entrapping them. The result is an apocalypse of such horrific
proportions that even in death, bodies cannot escape themselves, as they become the
embodiment of a monster in whose hands they met their demise. Jacobs’s imagistic eye
has a precision of someone looking for needles, when everyone else is on the hunt for
boulders. ‘Bitter’ exemplifies what Haso Sismo calls ‘the art of the fallen limb, in which
startling insights emerge and are subsequently concealed’. Devoid of gender pronouns,
‘Bitter’ hides the gender identity of the victim, careful not to misgender them/zem/xem.
This lack of knowing who the victim lived as, before they/ze/xe died, heightens the
poem’s mystery. The poet trusts South Africa’s wider social context to situate the poem,
and complete the blanks. The stark imagery and implicit social context help ground the
poem, and save it from being elusive. In another context, at another time, ‘Bitter’ may take
on a different nuance, forever re-inventing itself:

Warren Jeremy Rourke’s ‘Desert Spirit’ is delightfully contemporary in expression, an

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embodiment of Rita Dove’s poetry as ‘language at its most distilled and most powerful’.
There is ennui, a listless annoyance, which at first seems trivial, before it catapults into an
act so momentous, it becomes galactic. There is a feeling of alienation that is almost
allegorical, with the beach being the space where the social contestation is happening. The
poem’s non-specificity gives it that other-worldly, cosmic feel. The speaker, a physical
matter, becomes ‘a desert spirit’, to escape ‘a man’ ‘with a shrivelled cock’, creating a
situational irony that makes the poem memorable. The speaker makes archetypal leaps
from the known to the unknown, from the real to the magical, taking us with him to
nowhere, from which we are reluctant to return. He ends with a trite mind twist: ‘No
impression’, shattering the glass cylinder he’d so fantastically weaved us into:

In addition to the three prize winners, these contenders are worth mentioning:

‘A Turbulence of a Spinning Tsunami’ by Kalahari Marrakesh is a playful poem filled

with the thrill of the moment and the innocence of youth. Centred on a township youth
subculture of car-spinning, the speaker expresses the tension of repulsion and exhilaration
he feels towards this popular township pastime: ‘Doughnut girl engulfed in flames,/from
Soweto to Mannenburg/gravel road to gravel road ‒ ’ […] ‘Stacey-lee May/a dynamite in
a benky./Dushy ghel/High as fly’. Spontaneous in spirit, mimetic at times, Marrakesh’ s
voice has an aura that is light and enduring.

Robert Henney’s ‘Driving Away’ is lyrical and a delight to listen to. Its old style has a
timelessness that makes it relatable to today’s reader. There is a pleasing, leitmotif-like
melody that lends a certain mood and period to the poem: ‘It is sixty six years now, sixty
two if you/Prefer to be precise ‒ the sun /Singeing skins of singular sickly hue/’. Loss
wears armour of anger that does not perch on a page, but lilts with rhymes of old. ‘Driving
Away’ offers a dash of nostalgia with contemporary finesse.

Zayah Wrights’ ‘For Kay’ anchors you in the first ten stanzas: ‘White doeks/Tight on their
heads.//Pictures of limbs/Nailed to weeping walls’ […] ‘How can you cook/A stew for
5 years/And not realise the stove is not on?’. In the latter part of the poem, there is an
abrupt transition into what feels like a different poem, with a dead metaphor or two, losing
the energy that hooked us in the beginning. Like Marrakesh, Wrights is a new voice: fresh
and exciting.

Juxtaposed against Richard Fox’s ‘nastepny przystanek’ is Oksana Rozumna’s ‘My

Country’ (translated from the Ukrainian by Hanna Yanovska and Robert Berold). There
is an incidental intertextual dialogue between the two poems, both embedded in the Global
South countries of Poland and Ukraine, respectively. Two poems, two speaker identities,
as disparate as they are similar, brought together by the commonality of their socio-
historical experience. Richard Fox’s ‘nastepny przystanek’ (which means ‘next stop or
 12

next destination’ in Polish), is memorialised and transient, with a third-generation

speaker’s soul limping, meandering the streets of Poland with a century old scar. A
portrayal so vivid, it stings the skin. Repressed memory becomes an open wound of a
country once bereft by (Nazi) war, a memory triggered by neighbouring Russia-Ukraine
war: ‘The Russians make themselves at home. The way the Germans did,/the way all
men do in the palaces of war’. The poem is a throbbing thought that bashes our
foreheads into the wall with the unexpected: ‘the liberation of the public space/given
over to vandals and art’. In classic Richard Fox style, ‘nastepny przystanek’ is

In contrast, Oksana Rozumna’s ‘My Country’ has emotional proximity and domestic
rootedness. The speaker laments: ‘somewhere there is my country where/after the spring
of 2022/we no longer fear to get old’. Rozumna gives us a modern liturgical twist to the
biblical Armageddon, ‘where all the street photographs look like X-rays/things that are
breathing somewhere ‒ that in these photos/look like skeletons embracing’. She then
prophecies the future: ‘somewhere my home is reflected/in the clean blades of knives/in
the freshly washed glasses’. In the end, it seems, the speaker’s hope overcomes the
fallacious determinism of the devastation of war.

In Fox’s ‘nastepny przystanek’ and Rozumna’s ‘My Country’, war gets re-imagined, for as
Walt Whitman has written: ‘The real war will never get in the books’.

Kelwyn Sole’s anaphoric poem ‘How to begin measuring the world’ is fast-paced, with
end-stopped lines that lament the world going by, unnoticed. The explanatory title relies
on the imagery to take the poem forward. A refrain opens most lines, giving the poem a
staccato effect that ferments in cacophonous sharpness, desperate to awaken the world
whose ears remain deafened: ‘And the song of an owl brooding on a roof/And the
wriggled songs of babies limb-dancing their new bodies’ […] ‘And the songs of dampened
thighs locked in infatuation/And the songs of beauty briefly skittering across a mirror’.

In ‘I want to be a factory supervisor’, Ayanda Billie takes us back to the South African
Black Mamba Rising worker poets of the 1980s, with a deceptively simple, but cleverly
satirical portraiture of how black people’s worth still lies in the dirt of their hands in this
post-Temba Qabula era. In typical Billie diction of spontaneous speech, he parodies the
futility of power wielded by those who hold jobs for the poor: ‘I want to be a factory
supervisor /A union member/Be friends with a shop steward/Buy him bunny chow and
Coke’. Towards the end, Billie shifts from colloquial register to artful expression: ‘Like an
insect trapped in a spider web’, taking a jab at the latter. ‘I want to be a factory supervisor’
has a natural feel to it, with no ambition for intellectual decorum. Its Black Aesthetic lends
an ironic casualness to the poem’s profoundness.

- Dimakatso Sedite
 13

Other Publications
Contributions to Books

Effiong, O., Engelbrecht, S., & Mawela, R. (2024). Cultivating Positive Attitudes and
Reading Comprehension with Grade 8 Learners. K-12 Volume.
Mawela, R. (2024). Addressing the Displacement of African Indigenous Languages. In
Embbeding Multilingualism in the Curriculum: Using Language as a Resource for Teaching and
Learning. (Eds.) Adams, A., Booi, M., Mawonga, S., Nkomo, D., Nosilela, B., & Vorster,
J. Rhodes University.

Articles and Reviews in Journals, Magazines and Online

Hendricks, M. and Xeketwana, S. 2024. Translanguaging for learning in selected
English First Additional Language secondary school classrooms. Reading & Writing Vol
15, No 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v15i1.502
Mahna, J.P., Mawela, R., Gougou, M., Oyore, M. (2024). Investigating
Internationalization of Higher Education in the Post-Epidemic Era. In International
Journal of Research Studies in Education. ISSN: 2243-7703 Online ISSN: 2243-7711.

Poetry in Literary Journals – Print and Online

Leff, Carol. ‘Red Earth.’ Stanzas No 31 (Mar/Apr 2024): 15–16
- ---- -. ‘Paralytic Grief.’ Stanzas No 31 (Mar/Apr 2024): 16
-------. ‘Mourning Coffee.’ Stanzas No 31 (Mar/Apr 2024): 17
-------. ‘Statue of Fernando Pessoa.’ (photograph) Stanzas No 31 (Mar/Apr 2024): 52
- ---- -. ‘Prohibited goods.’ A Flower for the Dashboard – Poems from Aerial 1998–2019, edited
by Shirley Marais. Aerial Publishing: 34
- ---- -. ‘The mulberry tree.’ A Flower for the Dashboard – Poems from Aerial 1998–2019, edited
by Shirley Marais. Aerial Publishing: 96
- ---- -. ‘Flashbacks.’ A Flower for the Dashboard – Poems from Aerial 1998–2019, edited by
Shirley Marais. Aerial Publishing: 139
- --- --. ‘The Big Sleep’ Avbob Poetry Project.
www.avbobpoetry.co.za/Poem/View?PoemID=241410
- --- --. ‘Tree of Life’ Avbob Poetry Project.
www.avbobpoetry.co.za/Poem/View?PoemID=241398
-------. ‘This table’ www.avbobpoetry.co.za/Poem/View?PoemID=241709
- ---- -. ‘Demosthenes’ Stanzas No 31 (Dec 2024): forthcoming.
- ---- -. ‘CyanoTides’ Art on the Verandah, 21–23 Dec 2024, Bushman’s River Mouth,
Ndlambe.
-------. Poetry reading. The Red Wheelbarrow (online). 29 August 2024.
 14

Conferences, Colloquia and Public Lectures

In his capacity as the President of the National Association of English Teachers of South
Africa (NAETSA), Mr. Sibanda collaborated with the British Council and the National
Department of Basic Education in training 45 Master Trainers who in turn trained 120
teachers in the Northern Cape, Kuruman and Upington (May 2024), as a pilot project.
Further trainings were carried out as follows:
1. Northern Cape, Kuruman, JTG District. LEAP multigrade training where 60
multigrade teachers were trained from 17–18 October 2024.
2. Limpopo, Mokopane District. LEAP training. 64 teachers were trained on 26–27
October 2024.
3. KZN, Richards Bay. English Connects training was held on 19 and 26 October and
9 November 2024, and 150 teachers were trained in total.

Mr Sibanda was in Cape Town from 4 to 5 July to write a paper with the British Council,
which he presented at the LITASA Conference at the University of Cape Town from 13
to 15 September 2024. Prof Mbelani was invited on 26/07/2024 to present a short keynote
at the RU IsiXhosa Spelling Bee Competition, where nine top Grade 11 students from
various local schools competed. The event was attended by FP BEd 1st Year students,
lecturers, parents, and NGOs.

Prof Mbelani presented a webinar at the University of Johannesburg on 10th October 2024
titled “Breaking the vicious cycle of racial linguistic ideologies through a transformative multilingual
agency.”

Dr Mawela was a featured speaker during the Africa ELTA 8th International Conference
in Cairo, Egypt (28th May to 3rd June). She was invited to be the keynote speaker during
the Brazil TESOL 20th International Conference in Goiania, Brazil from the 17th to the
20th of July.

Dr Mawela participated in the writing of the University Multilingual project booklet. The
booklet, entitled “Embedding Multilingualism in the Curriculum: Using Language as a Resource for
Teaching and Learning,” was launched on July 24th.
 15

Dr B. Nosilela, Prof B. Antia, Dr K. Mzilikazi, Ms Lalu Mokuku, & Dr R. Mawela at RU

Research
Dr Mawela continues her research project entitled “Investigating the Impact of COVID-19
Lockdown on Literacy in Disadvantaged Communities and Emerging Strategies to Mitigate Against the
Impact”. This two-year research project began in 2023 and is expected to be completed at
the end of 2024.

Mr Sibanda is writing up his PhD thesis entitled “Contestations around the South African
Language-in-Education Policy and Practice: A Case Study of Selected Northern Cape Schools”. He has
put in the intention to submit.
 16

Guy Butler Research Award

The current recipients are:

Recipient Name Subject Student Amount Awarded Degree

Number

Mxuma, S Journalism & 20M2777 R 60 000 BAH

Media Studies
May, SL Drama 21M0072 R 30 000 BAH
Mankai, SE Drama 20M7778 R 30 000 BAH
Futshane, CK Drama 19F3721 R 100 000 MA1

For 2025
Futshane, CK Drama 19F3721 R 100 000 MA2
Bronkhorst, C English 25B5387 R 100 000 BAH

Phoswa, G Linguistics 20P2973 R 120 000 MA1

Edley, CDM English 08E5273 R 130 000 PHD1
Literature
 17

Language Teacher Professional Development Project

Under-graduate

Graduation of 23 BEd (ELT) 2021–2023 cohort of students in April 2024

26 students graduated on the 5th of April. Three of the 26 students from Gauteng,
Mpumalanga, and the Eastern Cape were self-funded. 23 of the 26 were the 4th cohort
of BEd students from the Northern Cape, sponsored by SIOC-CDT. Mr Malahlela
graced the graduation ceremony on behalf of SIOC (see the legacy photo of the VC,
Deputy VCs, Mr Malahlela, ISEA, RUMEP, and CSD Staff and students). Missing in the
photo are the Dean of the Faculty of Education and the ISEA Director (both standing
at the back). Amongst the graduates, we had one cum laude and four who received the
Dean’s Outstanding List Award.

2024 SIOC Funded Graduates

New BEd Cohort – 2024–2026

The early start of this cohort was delayed in the signing processes of the Service Level
Agreement (SLA) between SIOC-CDT and RU. In February, the ISEA embarked on a
rigorous recruitment and selection process of 30 students, 25 from Kuruman in the
Northern Cape and five from Thabazimbi in Limpopo. These students finalised their
administrative and academic registration for the BEd (ELT) during the March contact
session at RU.
 18

Contact Sessions
There were three contact lecture sessions in 2024:
● Monday 25 to Wednesday 27 March (3 days) at Rhodes University
● Monday 17 to Tuesday 26 June (10 days) at Rhodes University
● Monday 23 to Friday 27 September (5 days) in Kuruman, Northern Cape.

Contact sessions took the form of three face-to-face block sessions, and weekly online
evening sessions on Wednesday from 18:30 to 20:00. There was 100% attendance in all
sessions except for two students on maternity leave during the winter session. The first
year did not offer a reasonable time to address the individual needs of the diverse students
in terms of being in an early or mid-year career, language teaching background, content
knowledge, technological savviness, and the range of years of studying between the last
qualification and the current first year. Lecturing team reflections indicated a need for
more contact sessions and the encouragement of self-directed learning through platforms
such as RUconnected. The last contact teaching session was from 23 to 27 September in
Kuruman, Northern Cape.

September Contact Session

School support visits and afternoon workshops

There were two classroom support visits per student in Kuruman and Thabazimbi, the
first from 15–19 April and the second from 21 July to 01 August. The school visits
provided first-hand experience of the gap between the ideal and the reality of South
African basic education. Although the purpose of school support visits was communicated
during the first contact session, students continued to be nervous about being observed
in their classroom practice. After each lesson, students engaged in post-lesson reflection
 19

with an ISEA staff and the students. However, many students struggled to engage in post-
lesson reflection because they seemed to foreground previous experience of teaching
practice rather than seeing it as a developmental space.

Lesson Observations Post-lesson Reflection

The roads between Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and Limpopo presented challenges such
as an accident in the Isuzu that was caused by a warthog, and bad roads in isolated areas
without connectivity. ISEA staff were appreciated for careful driving.

Thabazimbi Farm School Workshop in Kuruman

Isuzu dent, EC Road to Heuningvlei, NC

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End-of-the-year examinations
Meriting Lodge in Kuruman provided accommodation (except for those residing nearby)
and an examination venue for all 30 students from 21–25 October. The first day allowed
students to revise and regroup. During this day, Mr Malahlela visited the examination to
encourage students. After the internal marking processes were completed, the ISEA
maintained its tradition of getting the new external examiner, Dr Karen McCarthy from
the University of Johannesburg to physically visit the ISEA at Rhodes University from 11–
12 November. There were three sit-down examinations of three modules and three
continuous assessment modules that were externally moderated. Dr McCarthy had the
opportunity to meet the whole teaching team on Tuesday 12th to discuss the strengths and
areas of improvement in the BEd (ELT) offering in the remaining second and third years.

BEd (ELT) Cohort with SIOC-CDT rep Mr M.Malahlela

BEd (ELT) Exams in progress, Kuruman in NC Dr McCarthy in discussion with Ms Mamase

 21

Post-graduate Studies

BEd Honours in Bilingual Education for Diversity and Access

A total of seven candidates were registered and the first lectures of foundational courses
were done with the rest of the Faculty of Education honours registered in 2024 to 2025.
Prof Mbelani and Dr Mawela are part of the Faculty lecturing team. Four students wrote
the final examinations, two deregistered, and one changed to another stream within the
Faculty. The ISEA will host the remaining four students in 2025 in the second year of
specialisation.

The Faculty of Education plans to have a new intake of South African students in 2025.
The ISEA welcomed the motion of two cohorts running in parallel.

MEd and PhD Studies

Graduation of Five MEds

Ms Ntikinca, Mr Mbebe & Ms Ndlovu

Five MEd scholars graduated this year. Mr Sydney Gazide, supervised by Dr Mawela,
graduated in the April Graduation. Four MEd scholars graduated in October: Mr Xolela
Mbebe, Ms Sharon Moyo (graduated in absentia because she is in the US), Ms Sheillah
Ndhlovu (Distinction) (Dr Mawela), and Ms Xolela Ntikinca (Distinction) (Prof Mbelani).

2024 Registrations
There are seven students registered, three PhDs and four MEds.
Prof Mbelani
1. Ms Rozanne Meyer (supervised by Prof Mbelani) formally presented her PhD
proposal to the Education Higher Degrees Committee and was advised to resubmit.
 22

2. Mr Lutho Mnyanda and Ms Sibongile Dlamini are writing up their thesis drafts and
plan to submit their PhD theses for examination in April 2025.
3. Ms Justine Bussiahn and Ms Milisa Mamase are writing up their MEd theses and
plan to submit them by February 2025.

Dr Mawela
1. Ms Keutlwile Matlhare is writing her MEd proposal.
2. Mr Michael Lila (co-supervised with Prof Mbelani) is writing up his MEd thesis and
plans to submit it in February 2025.

Two contact sessions at Rhodes University were organized, five days in March and 10 days
in June-July. As milestones along the way, students present early work-in-progress from
proposal to thesis submission via two contact sessions (five days in March and 10 days in
June-July) Tuesday Seminars (see photos below). Moreover, students present their
grappling with data interpretation at conferences in exchange for feedback. One highlight
of such presentations was at LITASA 2024 by Justine (see below). The main challenges
relate to publications during the MEd and PhD on the one hand and to meeting the
growing demand for registration at the ISEA in 2025 on the other hand.
 23

Campus Creative Writing Programme: 2024

Last implemented in 2022, the short course in creative writing was started in full swing in
2024 from March to August. There were four teachers (Ms Marike Beyers, Ms Crystal
Warren, Ms Jeannie McKeown, and Mr Sithembele Xhegwana) who met with 29 students
at St Peter’s Building Room 36 every Tuesday evening. 15 participants produced writing
pieces for the publication, which was launched on the 10th of December. The facilitators
are experienced literary writers based at Amazwi. The dedication of the facilitators, most
of whom do this work voluntarily, is highly appreciated. Two volumes (poetry and prose)
of the best of Aerial (comprising work written in the short course over the last 21 years)
were launched in April at the Bathurst Book Fair and Amazwi SA Museum of Literature.

Book Launch at AMAZWI (10th December 2024)

Graduate Supervision and Examining

EXTERNAL EXAMINATION

Dr Mawela was an External Examiner for three MEd candidates from the National
University of Lesotho.
She is also the external examiner for the “Second and Foreign Language Teaching and
Learning (PHLC402)” module at Nelson Mandela University.

Prof Mbelani was the External Examiner for two MEd candidates from the University
of Namibia and the University of Johannesburg.
He is also the external examiner for BEd Honours at the University of Johannesburg.
 24

Degrees in Progress
Mr Sibanda is writing up his PhD thesis entitled “Contestations around the South African
Language-in-Education Policy and Practice: A Case Study of Selected Northern Cape Schools”. He has
put in the intention to submit.

External Responsibilities
Dr Mawela is the deputy chairperson of the Faculty of Education Higher Degrees
Committee. She is the President of the Africa English Language Teachers Association
(ELTA). She is also a member of Helderberg College of Higher Education Council. She
serves as the chairperson of the Grahamstown Primary School Board. In addition, she
serves on the ISER board.
Mr Sibanda serves as the President of the National Association of English Teachers’
Association (NAETSA). He also serves on the National Strategic Materials Review
Committee for DBE and BC teaching materials.
Prof Mbelani reviewed the National Research Foundation (NRF) rating application in
October 2024.
Dr Leff is co-supervising with Prof Phil van Schalkwyk (Director of the Research Unit
Languages and Literature in the SA Context at North-West University), a PhD candidate,
Ms Farzanah Loonate. Leff is also a member of the Professional Editors’ Guild (PEG),
Academic and Non-Fiction Authors Assoc of SA (ANFASA), and the English Academy
of Southern Africa (EASA).

ISEA 60th Anniversary Celebrations

The four-day celebration planned for July 2024 was cancelled due to many unforeseen
challenges related to staff shortages at the ISEA. Rather, celebrations were continuous and
foregrounded the ISEA’s visibility in the branding of cars, banners, and clothing.

SIOC-cdt sponsored ISEA Ford Ranger Branded ISEA Isuzu

 25

A start was made in refreshing the ISEA website by Ms Mamase and RU Communications
and Marketing.
Also, a memory booklet (scrapbook) in which former ISEA students reminisced about
their days at Rhodes University and the ISEA in particular was compiled. This project is
still in progress.

Conclusion

The year 2024 was exciting, challenging, and full of possibilities. We extend our heartfelt
appreciation to everyone who contributed to the successful publication of ISEA
periodicals. Special recognition goes to Professors David Attwell, Gail Fincham, Tony
Vos, and Dr Eva Kowalska for their voluntary efforts in editing the 2024 volumes of
English in Africa. We also acknowledge Mr Kyle Allan, whose tenure as editor of New Coin
concluded this year. His dedication to curating diverse South African poetry has left a
lasting impact. Additionally, Prof Chris Thurman is highly commendable in relaunching
Shakespeare in Southern Africa to new heights. A special thank you to Dr Carol Leff, whose
role as ISEA Publications Manager has been instrumental in supporting the success of all
three journals.

The successful delivery of the BEd (ELT) course was another highlight of the year. The
2024 graduation ceremony at Rhodes University was particularly significant, as it formally
acknowledged the invaluable support of SIOC-CDT in funding the RU BEd in-service
programmes in the Northern Cape. This achievement was marked by a legacy photograph
capturing key partners and contributors.
 26

We express our sincere gratitude to SIOC-CDT for its continued generosity in funding
the 5th cohort of teachers (2024–2026) in the Northern Cape and Limpopo. Although
Limpopo was not initially included in the budget, ISEA remained committed to delivering
high-quality teaching. We appreciate SIOC-CDT’s openness, communication, and strong
visibility, which continue to strengthen our partnership. Our thanks also extend to the
JTG and Thabazimbi District Education Management Teams for their collaboration in
ensuring the continued success of the programme.

The current cohort deserves recognition for its dedication, engagement, and eagerness to
learn, evident in their participation in contact sessions (both online and in-person), school
support visits, and afternoon workshops. However, delivering the BEd programme
presents unique challenges, particularly due to the diverse backgrounds of students. A
special acknowledgment goes to the lecturing team for their reflective, strategic, and
intentional approach in responding to students’ needs. However, opportunities remain to
integrate research-led teacher education into the BEd (ELT) curriculum, and the team is
currently conceptualizing ways to strengthen this approach in the second and third years.

A major achievement of 2024 was the successful launch of the BEd Honours in Diversity
and Access, aligning with ISEA’s vision of expanding postgraduate studies. The Language,
Literature, and Literacy Community of Practice played a crucial role in the success of MEd
and PhD studies. As a result, five MEd graduates completed their studies in 2024.

Additionally, research activities are gaining momentum, with students presenting at

conferences, contributing to book chapters, and publishing journal articles. A significant
highlight was Dr Mawela’s inclusion in the 2024 Rhodes University Research Report as
one of the top 30 researchers – a well-deserved recognition of her contributions.

We extend our gratitude to everyone who contributed to conceptualizing and planning the
ISEA’s 60th Anniversary celebrations. While the celebrations were not fully realized due
to staff shortages, we acknowledge the dedication and effort of those involved.

The ISEA’s main pillars of periodicals, BEd (ELT), postgraduate studies, research, and
community engagement would not have thrived without the unwavering support of Ms
Unathi Ntshakaza and Ms Nomangesi Kelemi. Their dedication to managing logistics has
been integral to the programme’s smooth operation and success. We sincerely appreciate
their commitment and efficiency, which have greatly contributed to the flourishing of all
programmes.

Lastly, we experienced a bittersweet moment as we bade farewell to Ms Khaya Fulani, who

 27

made a profound impact on multiple BEd (ELT) cohorts funded by the Eastern Cape
Department of Basic Education, the Zenex Foundation, and the SIOC-CDT. Her legacy,
particularly her passionate teachings on “time-on-task” and “task-on-time”, will continue
to inspire colleagues and students alike.

As we reflect on the achievements and challenges of 2024, we look forward to continued

growth, innovation, and collaboration in the years to come. Thank you to everyone who
played a part in making this year a success!

Director: Prof MaDey’Andile Mbelani

 Institute for the Study
of the Englishes of Africa
Rhodes University
PO Box 94
Makhanda
6140
South Africa

Tel: +27 (0)46 603 8565

Email: [email protected]
Web: https://www.ru.ac.za/isea/