Nokukhanya Bhengu

Bhengu was born in March 1904 at the Umngeni American Board Congregationalist Mission,{{Cite web |title=NOKUKHANYA LUTHULI |url=https://luthulimuseum.org.za/luthuli-life-nokukhanya-luthuli/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Luthuli Museum |language=en-US}} near Durban,{{Cite book |last=Daymond |first=Margaret J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXJfTLB4XvcC&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PA413 |title=Women Writing Africa: The Southern Region |date=2003 |publisher=Feminist Press at City University of New York |isbn=978-1-55861-407-9 |pages=413 |language=en}} in the British Colony of Natal. Her parents were Maphitha Bhengu, son of Ndlokolo Bhengu (the chief of the Ngcolosi people),{{Cite book |last=Grobler |first=Jackie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z99BAAAAYAAJ&q=Nokukhanya+Bhengu |title=A Decisive Clash?: A Short History of Black Protest Politics in South Africa, 1875–1976 |date=1988 |publisher=Acacia |isbn=978-0-86817-052-7 |pages=186 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Benson |first=Mary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIowAAAAIAAJ |title=Chief Albert Lutuli of South Africa |date=1963 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=8 |language=en}} and his wife Nozincwadi Ngidi from Mzinyathi, making Bhengu a member of the royal family of the Ngcolosi. In a letter to the editor of Ilanga in 1957, she called out her royal paternal ancestors: "intombi kaMaphitha, oyisokanqangi lika Ndlokolo kaNkungu kaMepho kaNgwane kaLamula."

Her family were amakholwa (African Christian) and she had five older siblings. Her sister Nomhlatuze Bhengu was one of the first black nurses trained at McCord’s Hospital and was employed at Grey’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.Noble, Vanessa. (2017) [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dL5hzgEACAAJ&dq=he+People%E2%80%99s+Hospital:+A+History+of+McCords,+Durban,+1890s%E2%80%931970s.&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&redir_esc=y The People’s Hospital: A History of McCords, Durban, 1890s–1970s.] Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: Natal Society Foundation. pp. 38–40. {{ISBN|9780992176662}}. Behngu's mother died in 1914 and when her father remarried, she went to live with her elder brother.

She began her education at the Ohlange Institute, Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal,{{Cite web |title=Nokukhanya (Bhengu) Luthuli's Life Timeline |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/nokukhanya-bhengu-luthulis-life-timeline |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=South African History Online}} then studied at the Inanda Seminary School,{{Cite book |last=Healy-Clancy |first=Meghan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3tHAgAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PT112 |title=A World of Their Own: A History of South African Women's Education |date=2014-06-19 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-3609-3 |language=en}} an American Board Mission school for girls. One of her teachers at the Inanda Seminary recommended her to Adams College, Amanzimtoti, for a teachers training course. After completing her teacher training, in 1922 Bhengu began to teach at Mpushini, Eshowe, near Pietermaritzburg. When educator and social worker Sibusiswe Makhanya left her teaching position at Adams College in 1923, the administration invited Bhengu to replace her. Whilst teaching, Bhengu also worked at the Adams Hostel for Girls.{{Cite book |last=Naidoo |first=Logan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tsVgn9pmGpgC&dq=Nokukhanya+Bhengu&pg=PA13 |title=In The Shadow Of Chief Albert Luthuli: Reflections Of Goolam Suleman |date=2010 |publisher=Luthuli Museum |isbn=978-0-621-39747-5 |pages=13 |language=en}}

In 1925, Bhengu met Albert John Luthuli, then a fellow teacher at Adams College,{{Cite book |last=Haskins |first=Jim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCjzR7ELGAkC&dq=Nokukhanya+Bhengu&pg=PA88 |title=African Heroes |date=2005-01-21 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-471-70098-2 |pages=88 |language=en}} who taught Zulu history, Zulu music and literature.{{Cite book |last=Vinson |first=Robert Trent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4XdlDwAAQBAJ |title=Albert Luthuli |date=2018-08-09 |publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0-8214-4642-3 |pages=21-22, 51-53 |language=en}} On 19 January 1927, after discussions between their families, they married and Bhengu moved to live with his family in Groutville.{{Cite book |last=Luthuli |first=Albert John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxovAQAAIAAJ&q=Nokukhanya+Luthuli |title=Luthuli: Speeches of Chief Albert John Luthuli |date=1991 |publisher=Madiba Publishers |isbn=978-0-9583169-6-5 |pages=35 |language=en}}{{Citation |last=Gandhi |first=Ela |title=Lutuli, Albert |date=2010 |work=The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195334685.001.0001/acref-9780195334685-e-410 |access-date=2025-04-03 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195334685.001.0001/acref-9780195334685-e-410 |isbn=978-0-19-533468-5}}{{Cite book |last=Noll |first=Mark A. |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NsOYqq-NtDMC&pg=PA54&dq=Nokukhanya+Bhengu&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj5u5OdmL6MAxUCUEEAHS-kHkoQ6AF6BAgKEAM |title=Clouds of Witnesses: Christian Voices from Africa and Asia |last2=Nystrom |first2=Carolyn |date=2011-03-24 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-6861-2 |pages=54 |language=en}} They had seven children,{{Cite book |last1=Akyeampong |first1=Emmanuel Kwaku |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39JMAgAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Bhengu&pg=RA1-PA532 |title=Dictionary of African Biography |last2=Gates Jr |first2=Henry Louis |author-link2=Henry Louis Gates Jr. |last3=Niven |first3=Steven J. |date=2012-02-02 |publisher=Oxford University Press USA |isbn=978-0-19-538207-5 |pages=532 |language=en}} three sons and four daughters,Wilburn, Kenneth. (2014) "Albert Lutuli." In Magill, Frank N. ed. [https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_20th_Century_Go_N.html?id=ZhkCAwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y The 20th Century Go-N]. Routledge. pp. 2281–2284. {{ISBN|9781317740599}} including the politician and medical doctor Albertina Luthuli, and Bhengu was known for raising her children with an expectation that they all did the same tasks regardless of their gender.{{Cite book |last=Simpson |first=Thula |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGNwDwAAQBAJ&q=Nokukhanya&pg=PT205 |title=The ANC and the Liberation Struggle in South Africa: Essential writings |date=2018-10-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-45959-2 |language=en}}

Bhengu had to leave her job after her marriage as Adams College did not allow married women to teach. As black people could not purchase land near Adams College, she lived in Groutville about eighty miles away, while her husband remained at his teaching post and sent money home to support his family.{{Cite journal |last=Moolakkattu |first=John S. |date=2020-01-02 |title=Peace Profile: Albert John Luthuli |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10402659.2020.1823575 |journal=Peace Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=103–111 |doi=10.1080/10402659.2020.1823575 |issn=1040-2659}} Bhengu supplemented this income by growing and selling vegetables, sugar cane and fruit.{{Cite web |title=A Women's Month tribute to Nokukhanya (MaBhengu) Luthuli (1904–1996) |url=https://www.up.ac.za/news/post_2713069-a-womens-month-tribute-to-nokukhanya-mabhengu-luthuli-1904-1996 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=University of Pretoria |language=en}} When World War II caused rice shortages she taught women how to produce rice.

In 1933, Bhengu's husband was asked to succeed his uncle, Martin Luthuli, as chief of the Umvoti River Reserve.{{Cite book |last1=Legum |first1=Colin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MA0BAAAAMAAJ |title=The Bitter Choice: Eight South Africans' Resistance to Tyranny |last2=Legum |first2=Margaret |date=1968 |publisher=World Publishing Company |pages=54 |language=en}} After deliberating for two years, he accepted, and was able to move to live permanently in Groutville with Bhengu and their family. He commenced his duties in 1936. Both Bhengu and Luthuli rejected corruption, and when fraud caused issues at the local post office, Bhengu set up a post office in the Luthuli home and delivered letters on foot.{{Cite book |last=Beinart |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CjdjDwAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PT427 |title=A Long Way Home: Migrant worker worlds 1800–2014 |date=2014-07-01 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-1-86814-994-0 |pages=190–192 |language=en}} Local women in Groutville often spoke to Bhengu for advice on farming, raising their children and relating to their mother-in-law according to Zulu custom.{{Cite journal |last=Kelly |first=Jill E. |date=2019-04-03 |title=Gender, Shame, and the 'Efficacy of Congress Methods of Struggle' in 1959 Natal Women's Rural Revolts |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02582473.2019.1662080 |journal=South African Historical Journal |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=221–241 |doi=10.1080/02582473.2019.1662080 |issn=0258-2473}}

In the 1930s, Bhengu launched a Groutville branch of the women's cooperative the Daughters of Africa (DOA){{Cite book |last=Curry |first=Dawne Y. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_AtqEAAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PA198 |title=Social Justice at Apartheid's Dawn: African Women Intellectuals and the Quest to Save the Nation |date=2022-04-11 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-85404-1 |pages=198 |language=en}} and she was a member of a Congregational mothers’ union group.

Bhengu became active in the anti-apartheid movement and joined the ANC, later reflecting that "I have always treasured the decision I made to throw in my lot with you all in the African National Congress who wish to see Africa become free."Luthuli, Nokukhanya (December 1955) "Our Standard Is Not What the White Woman Does," Izwi Le Congress 2: 6, 2Z14/6, Reel 28B, Carter-Karis Collection, Cooperative Africana Microform Project. In 1946, her husband was elected to the Natives Representative Council (NRC), an advisory body to the government, through a by-election. He was elected president general of the ANC in 1952, supported by the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), and with Nelson Mandela elected as his deputy.{{Citation |last=Vinson |first=Robert |title=Albert Luthuli |date=2022-09-15 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-1103 |access-date=2025-01-23 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1103 |isbn=978-0-19-027773-4}} As her husband rose in political organisations, Bhengu founded the Cato Manor Women’s Society and became a supporter of the Women's Enfranchisement Association of the Union (WEA), founded by Charlotte Maxeke and Emily Hobhouse.{{Cite web |last=Barr |first=James |date=2023-06-16 |title=A Comprehensive History of Women's Suffrage in South Africa |url=https://wechronicle.com/womens-suffrage/a-comprehensive-history-of-womens-suffrage-in-south-africa/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=WeChronicle |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JGE-XB5QlD8C&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PA886 |title=The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1970–1980 |date=2004 |publisher=Unisa Press |isbn=978-1-86888-406-3 |pages=886 |language=en}} She exchanged letters with equal rights activists across the globe, such as the American philanthropist Mary Louise Hooper, who was her friend and correspondent for decades.

In 1953, Bhengu's husband was banned for a year by the government, prohibiting him from attending any political or public gatherings and from entering any major South African cities. It was the first of four banning orders that Luthuli would receive as president general of the ANC. He was arrested in 1956, charged with treason. Bhengu served as his representative during this period, couriered messages from him to other banned ANC members, and managed local and international knowledge of his legal status. Bhengu also campaigned in her own right and members of her local ANC Lower Tugela Branch elected her as their delegate to the Forty-Third Annual Conference of the ANC, held in Bloemfontein during December 1955. She addressed the conference, encouraged delegates to "make Africa, often called a "Dark Continent", a continent of light," and called for South Africa to have "freedom in a civilized world." She also continued to farm and was the primary breadwinner for the family.

When King Cyprian Bhekuzulu of the royal family in Durban announced his support for apartheid passes in the mid 1950s,Buverud, Anna Kolberg. (2007) “The King and the Honeybirds: Cyprian Bhekuzulu KaSolomon, Zulu Nationalism and the Implementation of Bantu Authorities in Zululand, 1948–1957”. Master’s thesis, University of Oslo. p. 77. she and nine other representative women of the African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) travelled to rural Nongoma to meet with him and urge him to oppose the pass laws.“Natal Women Protest to Paramount Chief,” New Age, 19 September 1957. When passes became required by black women in 1956, she again campaigned, later explaining that "we women were fighting against the denigration of our humanity. We had seen what happened to our menfolk who had to carry passes and we did not want the same to happen to us."

In 1960, Bhengu joined politician and activist Mewa Ramgobin in participating in a five-day fast, in the Gandhian tradition, in protest of the Sharpeville massacre and subsequent banning of anti-apartheid organisations by the state, including the ANC.{{Cite web |title=Mewa Ramgobin |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/mewa-ramgobin |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=South African History Online}}Pillay, Ravi (23 October 2016). "[https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/sunday-tribune-south-africa/20161023/281968902223718 Hamba kahle, Mewa, you brought us all closer]". Sunday Tribune. Retrieved 25 January 2025 – via PressReader. She is known to have "prayed that day for those who suffer on our behalf."{{Cite book |last=Dhupelia-Mesthrie |first=Uma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dtcwEQAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PA517 |title=Gandhi's African Legacy: Phoenix Settlement 1904 to 2024. A History Through Letters |date=2024-10-01 |publisher=UWC Press |isbn=978-1-990995-10-1 |pages=517 |language=en}}

In 1961, Bhengu's husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.{{Cite book |last1=Hofmeyr |first1=Isabel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-DZjDwAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PT168 |title=South Africa and India: Shaping the Global South |last2=Williams |first2=Michelle |date=2011-05-01 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-1-86814-948-3 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Afulezi |first1=Uju Nkwocha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iT8kAQAAIAAJ&q=Nokukhanya+Bhengu |title=African and Africa-related Nobel Prize Winners: Portraitures in Excellence |last2=Afulezi |first2=Ugochukwu Uju |date=2002 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-2101-4 |pages=223 |language=en}} They both travelled to Norway and he acknowledged his wife in his acceptance speech, delivered at the Great Hall of Oslo University, stating that she richly deserved to share the honour of receiving the prize with him.{{Cite journal |last=Ndlovu |first=Sifiso Mxolisi |date=2012 |title=On Nkosi Albert Luthuli Nobel Peace Prize Speech |url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-presence-africaine-2012-1-page-121?lang=fr |journal=Présence Africaine |language=en |volume=185186 |issue=1 |pages=121–129 |doi=10.3917/presa.185.0121 |issn=0032-7638}}{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Martha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mw5bDwAAQBAJ&q=Nokukhanya+Luthuli |title=Speeches that Shaped South Africa: From Malan to Malema |date=2017-11-01 |publisher=Penguin Random House South Africa |isbn=978-1-77609-142-3 |language=en}} They used the Nobel prize money to purchase farms in Switzerland which provided shelter for ANC members needing to escape from South Africa. Bhengu would spend time there every year looking after the crops, property and guests.

Bhengu's husband died in 1967, after being struck by a goods train.{{Cite book |last=Couper |first=Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrPOSAAACAAJ |title=Albert Luthuli: Bound by Faith |date=2010 |publisher=University of KwaZulu-Natal Press |isbn=978-1-86914-192-9 |pages=66, 190 |language=en}} Nelson Mandela wrote to her in condolence from prison.{{Cite book |last=Mandela |first=Nelson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSqeDwAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PT83 |title=Prison Letters |date=2019-08-13 |publisher=Liveright Publishing |isbn=978-1-63149-674-5 |language=en}} Luthuli's funeral was arranged in collaboration with the ANC, fashioned a local and global movement against apartheid,Gunner, Liz. (2012) “The Politics of Language and Chief Albert Luthuli’s Funeral, 30 July 1967,” in One Hundred Years of the ANC: Debating Liberation Histories Today, ed. Arianna Lissoni et al. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. pp. 191–210. and was televised in the United States. Photographs of Bhengu grieving at her husband's funeral were included in Carol Lazar's 1993 book Women of South Africa: Their Fight for Freedom.{{Cite book |last=Amico |first=Eleanor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ux2PAgAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PA54 |title=Reader's Guide to Women's Studies |date=1998-03-20 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-31404-0 |pages=53–54 |language=en}}

After her husbands death, Bhengu managed his image and historical legacy both nationally and internationally. She organised the archiving of his papers, performed the official unveiling of his tombstone and supported the establishment of Luthuli Memorial Foundation (LMF), serving as one of the trustees with Zami Conco, Mary Louise Hooper and Massabalala Yengwa. Bhengu also remained active in campaigning and civic life, and in 1971 she opened the October convention of the revived Natal Indian Congress,{{Cite journal |last1=Vahed |first1=Goolam |last2=Desai |first2=Ashwin |date=2014-01-02 |title=A case of 'strategic ethnicity'? The Natal Indian Congress in the 1970s |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17532523.2014.911436 |journal=African Historical Review |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=22–47 |doi=10.1080/17532523.2014.911436 |issn=1753-2523}} writing later in the 1970s in support of the Congress which was published in their newsletter.{{Cite book |last1=Desai |first1=Ashwin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=didLEAAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PA25 |title=Colour, Class and Community – The Natal Indian Congress, 1971–1994 |last2=Vahed |first2=Goolam |date=2021 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-1-77614-716-8 |pages=117 |language=en}}

She was awarded an Organisation of African Unity award in 1974, and attended numerous international events, such as the Soweto Day 1977 in London and the United Church Board for World Ministries in America, as a special guest. In 1981, she opened the inaugural meeting of the Natal Organisation of Women, and publicly spoke out against the renewal of the ban on Robert Sobukwe. She also objected to the proposed removal and resettlement of the Groutville community.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2vgMAQAAIAAJ&q=Nokukhanya+Luthuli |title=The Road to Nowhere: Removal and Resettlement in South Africa |date=1980 |publisher=Southern African Information Programme of the International University Exchange Fund |pages=15 |language=en}}

Even when she became wheelchair bound, Bhengu was still active in the anti-apartheid movement, taking part in a Mass Democratic Movement march in Stanger (KwaDukuza) in 1989. She was also part of the welcome when Nelson Mandela was released from jail.{{Cite book |last=Rule |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0o9GAQAAIAAJ&q=Mandela |title=Nokukhanya, Mother of Light |date=1993 |publisher=The Grail |isbn=978-0-620-17259-2 |pages=24, 118, 173 |language=en}} He invited her onto stage during the 1990 rally in King's Park station and said to the crowd of 150,000 people "I have a present for you. I have here with me the Mother of the Nation, Nokukhanya Luthuli. I want you to receive her by shouting loudly and saying "Nokukhanya!" three times." The crowd clapped their hands, raised their voices and shouted in unison, "Nokukhanya!", "Nokukhanya!", "Nokukhanya!"

Shortly before Bhengu's death, in 1996, the first black American consul general, Pamela Bridgewater, travelled to visit her in South Africa.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=elPrj0PGAcUC&pg=PA122&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1jYaRl76MAxXfVkEAHYOWDAgQ6AF6BAgMEAM |title=First Black Woman Consul General in South Africa |date=1996 |publisher=Ebony |volume=51 |pages=122 |language=en |issue=3}}

Bhengu died in December 1996, days after the new democratic constitution of South Africa was signed into law. She was buried at the Congregational Church in Groutville beside her husband. President Mandela spoke at her funeral, describing her as "Mother of the Nation par excellence."[https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-1442#acrefore-9780190277734-e-1442-note-114:~:text=Speech%20by%20President%20Nelson%20Mandela%20at%20the%20Funeral%20of%20Nokukhanya%20Luthuli%2C%20December%2022%2C%201996%2C%20Groutville%2C%20South%20Africa. Speech by President Nelson Mandela at the Funeral of Nokukhanya Luthuli], 22 December 1996, Groutville, South Africa. The Luthuli family home is now a living museum.{{Cite book |last1=Hlongwane |first1=Ali Khangela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QGSDwAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PA232 |title=Public History and Culture in South Africa: Memorialisation and Liberation Heritage Sites in Johannesburg and the Township Space |last2=Ndlovu |first2=Sifiso Mxolisi |date=2019-04-11 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-14749-5 |pages=232 |language=en}}

She was the subject in a 1989 praise poem Praise to Our Mothers by Gcina Mhlophe,{{Cite book |last=Kindig |first=Jessie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljf_DwAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PP599 |title=The Verso Book of Feminism: Revolutionary Words from Four Millennia of Rebellion |date=2020-10-20 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=978-1-78873-927-6 |language=en}} and has also been included in poems by Thoko Remigia Makhanya{{Cite web |title=LitNet: African Library |url=https://oulitnet.co.za/africanlib/women.asp |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=oulitnet.co.za}} and Sue Williams.

When President Thabo Mbeki addressed the South African National Conference on Racism in 2000, he shared a direct quote from Bhengu, from shortly before she died: "this simple but profoundly humanist and African wish: My wish before I die, is to see blacks and whites living harmoniously in a united South Africa."{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RUiBgAAQBAJ&dq=Nokukhanya+Luthuli&pg=PA50 |title=Nation Formation and Social Cohesion: An Enquiry into the Hopes and Aspirations of South Africans |date=2015-02-01 |publisher=Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, Real African Publishers |isbn=978-1-920655-72-3 |pages=50 |language=en}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://ontheissuesmagazine.com/2010winter/a-poem-praise-to-our-mothers/ Praise to Our Mothers] by Gcina Mhlophe via On The Issues magazine

{{Authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhengu, Nokukhanya}}

Category:1904 births

Category:1996 deaths

Category:Zulu people

Category:South African anti-apartheid activists

Category:South African women's rights activists

Category:Members of the African National Congress

Category:South African Christians

Category:South African Congregationalists

Category:South African women educators

Category:South African women activists