Dr. Mnqobi Ngubane is a South African sociologist, activist, and filmmaker, currently an Assistant Professor at Nelson Mandela University. He grew up on a former German mission station, Muden in Kwazulu-Natal, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandmother was born into a family of labor tenants on white-owned farmland in the early 1930s, and later found refuge on a mission station. His grandfather was a migrant worker in Durban and Johannesburg. His grandparents’ stories deeply shaped his upbringing as a child born under apartheid and ultimately inspired his interest in rural sociology. He is the producer and narrator of the 2024 documentary, Mathonga Elizwe – Spirits of the Land. The documentary examines the experiences of South African land claimants and labor tenants, narrating the ongoing struggles of Black families living on white-owned land and the violence they continue to endure. The film offers a critical reflection on the racialized economic inequalities that persist in South Africa (with three quarters of land white-owned), 30 years since the fall of the apartheid regime.

This event is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, Department of Anthropology, Department of Sociology, Africana Studies, Department of History, and the International Studies Program.