Nomadhlangala Cosy Europa Ndabezitha

Nomadhlangala Cosy Europa Ndabezitha was born on 22 September 1953 in Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) to Madhlangala Dukuza Ndabezitha and Ntombinkulu Bhengu. Her late father, Madhlangala Dukuza Ndabezitha, a pioneer school principal in Natal was a founding member of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) later renamed the African National Congress (ANC). He was a member of the 1914 ANC delegation to Britain to inform the British as to how British South Africa conceded power to a White majority in the 1910 Union of South Africa and further, to request British assistance to abrogate the obnoxious Native Land Act of 1913. Her mother was a former Principal of Maquza Primary School, in Umzinto, Natal.  They had three children, Mabandla, Khangekile (passed away in 2011) and Nomadhlangala.

Nomadhlangala Ndabezitha was forced to attend several primary schools along the South Coast of Natal, staying with relatives, as she was often ‘targeted’ because of her father’s political involvement. In 1965, she attended - Hluzingqondo Secondary School at Umkhomaas, Natal, where she excelled academically, obtaining a bursary from the Institute of Race Relations. In 1967, she attended St Augustines High School in Dundee, Natal and passed her Junior Certificate (Grade Ten) obtaining a first classpass. In 1969, she matriculated with an exemption from the then Joint Matriculation Board.

Following this, from 1970 to 1972, Ndabezitha specialised in Mathematics and then taught under the former Natal Department of Education at uMlazi High School, Durban South. In 1975, she obtained a Diploma in General Nursing Sciences from the McCord’s Hospital College of Nursing in Durban and registered with the South African Nursing Council (SANC) and the South African Nursing Association (SANA). She then went on to obtain a Diploma in Midwifery at the Edendale Hospital College of Nursing, Pietermaritzburg, in 1976and then registered with SANC and SANA.  From 1977 to 1979, she practised as a Nursing Clinical Instructress at St Aidans Hospital College of Nursing, in Durban Central. From 1980 to 1997, she worked for the then Natal Provincial Administration’s (NPA), at the Clairwood Hospital as a Nursing Clinical and In-Service Manager. Ndabezitha obtained a National Certificate in Health Education (NCHEd), in 1981, from the M.L. Sultan College now the Durban University of Technology (DUT).

In an attempt to improve her qualifications further,Ndabezitha obtained her BA Degree in African Languages from UNISA in 1994. In 1998, she relocated to Pretoria for academic purposes. In that same year, she was appointed at the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) as the Communication Administrative Officer, the first and founding Professional Employeeof PanSALB working with the then First Chief Executive Officer Dr Cynthia Marivate. 

From 1998 to 2002, Ndabezitha was appointed as the First Language Professionalat PanSALB where she established and Managed PanSALB structures, namely,  the nine Provincial Language Committees (PLCs), the eleven National language Bodies (NLBs) and was part of the establishment of the eleven National Lexicography Units (NLUs).

Not content with her impressive academic qualifications to date, Ndabezitha obtained a BA Honours degree in African Languages -from UNISA in 1999 and in 2005 she obtained a Masters’ Degree in Linguistics from the University of Pretoria. Her Masters Degree thesis topic was, Are the South African indigenous languages problematic in the South African multicultural and multilingual hospitals? Ndabezitha is currentlystudying towards a PhD degree in Linguistics at the University of Pretoria.

From 2003 to date, Ndabezitha has been the Head of all the eleven NLUs-PanSALB.

Ndabezitha has a daughter; Nosiqu Mnyamezelikazi Nelisiwe Ndabezitha.