Professor Lydia Makhubu dies
MBABANE – Long- serving Vice Chancellor of the University of Eswatini ( UNESWA) Professor Lydia Makhubu has died from COVID- 19- related complications at the age of 84.
Makhubu, the first woman to earn a doctorate, was renowned for her no- nonsense approach to leadership at the UNESWA when she served from 1988 to 2003. She is also a former senator.
The Nation Magazine Editor Bheki Makhubu, who called her aunt, said she had been admitted to Mkhiwa Clinic after catching cold this week during the preparations for the funeral of a family member David Makhubu.
Bheki said his uncle, David, had died from an illness after he was devastated to see his family business burnt down by arsonists at Luyengo when protests turned violent.
“That was a business that supported his whole family. So when it was looted and burnt down, he was so devastated that he immediately fell sick. Eventually he died. So while Lydia and the family were preparing for his funeral, she caught the cold and had to be eventually rushed to Mkhiwa Clinic. She later died this morning while receiving treatment,” he said.
He said her aunt had tested positive for
COVID- 19.
SURVIVED
Lydia Makhubu was wheelchair bound after suffering from stroke over a decade ago.
She is survived by her daughter Nozizwe Mulela, who is former Chairperson of the Eswatini Television Authority ( ETVA) Board and family members.
Professor Lydia will be fondly remembered for taking a fir m decision to make UNISWA students sign letters committing themselves that they would not engage in a strike action or leave. It was during her time as vice chancellor that UNESWA had a violent strike action in which paramilitary police allegedly brutally assaulted students on a fateful Wednesday, November 14, 1990.
INDULGED
She had also threatened to expel students who indulged in alcohol and sexual orgies at the institution.
ABOUT THE LATE PROFFESOR LYDIA MAKHUBU
Born in July 1, 1937, Lydia Phindile Makhubu was a retired liSwati chemist and former professor of Chemistry, dean and vice- chancellor of the University of Swaziland ( now the University of Eswatini)
She was born at the Usuthu Mission in Swaziland ( Eswatini).
Her parents were teachers, but her father also worked as an orderly in health clinics. Her early exposure to medicine had a great influence on her choice of career; she initially wanted to become a doctor, but then switched to Chemistry.
Makhubu graduated from Pius XII College ( now the National University of Lesotho) in Lesotho with a B. Sc. in 1963.
With a Canadian Commonwealth scholarship, she obtained an M. Sc. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Alberta in 1967, followed by a Ph. D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1973, becoming the first liSwati woman to earn a doctorate. She returned to Eswatini and joined the faculty of the University of Swaziland, becoming a lecturer in the Chemistry Department in 1973, the dean of Science from 1976 to 1980, a senior lecturer in 1979, a full professor the following year, and vice- chancellor from 1988 to 2003.
Her research focused on the medical effects of plants used by Eswatini traditional healers.
INCEPTION
From its inception in 1993 until 2005, Makhubu was the President of the Third World Organisation for Women in Science, which provides fellowships for postgraduate study. She was the first woman chairperson of the executive committee of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
She also served in numerous other organisations, such as the United Nations Advisory Committee on Science and Technology for Development. She has received numerous grants and honours, including a MacArthur Foundation grant ( 1993– 1995), and honourary doctorates from various universities, including a doctor of Laws from Saint Mary’s University in 1991.
Additional information from W ikipedia
Lydia Makhubu was wheelchair bound after suffering from stroke over a decade ago.