Mxolisi Mchunu

I completed my Ph.D. in Historical Studies at UKZN in 2014. The title of my Ph.D. thesis is: A history of political violence in KwaShange, Vulindlela district and its effect on the memories of survivors (1987-2008). Prior to my Ph.D., I completed my Masters degree in history, also in the Vulindlela district. My Masters thesis was entitled: “Discipline, Respect and Ethnicity: A study of the changing patterns of fatherhood of three generations of Zulu fathers and sons in KwaShange, Inadi, Vulindlela area of Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, from the 1930s to the 1990s.” Much of my research is reliant upon oral histories and both my Masters and Ph.D. theses draw upon this methodology and archival data. My Masters research brings together archival and oral histories of the changing relationships between isiZulu-speaking fathers and sons over the past half-century.

Below, I list some of my published articles:

• M. Mchunu, “We have finished them”: Ritual Killing and War Doctoring in KwaZulu-Natal during the 1980s and 1990s, African Historical Review, vol 47, 2, 2015, pp 61-88.

• In a book under the editorship of Shefer, T Ratele, K and Strebel, A, entitled From Boys to Men: Social Constructions of Masculinity in Contemporary Society (UCT publishers, 2007), I contributed a chapter, “Cultural Change, Zulu Masculinity and Intergenerational Conflict in the Context of Civil War in Pietermaritzburg (1987-1991)”.

• In a book, Being Zulu: Contested Identities Past and Present (UKZN Press), co-edited by John Wright, Ben Carton and Jabulani Sithole, I contributed a chapter entitled, “A Modern Coming of Age: Zulu Manhood, Domestic Work, and the ‘Kitchen Suit’”.

• Are Rural Communities Open Sources of Knowledge? is my chapter in a book entitled, Oral history in South Africa (UKZN Press), edited by Philippe Denis.

In 2006 I lectured at UKZN, in the Faculty of Humanities, an access course called "Africa in the World". In 2015, I was teaching part-time at the UKZN, School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics. In 2015 until present, I was appointed by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Hon. Nathi Mthethwa, to serve on the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Museum Council, where I chair Research and Marketing committee. On a full-time basis, I am employed by the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature as a Senior Researcher (Finance Portfolio Committee and Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA). In 2017 I have been on study tour to Botswana, The Netherlands and China.