The Nelson Mandela Institute Team

Kimberley Porteus – Executive Director

Having grown up in the US, Kim has lived in South Africa for 20 years.  From 1990 to 1994 she worked with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).  She then joined the Education Policy Unit at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits EPU). She has worked for the NMI since 2004.  Her research interests lie in aligning classroom experience with the social, cognitive and economic realities of children and young people.  She is currently interested in the pedaogical, curricular, and teacher development requirements of foundation phase classrooms serving rural children in the Eastern Cape.  Her doctoral work focuses on the re-curriculation of higher education.  She has been responsible for the curricular and pedagogical design of the Life, Knowledge, Action:  The Grounding Programme at the University of Fort Hare.

Brian Ramadiro – Deputy Director

Brian Ramadiro is currently studying for his doctorate in the area of language in education, focusing on the effect of restrained boundaries of mother tongue standards on educational outputs. His research is focused on the relationship between language, biliteracy and cognition in the early phases of education, with specific emphasis on differentiation, interactive pedagogy and Xhosa-English biliteracy. By the end of 2010, he aims to have completed a second master’s in applied linguistics. He joined the Institute in late 2005, and before coming to the Eastern Cape led the Education Rights Project.  He leads the Institute’s Magic Classroom Collective, with an emphasis on the Xhosa-English biliteracy challenges.

Bandile Ntutu – Financial Manager

Bandile Ntutu was born in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape, where he completed his formative education. He left for Port Elizabeth to enrol at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University to complete a cost and management accounting qualification in 1999. He later joined SAIPA in 2004 as an article’s clerk, completed his articles in 2007 and qualified as a professional accountant in 2008. He has worked for three accounting firms and a fast-moving consumer goods company. He is a full member of the South African Institute of Professional Accountants. Bandile joined the NMI as its financial manager in 2009.

Sindiswa Dotyeni – Administrator

Sindiswa grew up in a rural community outside of Bhisho in the Eastern Cape and moved to Mdantsane after completing her schooling. She has been working with the NMI since 2007, as a receptionist and administrator. She is well-known and loved by all the teachers and engages actively in the school and community-based work of the Institute. She is currently studying social work through the University of South Africa. Sindiswa is a well-respected leader in her community and is well-known in her community for her service ethic.

Ndumiso Tumbu – Community Organiser

Ndumiso was born in the rural community of Darabe in the Eastern Cape. After completing secondary school, he became involved in community development. Ndumiso is respected in the local community and works well with the traditional leadership, government and local sports and education structures. He involves the Mqanduli community in the day-to-day work of the NMI.  He took his first course in computers in 2009 and graduated with flying colours.

Bulelwa Galada – Foundation Phase Teacher Support Co-ordinator

Bulelwa spends most of her time in the classroom, assisting teachers in creating safe, fun and high-quality learning environments. Bulelwa has 14 years’ experience as a teacher at a diverse range of schools.

Ms Pamela Manyuchi – Office Assistant

Born in Zimbabwe, Pamela grew up with two sisters and her eldest brother in Mutare, the third-biggest city in Zimbabwe. When she finished her ‘A’ level of study, she left home to pursue her tertiary education in Harare. Pamela completed a secretarial course and went on to study with the Zimbabwe Open University (2007) for a qualification in marketing.  She then migrated to South Africa with her husband and children. She has been working with the NMI, providing administrative support, since 2009. She is now registered with UNISA where she is currently studying towards a degree in administration. Pamela’s joy is her family and she lives every day with a smile on her face …

Xolela Kenene – Literature Assistant

A youth activist from Ginsberg, just outside King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape, Xolela Kenene is a self-motivated performer who has travelled throughout Africa focusing on economic and community development. He has spent some time in West Africa interacting with young people in Ghana to understand the different cultures from which young people construct their identity. Xolela believes strongly in the development of a people by themselves, for themselves … He says: “We have a great heritage from which we must learn.”

Khanyisile Ngalo – Research Assistant

Khanyisile Ngalo was born in Bloemfontein/Heidedal. He completed his primary and secondary education and left to pursue a Bachelor of Administration at the University of Fort Hare in 2006. He graduated in 2009 and went on to study for his honours in public administration. In 2009, he was an intern in the Life, Knowledge, Action: The Grounding Programme – a newly established course at the University of Fort Hare focusing on community engagement and curriculum development. He played an integral part in the conception of the programme, leading to its pilot phase; he still continues to actively participate in the content and curriculum development of the course. In 2009, he was announced one of the regional winners in the SABC 2-sponsored Lentswe poetry competition, ‘Stimulating the nation’, in the category HIV/AIDS.

In his own words, as a poet and youth activist, he urges young people to remember “life begins in the mind and the course of its destiny is shaped by the decisions we make”.

Mihlalikazi Khumalo – Website Co-ordinator

Educated in a Catholic school and brought up by her role model parents (her mother an educator and her father a minister in the Anglican church), Mihlalikazi’s love for people guides her to the path of service through community-based developmental work. Mihlalikazi obtained an honours degree from the University of Fort Hare and soon joined the Nelson Mandela Institute.

Ndiphiwe Mkuzo – Communications Systems

Ndiphiwe is dedicated to the development and reclaiming of an authentic African knowledge base mis-referenced and camouflaged through time. He has devoted his life to improving the human condition. Having been in various leadership positions in his days as a student activist, he fell in love with the will of the human spirit to develop irrespective of an individual’s social/material conditions. Ndiphiwe completed a social science honours degree majoring in communications from the University of Fort Hare.

He says: “The unifying of Africa is inevitable; it is as natural as the winds of change.”

Sibusiso Mnyanda – Pedagogy Development

Sibusiso is from Alice in the Eastern Cape. He is currently completing a BA in Philosophy and History at the University of Fort Hare. With a background in the performance arts in Cape Town, since 2004, he has developed into a keen praise singer/lyricist for multiple theatrical art productions. In the last couple of years, he has been a permanent feature in a series of festivals around the country. His interest in theatre and the arts in general is informed by his inclination towards traditional folklore literature, which rallies around life lessons. Exposure to this can be credited to his primary schooling and stories inherited from family elders. This was then realised in high school in Grahamstown, where platforms like the Eisteddfod Arts Festival were a pedestal leading to performance.

On his return to the Eastern Cape and registering at the University of Fort Hare, he got involved hands-on with forums and dialogues around education policy and its implementation at institutions of higher learning. His ability to articulate social ills, such as low literacy levels and lack of appropriate governmental support – predominantly in the rural Eastern Cape – through poetic /theatrical performance, allowed Sibusiso to engage with education development in a synthetic manner.

Nqaba K Mpofu – Curriculum and Pedagogy Development

Nqaba K. Mpofu hails from the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast. He attended school in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and is currently enrolled at the University of Fort Hare. His interests include developments in education and social justice. He is employed in the Life, Knowledge, Action: the Grounding Programme at the University of Fort Hare. He works closely with the Nelson Mandela Institute for Education and Rural Development on the Institute’s pedagogical development, amongst other initiatives.
He is a strong believer and supporter of campaigns and efforts aimed at providing education for all.