A LIFE OF PURPOSE

307pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Second Edition, Johannesburg, (2014) 2024

Includes three new chapters written jointly by Luvuyo Wotshela and  Lumkile Nkhuhlu which cover Professor Nkuhlu's life after 2005.

Lumkile Wiseman Nkuhlu was born in 1944 at Cala in the Eastern Cape. He was the first black South African to qualify as a chartered accountant. He combined his professional practice with academic positions. In 1981 he was appointed Professor of Accounting at the University of Transkei, becoming Vice-Principal of the university in 1983 and Principal and Vice-Chancellor in January 1987. He also served as Chancellor of the University of Pretoria.

He  was Economic Advisor to President Thabo Mbeki from 2000-2004, chaired the Development Bank of Southern Africa Transformation team, and was Chief Executive of the Secretariat of New Partnership for Africa's Development. He was elected as President of the Geneva-based International Organisation of Employers 2008-2011 and was President of the Black Management Forum from 1992-1995,

Several South African universities have recognised Professor Nkuhlu's contribution to the country by awarding him honorary doctorates, including the University of the Free State, the University of Cape Town, the University of Pretoria, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the University of Stellenbosch, which appointed him Professor Emeritus in 2000. In 2004 the University of Fort Hare established the Nkuhlu Centre of Accounting in his honour.

Luvuyo Wotshela is History Professor and Head of the National Heritage and Cultural Studies Centre at the University of Fort Hare. His books include Prickly Pear: The social history of a plant in the Eastern Cape, Capricious Patronage and Captive Land and Umbutho Wesiswe: The African National Congress of the Eastern Cape (with Jeff Peires).