Doctorate achieving Queen Mandlovu, hailed a beacon of hope for Zulu women

The Zulu royal family has hailed Queen Thandekile Ndlovu-Zulu’s graduation as a big inspiration to the Zulu nation as a whole.

The queen, commonly known by her maiden clan name Mandlovu, is the fourth wife of the late king Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu. She was conferred with a Doctor of Business Administration degree by the University of KwaZulu-Natal during the spring graduation ceremony on yesterday.

The queen comes from Linduzulu royal palace in Nongoma in the north of the province and she was accompanied by the reigning king Misuzulu kaZwelithini, who also stood beside her as she received her qualification.

Speaking on behalf of the king and the Zulu nation, Prince Thulani Zulu hailed the queen and said her graduation particularly, at her age, would inspire young and old women to take education seriously. He said that the message she has sent to women, particularly of the Zulu nation, was that one's age does not need to be a barrier to education.

“We wish to congratulate Her Royal Highness, Queen Mandlovu for a good and inspirational achievement. With this, she has inspired not only queens and princesses of the royal family but also the young and old women of the kingdom and the country at large, that education’s importance can never be overemphasised. Indeed, the royal family and the Zulu nation are proud of her achievements,” said Zulu.

Her thesis, titled ‘Developing a Framework for the Growing and Commercialisation of Stevia in Kenya’, was supervised by former UKZN Strategic Leadership expert Professor Macdonald Kanyangale, Public Governance specialists Professor Thokozani Nzimakwe and Dr Bonginkosi Zondi. The stevia plant is grown in Kenya and is said to cure diabetes mellitus (DM).

Speaking after the graduation, Mandlovu said having worked in the nursing profession for over 19 years and witnessed patients suffering with severe diabetes, including family members, influenced her passion for the study.

“In my family we have had people who suffered from DM to the point of losing one or both limbs and even their lives, it ends up being uncontrollable in spite of treatment and medical monitoring. So, I was quite intrigued when I learnt from someone who works with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research about stevia plant products in controlling DM and other health conditions.” said Mandlovu.

She said that after learning about stevia, she investigated whether it could be commercially grown in South Africa, however, her findings were largely negative. She said besides pilot studies by the South African Farmers Development Association and ongoing trials in Eston, Phongolo and Riverview in KwaZulu-Natal, Kenya was ultimately selected due to its similar climatic conditions, which made commercialisation more viable. 

The Queen’s qualitative study aimed to explore and develop a framework for the commercialisation of stevia in Kenya. Data was collected from experienced Kenyan stevia farmers through semi-structured interviews to better understand the commercialisation process.

The study revealed the importance of providing financial and market-readiness support to these farmers. The findings advocate for strategic interventions to strengthen the stevia supply chain, which could drive economic progress and improve food security in the region. 

willem.phungula@inl.co.za