J. Congress Mbata

Who is J. Congress Mbata?

Jeremiah Congress Mphithizeli Mbata was a South African educational administrator, political leader and Africana scholar.

Mbata was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the son of the late John and Martha Mbata, who named him "Congress" to protest the lack of majoritarian rule in South Africa. Mbata was educated in the Bantu United Schools system, then transferred to the St. Peter's Secondary School in Johannesburg. He attended the South African Native College at Fort Hare, and the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1940 he joined the faculty at St. Peter's Secondary School. Mbata was elected Secretary of the Transvaal African Teachers Association, which fought the inadequacies of the Bantu United Schools system. In 1944, Congress Mbata became a founding member of the African National Congress Youth League and later served as its Secretary.

Mbata's career advanced as an educational administrator. He became a Headmaster at Lekoa-Shandu African High School in Vereeniging. Following this job, Mbata became an Officer-Researcher at the South African Institute of Race Relations, which provided impartial research on education under the transition to apartheid.