Prof Lenake passed away on 21 May 2020.
In a touching eulogy on behalf of the NWU’s School of Languages and the UPSET (Understanding and Processing Languages in Complex Settings) research focus area, Prof Susan Coetzee-Van Rooy shared an overview of his memorable career:
Prof Lenake taught Southern Sotho for a period of 48 years. During his long career as an outstanding Southern Sotho teacher, he filled positions at all levels. He was a language teacher for eight years at schools in Theunissen and Frankfort. He was the principal of a school in Fouriesburg for four years.
Prof Lenake started to work as a language assistant at Unisa in 1963 and held this position for 16 years. He was promoted to senior lecturer at Unisa in 1979, holding this position for six years. He was promoted to associate professor in 1984 and to full professor in 1987, and held this position until 1993, when he retired from Unisa.
After 1993 he held various positions as African languages consultant, among other places at the North-West University’s Vanderbijlpark Campus, where at 91 years of age he was still assisting us as lecturer of Communication Southern Sotho and member of the Committee for Advanced Degrees for African languages. During his working career, Prof Lenake developed 16 school books in Southern Sotho and 14 academic books for Southern Sotho. Prof Lenake published five translations of works into Southern Sotho and a host of Afrikaans and English material used in schools.
Prof Johannes Lenake
