Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The fields of feminism, gender, sexuality and anthropology in Southern Africa and their communities suffered a profound loss in 2024 when Dr. Sethunya Tshepho Mosime tragically died in a swimming pool accident in Gaborone, Botswana, on December 10, at the age of 50.The loss of Sethunya has been met with deep mourning across scholarly and activist communities of Southern Africa and beyond.Her passing has reverberated with particular force among African feminist thinkers, gender justice advocates, and the Southern African anthropological community, where she spent much of her professional life building solidarity, opening intellectual pathways, and nurturing generations of emerging scholars and activists.Sethunya was not only a flower in name but also in essence-a presence of deep grace, brilliance, and warmth.While her name also meant gun, she embodied this title through her sharp and insightful intellectual power, particularly in her analysis of power dynamics involving gender, coloniality, and decoloniality.Her work was consistently driven by care, humility, and a sense of political purpose.She seamlessly bridged the worlds of academia and activism, theory and community, always grounded in the social environments she explored and supported.Sethunya's academic formation reflected this breadth.She held a PhD in Culture, Communication and Media Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, an MA in Development Anthropology from the University of Sussex, and undergraduate degrees in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Botswana.These foundations gave rise to a scholarly voice that was unapologetically African, critical, and always attentive to the ways power moves through bodies, institutions, and narratives.At the time of her death, she was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Botswana, having served as Head of Department from 2020 to 2022.She was more than a teacher-she was a mentor, a pillar, and a steady guide to many who were navigating the complexities of academic and everyday life, particularly young African women, whose voices she championed with unwavering dedication.
Source: Anthropology Southern Africa
Author: Sandra Manuel
Institution: Eduardo Mondlane University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4410437771