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Professor emeritus, University of the Witwatersrand

Peter Delius retired as Professor and Head of the Department of History, University of the Witwatersrand, in 2016. His research has focused on the history of the Pedi kingdom and rural transformations in South Africa. His numerous books include: The Land Belongs to Us (1983), A Lion Amongst the Cattle (1997), Mpumalanga: An Illustrated History (with Michelle Hay, 2009), A Long Way Home: Migrant Worker Worlds, 1800-2014 (with L Philips and F Rankin-Smith) and Forgotten World: The Stone Walled Settlements of the Mpumalanga Escarpment (with Tim Maggs and Alex Schoeman, 2014). He has written extensively on rural issues and migrant labour. In recent years has been deeply involved in research on and land restitution in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, including work for the Land Claims Court. In 2018 he was one of three authors of Rights to the Land: A Guide to Tenure Upgrading and Restitution in South Africa.

Experience

  • 2016–present
    Professor emeritus, Wits University

Education

  • 1980 
    School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), PhD African History
  • 1974 
    School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Honours

Grants and Contracts

  • 2019
    Role:
    Professor emeritus
    Funding Source:
    National Research Foundation