Subusiso Bengu was a South African academic and politician. He began his career as a teacher, but amidst the growing political tensions and dangers of the apartheid system, he left the country and went into self-imposed exile, settling in Geneva, where he served as Secretary for Research and Social Action (1978–1991) at the Lutheran World Foundation. Upon his return to South Africa after the end
of apartheid, he became the first black Vice-Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare (1991–1994). Elected to the National Assembly in 1994 as a representative of the African National Congress (ANC), he was appointed Minister of Education (1994–1999) by Nelson Mandela, leading reforms to dismantle the legacies of institutionalised racism in the schooling system.