Dr Sphelele Mbatha

Dr Sphelele Mbatha

Lecturer Welkom Campus
Qualifications: PhD (UniZulu) | MEd [Cum Laude] (UKZN) | BEd Hons [Cum Laude] (UKZN) | BEd (UKZN)

Professional Background

Dr Siphelele Mbatha is a Lecturer in the Department of Languages and Social Sciences Education within the Faculty of Humanities at the Central University of Technology (CUT). His research stands at the intersection of adult offenders' language preferences and andragogical strategies, with a specific focus on the role of multilingual practices within mathematics correctional centre classrooms.

Dr Mbatha is a strong advocate for the systematic integration of translingual strategies into mathematics learning environments to foster adult offenders' mathematical understanding. His scholarly work contributes significantly to the fields of correctional education, adult learning, and inclusive, multilingual pedagogies in South Africa.

Areas of Expertise

  • • Mathematics Pedagogies
  • • Language Pedagogies and Translanguaging
  • • Adult Education
  • • Correctional Education
  • • Multilingual Practices in STEM

Selected Publications

  • • Khohliso, X., & Mbatha, S. (2025). The Thin End of the Wedge: South African Adult Offenders’ Empirically Calibrated Mathematics Learning Trajectories. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 24(10), 587–606.
  • • Mbatha, S. (2024). Evaluating educationists’ andragogical strategies for teaching numeracy: a case study of the KwaZulu-Natal Adult Correctional Centre classroom. E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 5(8), 1596–1610.
  • • Mbatha, S. (2024). The role of translanguaging in teaching mathematics at adult correctional centre classrooms in South Africa. E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 5(6), 825–834.
  • • Mbatha, S., & Khohliso, X. (2024). Translanguaging as The Resource for Constructing Offenders’ Language Identities in A Correctional Centre Mathematics Classroom. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 12(1), 156–175.
  • • Mbatha, S., Khohliso, X., & Nsele, S. (2025). The use of isiZulu language as the strategy towards developing numerical literacy in correctional centre classrooms. Journal for Language Teaching, 59(1), 1–33.

External Profiles

Contact Us
Dr Sphelele Mbatha

Dr Sphelele Mbatha

stmbatha@cut.ac.za