‖mabalane, noun

/ˌmabaˈlaːn(e)/
Forms:
mabhalana, mabhalaneShow more Also mabhalana, mabhalane, mbalan, mo-bhalane, umabalane.
Plurals:
omabalane, bomabalane.
Origin:
IsiZulu, Siswati, FanakaloShow more IsiZulu umabhalane (and Siswati mabhalane) clerk, secretary (plural omabalane (isiZulu), bomabalane (siSwati)), from bhala write. Cf. Fanakalo mabalan mine clerk.
A clerk or secretary; one who has a task which includes the keeping of written records.
1925 E. Prov. Herald 18 Sept. 10Corruption was practised on the mines. Police boys’ or boss boys’ jobs were ‘bought’ by paying £1 to £2 to the induna or head native clerk (mabhalana).
1959 K.M.C. Motsisi in M. Mutloatse Casey & Co. (1978) 28‘Those who have presents for the bridal couple may now see the “mabalane” (the M.C. of the wedding).’...A few folk..stand in line before the ‘mabalane’, who jots down the name and address of..everyone who dumps a parcel on the table.
1971 P.J. Silva Informant, Coalbrook, Free StateMabalane. Chief clerk on the mine.
1978 Speak Vol.1 No.5, 3Relatively small groups of ‘mission-school’ Africans from the Transkei-Eastern Cape, Rustenburg, and Natal areas..worked in Johannesburg as clerks (umabalane), teachers, preachers, and tradesmen.
1979 M. Matshoba Call Me Not a Man 61My parents wanted me to go to school and qualify for a white collar job, to be a mabhalane (clerk) they said.
1983 Frontline Feb. 38Their relatives stealthily wrench quick service from bomabalane (clerks) with bribes.
1984 D. Pinnock Brotherhoods 73This prison-gang thing started on the mines. Each gang has a judge, a magistrate, a doctor and an office man they call a mbalan who takes the names of new recruits.
1986 O. Musi in Drum Oct. 51For the millionth time like so many darkies I found myself in a queue while a mabhalane, looking very important and extremely busy, although he seemed to be standing in one place all the time, peered at a big book containing the names of job-seekers/pensioners and other victims of the recession.
1987 New Nation 30 July 10Teachers and ‘omo-bhalane’ (clerks) preferred the quieter atmosphere of the Bantu Men’s Social Centre, Springbok Hall in Vrededorp, and the New Inchape Palace de Dance, where, according to one observer, ‘the European type of dance was followed exclusively’.
A clerk or secretary; one who has a task which includes the keeping of written records.
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IsiZulu
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Maatschappij, nounn.mabela, mabele, nounn.
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