Professor Matsinhe holds a PhD in Linguistics with special reference to Bantu Languages from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
His postdoctoral research has focused on language planning and language development, language contact and bilingualism in education, the use of African languages as medium of instruction in formal education as well as on Morphology and Syntax of Bantu languages.
From 1992 to 2009, he taught in the Department of African languages at UNISA.
From 2009 to 2015, Professor Matsinhe was the Executive Secretary of the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), the official language agency of the African Union, whose mandate is to develop African languages and, in collaboration with the member states of the African Union, promote their use in all domains of society in partnership with the former colonial languages – English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
In September 2015, he was appointed Deputy Executive Secretary of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), an independent pan-African research organisation established in 1973 and headquartered in Dakar, Senegal which focuses on social sciences research in Africa.
In 2015, he was appointed Trustee of the Language & Development Conference Series. Professor has Matsinhe has published widely and lectured in Brazil, Canada, China, Taiwan and the USA. He has also served as external examiner for Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, Jomo Kenyatta University; University of Botswana; University of Dar es Salaam, Mkwawa University, University of Nairobi, and University of Namibia. Professor Matsinhe is still associated with UNISA as Honorary Professor at the Institute for African Renaissance Studies.
