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KZN women involved in the South African
The struggle continues in a different a face KZN WOMEN INVOLVED IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN STRUGGLE
For some women, celebrating women's month merely means a holiday, an event there and there and being reminded of women who marched blah blah blah, right? This year it should not be like that at all. With South African women under a dangerous dark cloud where the people they love the most and trust the most have become the ones they should be afraid of the most. As women, we are at a crossroad. It's a red pill or blue pill situation. It might not be about pass laws but we are in a struggle. Our struggle is different. Our struggle is about inequality, protections, the same platform as the other gender, recognition and opportunity. Now we have a choice, we either put our heads in the sand and hope all will be better, maybe sooner or later we are going to get what we want, OR we can stand up and use the God-given strength we possess. We know we have it in us because we are a product of strong women, women who fought for the right to a voice, women who fought for a right to choose, who fought for the right to an opinion, women who fought for an option to seat on the highest seat in the boardroom or to become homemakers by choice.
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As talk of South Africa's rst woman president gets louder, please remember these KwaZulu-Natal women who fought in the struggle, some of them you have never heard of but they are part of the reason you have choices today.
lorence Grace Mkhize, widely known as 'Mam Flo', was born in 1932 in Natal. At a young age she decided she wanted to ght against apartheid and the oppression of women, and so joined the Congress Movement. She participated in the Deance Campaign in 1952, which led to her being banned. She did not give up and continued to communicate with her comrades through the sewing factory where she worked. F
Florence Mkhize
“The West has taken and borrowed a lot from Africa…now it’s a renaissance: we’re claiming back what is ours and we’re adding value to what is ours, making it globally acceptable and globally appealing." - Deola Sagoe is founder of Deola
The next project with which Mkhize got involved was the Freedom Charter, where she was appointed as a volunteer to participate in writing the Charter. However, on the way to Kliptown her bus was stopped by police and sent back. She next planned to participate in the Women's March in 1956 in Pretoria but was once again sent home after her bus was stopped by police. The liberation of women was always high on Mkhize's agenda, and she worked underground with the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) together with - and among others - Helen Joseph and Dorothy Nyembe. In 1957 she participated in the Potato Boycott against the sale of 'Ons Land' cigars. In June 1968, Mkhize was banned for ve years under the Suppression of Communism Act.
After the banning of the African National Congress (ANC), Mkhize continued in the struggle as a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and an organiser of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) until these structures were suppressed too.
During the 1970s Mkhize led the Release Mandela Campaign in Natal. In the 1980s she led the people of Lamontville during the education and housing crisis and was among the founding members of the United Democratic Front in 1983. She also worked with the Natal Organisation of Women (NOW) in an attempt to get support from women from other racial groups. In thanks for all her work, Mkhize received the Bravery Award from the ANC Women's League in 1998, and a Military Gold Medal from Nelson Mandela at the MK Military Veterans Conference in 1999.
She died in July 1999
source: sahistory.org.za
auretta Ngcobo was born and brought up in a rural area of KwaZulu-Natal called Ixopo. She is well known as a feminist writer during the early 50's though her work was only published in the 80s and 90s. Ngcobo was one of the main speakers during the 1956 women's anti-pass march that was held across the country. She left the country in 1963 escaping imminent arrest, and went into exile with her husband and children, moving from Swaziland to Zambia and nally settling in England where she worked as a teacher for 25 years. Soon after she left South Africa, Lauretta started writing, but it was not until 1981 that her rst book, Cross of Gold, was published. This is a book of which she says "I was contemplating what had catapulted my life into exile and how it had all come about". L
Lauretta Ngcobo
“I have learnt that if you face the challenges with positive energy, you are most likely to get better results.” - Adenike 'Nike' Ogunlesi is the founder of Ruff 'n' Tumble
Let it be Told (1987) recounts the turbulent thoughts of black women writers in Britain in the 1980's, told in their own words. Lauretta Ngcobo found writing for children, however, gave her the greatest challenge as a writer. She has also written and published many academic papers, attended many writers' conferences, delivered papers in various universities and travelled extensively as a result.
One of Ngcobo's most well-known books is “And They Didn't Die”. This book is about a black rural community of women who, against the backdrop of the 1913 and subsequent Land Acts, care and ght for their children, the land, and the cattle while their husbands work in the mines and cities. In her focus on the struggles and complexities faced by her female protagonist, Jezile Majola, Ngcobo articulated the personal and public struggles of African women who opposed apartheid amidst the harshness of rural life. “Rural women suffered the most. They had to take care of their children on their own the men had left for the cities” said Ngcobo.
In her writings, Ngcobo is generous in her criticisms of apartheid and of Zulu traditions that clamped tightly on women. She once made a point saying "A woman is not only black but at the same time must also submit to her husband, who, being oppressed, will nd it necessary to oppress his women. Traditional reinforces this and elevates man above women. In our tradition, we nd customs against which resistance is in vain, especially if one is an isolated individual or part of a restricted group.
In 1994 she returned to South Africa where she served as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature and information ofcer for the Inkatha Freedom Party.
She died in 2015.
source: sahistory.org.za
“Do not be afraid to try. Fail. Fail again. Fail better. He who takes all the risks, takes all the rewards.” - Maira Koutsoudakis
Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe orothy Nomzansi Nyembe was born on the 31st of December 1931 near Dundee in northern KwaZuluNatal. Her mother, Leeya Basolise Nyembe was the daughter of Chief Ngedee Shezi. Dorothy attended mission schools until Standard Nine, and at the age of fteen gave birth to her only child. D
She joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1952, participating as a volunteer in the Deance Campaign in Durban and was imprisoned briey on two occasions. In 1954 she participated in the establishment of the ANC Women's League in Cato Manor and becoming Chairperson of the "Two Sticks" Branch Committee. She earned a living as a hawker. She was one of the leaders against the removals from Cato Manor in 1956, and also one of the leaders of boycotts of the government controlled beer hall. The beer halls were perceived to destroy traditional beer brewing, the only viable source of income for women in the townships. In the same year, Dorothy was elected as Vice-President of the Durban ANC Women's League and a leading member of the Federation of South African Women. On the 9th of August 1956, she led the Natal contingent of women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the introduction of passes for women. In December of that same year she was one of the 156 people arrested and charged with high treason, but the charges against her and sixty others were dropped on 18 December 1957. In 1959 she was elected President of the ANC Women's League in Natal and was active in the potato boycott, called in protest against the use and treatment of prison labourers on potato farms in the Transvaal.
In 1961, Dorothy was recruited into Umkhonto we Sizwe and worked closely with the likes of Chief Albert Luthuli, Moses Mabhida, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo. In 1962 with the ANC outlawed, Dorothy became President of the Natal Rural Areas Committee where she participated in the organisation of anti-government demonstrations by rural women, including their refusal to ll cattle dips. The campaign became known as the Natal Women's Revolt. In 1963, Dorothy was arrested and charged with furthering the aims of the banned ANC and she was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
Following her release in 1966 Dorothy was served with a veyear banning order restricting her to the magisterial district of Durban, however, she carried on with her underground activities. In 1968 she was detained with ten others and charged with ve counts under the Suppression of Communism Act. In January 1969 she was found guilty of harbouring members of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC, and was sentenced to fteen years' imprisonment.
She was released on 23 March 1984, and become active in the Natal Organisation of Women (NOW), a community organisation ghting against rent increases, transport costs, poor education and lack of child care facilities. Dorothy was awarded the Soviet Union's greatest awards, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) People's Friendship Award. In 1992 she was awarded the Chief Albert Luthuli prize for her commitment and dedication to the liberation struggle.
In 1994 after the rst democratic elections, she was one of the pioneer Members of the National Assembly and one of the founding mothers and fathers of the South African democratic constitution. Dorothy Nyembe may rest in peace now. Dorothy died on the 17 December 1998. "She will rest in peace for she died a day after our heroes whose remains lie strewn along the sacred Ncome River were nally recognised and honoured. She will rest in peace for she knows that the struggle continues and must continue for her colleagues - Florence Mkhize, Tryphina "Mamboxela" Njokweni, Gladys Manzi and Alzina Zondi remain at the helm of the struggle".
Brigitte Sylvia Mabandla
Brigitte Mabandla was born on the 23rd of November 1948. In the mid-1970s, she worked as a youth coordinator at the Institute of Race Relations in Durban but left South Africa for Zambia where she obtained her LLB degree. Between 1981 and 1983 she taught English and Law at the Botswana polytechnic and from 1983 to 1986 she taught Commercial Law at the Botswana Institute of Administration and Commerce. From 1986 to 1990 she served as the legal advisor to the ANC Legal and Constitutional Affairs Department. During this time she specialised in Children's rights, human rights and constitutional affairs. B
After the unbanning of the ANC and other political organisations, she returned to South Africa as part of the ANC's negotiating team and is currently a member of the party's Constitutional Commission. She is the co-founder of the National Committee for the Rights of the Child and has travelled worldwide promoting children's rights. In 1995 she became the Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology and in 2003, she was appointed the Minister of Housing.
“Don’t be afraid of criticism, research shows that in cases of men and women with the same type ‘A’ personalities, a man will always be seen as a go-getter and ambitious and the woman will be seen as bitchy and loud; understand it and move on.” - Ethel Cofie is founder of Edel Technologies,
“We cannot
change what we
are not aware of,
and once we are
aware, we
