Re: Biographies of ANC Women Candidates in April's Election

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Alternative title ANC Women Candidates in 's Liberation Election Author/Creator Kagan, Rachel; Africa Fund Publisher Africa Fund Date 1994-02-14 Resource type Reports Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1918 - 1994 Source Africa Action Archive Rights By kind permission of Africa Action, incorporating the American Committee on Africa, The Africa Fund, and the Africa Policy Information Center. Description ANC Women Candidates in South Africa's Liberation Election. Constituent Assembly. ANC. African National Congress. . Gertrude Shope. Winnie Mandela. Thenjiwe Mtintso. Baleka Kgositsile. Ruth Mompati. Mavivi Yvette Manzini. Gill Marcus. Thandi Modoise. Format extent 5 page(s) (length/size)

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198 Broadway * New York, N.Y. 10035 0 (212) 962-1210 ,1 Tilden J. L. 4Ulle, Chairman Jennifer Davis, Executive Dbector February 14, 1994 To: U.S. Women's Network From: Rachael Kagan, Women's Project Coordinator Re: Biographies of ANC Women Candidates in April's Election Enclosed is a new resource which I hope you will find useful and interesting. It is a collection of biographical information about the top women running for election to the South African Constituent Assembly on the ANC slate. Among the 200 people on the ANC National Election list, onethird are women. The enclosed material provides information on the nine women candidates in the top fifty. If the election is free and fair, it seems certain the ANC will win at least 60% of the votes, and these women will be members of the first democratically elected government of South Africa. No other party has released its list of candidates yet. Please let me know how you use this resource to educate your constituency and promote the efforts of South African women towards their country's liberation. I will be happy to furnish additional copies where needed. Remember - the South African Women's Charter is still expected to be released early next month. Established by Tht American Committee on Africa. 1966 , Contributions are tax- deductible

ANC WOMEN CANDIDATES IN SOUTH AFRICA'S LIBERATION ELECTION INTRODUCING THE WOMEN AMONG THE TOP 50 CANDIDATES ON THE ANC NATIONAL ELECTION LIST At the end of January 1994, the African National Congress released its list of 200 candidates for the national election. Early in the process of selecting candidates, the women in the ANC put forth a demand that one-third of the candidates be women. This demand was met, and out of the 200 candidates named, 67 are women. The elections on April 26-28 will elect 400 representatives to a Constituent Assembly which will write the new South African Constitution. Each political party will submit 200 names on a national list and 200 names on a regional list. Currently, only the national list is available, as the regional list has not yet been released. Following are brief biographies of the top nine women with the number indicating their placement on the ANC's national list. It is almost certain that these women will be members of the first democratic government of South Africa. Africa Fund Executive Director Jennifer Davis (left) and Albertina Sisulu, the top ANC woman candidate, ranked number 10 on a list of 200 names. (photo by David Vita, 1989) 198 Broadway New York, NY 10038 Tel: 212.962.1210

ALBERTINA NONTSIKELELO SISULU #10 Current Affiliations: Vice Chairperson, National Executive Committee ANC Women's League; Member, National Executive Committee ANC Birth Date and Place: 1918, Transkei district of Tsomo Time in Exile: NA Time in Prison/Banned: Arrested 1958, Arrested 1963, Detained 90 days, 1964- 1983 Banned, Arrested 1981, Arrested 1985, charged with high treason, held until 1986, Restricted 1986-1989 Anecdote: Favorite quote, "No easy walk to freedom. "-- Short History: Founding member of FEDSAW (Federation of South African Women). Organized the 1956 women's march to protest the extension of pass laws to women, attended by 20,000 women from all over South Africa. Elected Transvaal president of the anti- United Democratic Front in 1983. Charged with high treason in 1985. Appointed to the Internal Leadership Core of the ANC Women's League when the congress was unbanned in 1990. Elected Deputy President of the ANC Women's League 1991. Married in 1944 to ANC leader . GERTRUDE SHOPE #22 Current Affiliations: Member, National Executive Committee ANC Birth Date and Place: 1925, ; grew up in (then Rhodesia) until 1947 Time in Exile: 24 years (1966-1990) - lived in , Tanzania, , Czechoslovakia, Time in Prison/Banned: NA Anecdote: "Women bring life into this world, and they have a duty to make sure this life is preserved and protected." -- Gertrude Shope Short history: Trained as a domestic science teacher, joined the ANC in 1954. Supported the campaign to boycott bantu education by resigning her teaching post and began working as an occupational therapist. Left South Africa for Botswana to join her husband 'in exile in 1966. Served as provincial secretary of the Federation of South African Women in the late 1960's, as secretary to ANC women's section head Florence Maphoso in the early 70s, with whom she started the publication Voice of Women. Appointed Chief Representative of the ANC in , Zambia in 1974. In 1981, appointed head of the ANC's women's section and became a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC. In 1991, Shope was elected President of the ANC Women's League. NOMZAMO NOBANDLA WINNIFRED MANDELA #31 Current Affiliations: President, ANC Women's League; Regional Executive Committee Member, ANC PWV; Deputy President, South African National Civic Organization (SANCO); Regional Chairperson, SANCO Southern Transvaal Birth Date and Place: September 26, 1936, Bizana, Transkei Time in Exile: 1977 - 1986 forced into internal exile in Brandfort, Orange Free State Time in Prison/Banned: Detained 1958, Banned 1962, Arrested 1967 - served one month in prison, Detained 1969 - 18 months solitary confinement, remained in prison until September 1975, 1976 served six months after Uprising Anecdote: "Winnie Mandela's extraordinary life has been marked by a process of harassment from the regime and by constant separations from those she has loved." - ANC Dept. of Information Short History: Mandela earned a social work diploma and then a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Witwatersrand. She worked as the first Black medical social worker at Baragwanath Hospital. Much of her adult life was spent under banning and restriction orders or in prison. She served on the national executive committee of the original ANC Women's League and when that was banned, worked in the Federation of South African Women. She was elected as President of the ANC Women's League in 1993.

THENJIWE MTINTSO #33 Current Affiliations: Member, Central Committee and Political Bureau, South African Communist Party (SACP) Birth Date and Place: November 7, 1950, Shelter's Squatter Camp next to Orlando East, Soweto Time in Exile: 1979, Lesotho; 1980, Angola; 1981, Cuba; 1982-85, Lesotho; 1986-89 Botswana; 19891991 Uganda, as the ANC's Chief Representative Time in Prison/Banned: Arrested 1976, detained for 5 months, then banned and restricted to Orlando East; detained five times from 1976-1978 Short History: Attended Fort Hare University on scholarship in 1972, joined the South African Students Organization (SASO) and was expelled in 1973 after the "Bush University strikes". Worked for the Border Council of Churches in the Eastern Cape. In 1975 started working as a reporter for the Durban Daily Dispatch. In 1979 she went into exile and joined the ANC in Lesotho. After returning from exile she was elected to the SACP's central committee and political bureau. She was a SACP delegate to the South African constitutional talks (CODESA). BALEKA MMAKOTA KGOSITSILE #34 Current Affiliations: Spokesperson, Department of Information and Publicity, ANC; Member, ANC Women's League Birth Date and Place: September 24, 1949, Clermont Township, Durban Time in Exile: 1976, Swaziland; 1978-81, Dares Salaam, Tanzania, broadcaster on Radio Freedom and regional secretary of the Women's Section; 1982 - Nairobi, Kenya;: Botswana, 1985, also lived in Zimbabwe, Zambia._ . Time in Prison/Banned: NA Anecdote: As ANC Women's League Secretary General, Kgositsile played a very important role at the Multiparty Negotiating Forum, ensuring women's issues were addressed wherever possible. Short History: Graduated Inanda Seminary, trained at Lovedale Teacher Training College 1972-3. Taught high school 1974-5. Trained as a secretary 1976. Went into exile in 1976 to join the ANC. A singer and poet, she headed the Medu Art Ensemble in Botswana from 1984-5. Back in South Africa, she was elected Secretary General of the ANC Women's League. in 1991. She held this position and also served on the National Executive Committee of the ANC until 1993. RUTH MOMPATI #36 Current Affiliations: Member, National Executive Committee ANC; Member, National Executive Committee ANC Women's League Birth Date and Place: 1925, Vryburg, Northern Cape Time in Exile: 1962 - 1990, towards the end of this period, served as ANC Chief Representative in the UK Time in Prison/Banned: NA Anecdote: "We are always being told the South African Government is very strong, and we know this. We have something more powerful to put to all the people of South Africa, irrespective of color or creed -- a free, democratic South Africa for all." Short History: Joined the ANC in 1952 in Soweto, raising funds for the over 8,000 people arrested during the . Worked as secretary for the legal team of and Nelson Mandela. In 1956, she was one of the principle organizers of the women's march against pass laws, which drew over 20,000 women from all over South Africa. She served on the executive of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) when it was launched in 1954. In 1962 after the ANC was banned, Mompati went into exile to assist in setting up the organization outside the country. She was named by a state witness in the notorious and had to remain in exile for almost thirty years. Elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in 1969. MAVIVI YVETTE MANZINI #40 Current Affiliations: Member, National Executive Committee ANC; Member, ANC Women's League; Sub-Council on the Status of Women, Transitional Executive Council (TEC) Date of Birth and Place: January 19, 1956, Alexandra

Time in Exile: 1976-1979, Botswana and Zambia; 1988-89 Holland & Tanzania Time in Prison/Banned: Arrested July 1976, detained for two months Short History: In 1975 while on a students' choral society trip to Swaziland, she met with the ANC and was assigned to form an underground unit in South Africa which recruited members for the ANC's military unit and organized for the ANC. In 1977 she joined the Women's Section and became regional secretary in 1979. Broadcast on Radio Freedom and in 1981 became editor of "Voice of Women*. Completed an MA at the Haig Institute of Social Studies in Holland in 1989, and then moved to Tanzania where her husband was the ANC Chief Representative. Upon return to South Africa in 1990, worked at the Center for Applied Legal Studies on a gender research project. She participated in national constitutional negotiations and currently serves on the transitional government's (TEC) Sub- Council on the Status of Women. Time in Exile: 1976 - 1978 Botswana, Angola Time in Prison/Banned: Imprisoned 1979 - 1988 Anecdote: Modise was the first woman in South Africa to be jailed for participation in the armed struggle. In 1979, while four months pregnant, she was detained and jailed for eight years. Short History: She left South Africa in 1976 to join the ANC army () after being shot at by the police in the Northern Cape. During her training period in exile she was often the only woman in the camps. In 1978 returned to South Africa to work underground as an MK operative. Served on the ANC Women's League National Executive from 1991-1993 when she was elected Deputy President. GILL MARCUS #47 Current Affiliations: Deputy Secretary for Information, ANC; Member, National Executive Committee, ANC Date of Birth and Place: August 10, 1949, Johannesburg Time in Exile: 1969 - 1990, London Time in Prison/Banned: NA Anecdote: From the day she entered ANC headquarters the phone hasn't stopped ringing. Short History: Joined the ANC in 1970, working for the Department of Information in London. Upon return to South Africa in 1990 after the unbannings, was assigned to set up the information department in Johannesburg and since then has been the central ANC press spokesperson. THANDI MODISE #49 Current Affiliations: Deputy President, ANC Women's League Date of Birth and Place: December 25, 1959, Huhudi Township, Northern Cape February 1994 SOURCE: ANC Department of Information Bios Compi ted by Rachael Kagan, Women's Project Coordinator The Africa Fund, 198 Broadwiay, New York, NY 10038 (212) 962-1210/fax 964-8570