Re: Biographies of ANC Women Candidates in April's Election http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.af000380 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Re: Biographies of ANC Women Candidates in April's Election Alternative title ANC Women Candidates in South Africa'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. Albertina Sisulu. Gertrude Shope. Winnie Mandela. Thenjiwe Mtintso. Baleka Kgositsile. Ruth Mompati. Mavivi Yvette Manzini. Gill Marcus. Thandi Modoise. Format extent 5 page(s) (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.af000380 http://www.aluka.org 198 Broadway * New York, N.Y. 10035 0 (212) 962-1210 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. "--Nelson Mandela 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-apartheid 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 Walter Sisulu. GERTRUDE SHOPE #22 Current Affiliations: Member, National Executive Committee ANC Birth Date and Place: 1925, Johannesburg; grew up in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) until 1947 Time in Exile: 24 years (1966-1990) - lived in Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, Czechoslovakia, Nigeria 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 Lusaka, 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 Soweto 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.