Ellen Kuzwayo Tribute
By Radiyah Shakur
 On
April 19, 2006, South African activist, author, politician,
community leader and mentor, Ellen Merafe Kuzwayo
passed away following a lengthy battle with chronic
diabetes. In the 91 years of Kuzwayo’s life,
she has left an indelible legacy within South Africa’s
history.
Born on 29 June 1914 in rural Orange Free State, Ellen
Kuzwayo grew up relatively privileged on her maternal
grandparents’ farm; which she later inherited.
She recalls growing up unaffected by white oppression,
up until her 1,500 acre farm was seized and declared
a ‘White area’.
Extremely educated, Ellen Kuzwayo attended Adams College
in Durban and Lovedale in the Eastern Cape for teacher
training. She attended the ANC's annual conferences
in Bloemfontein from the age of 22 in 1936. Eight years
later in 1944, she was the only woman actively involved
in the ANC Youth League, which Oliver Tambo, Walter
Sisulu, Nelson Mandela and other young men had formed.
She continued teaching for several years until the
Bantu Education Act was passed; a system which was
enacted by the South African apartheid government and
implemented as part of its general policy, separation
and stratification of the races.
Kuzwayo went on to train as a social worker at Jan
Hofmeyer School of Social Work, where she shared a
bench with Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Her first post
with social work was with the Johannesburg City Council,
where she moved to the township of Soweto. Following
the 1976 massacre of innocent students protesting against
the introduction of Afrikaans as the language of instruction
in black schools, Kuzwayo became actively involved
in the protest movement. She was appointed a member
of the Committee of Ten, set up to formulate recommendations
on the running of civic affairs in Soweto following
the downfall of the detested Soweto Urban Bantu Council.
She was the only woman on the committee. In 1977 she
was arrested by South African authorities, and released
five months later without being charged.
Kuzwayo later became a founding board member of the
Urban Foundation, an organization composed of big business,
which pressurized the apartheid government into introducing
a form of land ownership in order to facilitate the
flow of private sector funding into housing in Soweto.
In addition, Kuzwayo is known for her commitment to
gender equality, and rights for South African women.
Experiencing oppression within her own relationship,
Kuzwayo’s first husband was physically and mentally
abusive. She escaped from the marriage; and directed
the pain of her experiences towards coordinating a
number of programs set up to improve the living conditions
in Soweto's sprawling suburbs. For years she also worked
as secretary of the YWCA in the Transvaal, work that
led her to initiate projects in Soweto where women
who had never been to school were taught basic literacy
and practical skills.
 In
1979 one of Johannesburg's largest daily newspapers,
The Star, named her Woman of the Year. In 1985 she
wrote an autobiography entitled, Call Me Woman, which
is hailed as an inspirational book, testifying her
refusal to be down trodden by white power or male domination.
Her book was later recognized with the highest literary
honor in South Africa, the CNA Literary Prize, making
her the first black writer to receive this accolade.
In 1996 she published Sit Down and Listen: Stories
from South Africa, in order to preserve the deep African
cultural tradition of oral story telling. Additionally,
Kuzwayo acted and participated in a few films, including
Cry the Beloved Country with Sidney Poitier and a documentary
about the confiscation of her family farm, entitled
Tshiamelo- A Place of Goodness.
In 1994, Kuzwayo was appointed Member of Parliament
in South Africa’s first all-race elections. When
she retired in 1999, former President Nelson Mandela
gave Ellen Kuzwayo an Order for Meritorious Service.
The University of Witswatersrand recognized her with
a Honorary Degree in Literature, as well as the award
of a Doctor of Literature honouris causa from the University
of Natal. In 2004, Soweto awarded Ellen Kuzwayo the
prestigious Milestones Award, paying tribute to the
significant role she has played in the township’s
development.
Ellen Kuzwayo was highly respected, not only in Soweto,
but throughout Johannesburg; often sought out for counsel
by courts, schools and colleges, church groups, and
welfare agencies. Although her presence will be missed,
South Africa will surely remember her legacy.
Kuzwayo is survived by two sons, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Mia Morris had the opportunity to meet with EllenKuzwayo when she came over
to London and exhibited her work together as part of a co operative Johannesburg
at the Brixton Art Gallery in 1985 part of her promotional tour to promote
her book Call Me Woman . 'There was no doubt on meeting, Ellen Kuzwayo that
South African had produced a formidable woman a woman of courage and great
fortitude her presence internationally will be well missed.'
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