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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