Reading paths
A reading path · 6 women · 11 min

The women who ended apartheid

From a 1913 anti-pass protest to the 1990 release, six South African women in the order they took up the fight. One founded the movement, one led 20,000 to Pretoria, one voted no alone for 13 years, one was killed by a letter bomb, and two held the country together while the men were on Robben Island.

  1. Colonial · South Africa · 1871–1939Charlotte Maxeke
    Portrait of Charlotte Maxeke

    She organised against passes in 1913, thirty-five years before the word apartheid existed.

    2 min
  2. Colonial · South Africa · 1911–1980Lilian Ngoyi
    Portrait of Lilian Ngoyi

    Maxeke founded the first women's league; Ngoyi led its heir, and 20,000 women, to Pretoria in 1956.

    2 min
  3. Modern · South Africa · 1918–2011Albertina Sisulu
    Portrait of Albertina Sisulu

    Ngoyi was banned into silence; Sisulu did the same work through 26 years of her husband's imprisonment.

    2 min
  4. Colonial · South Africa · 1917–2009Helen Suzman
    Portrait of Helen Suzman

    While Sisulu was banned in Soweto, Suzman was the one MP in parliament voting no, for 13 years.

    1 min
  5. Colonial · South Africa · 1925–1982Ruth First
    Portrait of Ruth First

    Suzman fought inside parliament; First exposed the regime in print, and a letter bomb answered her in 1982.

    2 min
  6. Modern · South Africa · 1936–2018Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
    Portrait of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

    First was killed in exile; Madikizela-Mandela stayed, was jailed and banished, and kept resistance visible.

    2 min