1932 - 1998

President of the ANC Women’s League (1959), Member of the African National Congress, Natal President of the Federation of South African Women (FedSAW), Founding member of the United Democratic Front (UDF)

A disciple of Chief Luthuli, Dorothy Nyembe was a prominent political activist in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) who remained a fiery protester throughout her life, despite all Apartheid government attempts to silence her.

She took part in the 1946 Defiance Campaign and spent the next 20 years in and out of jail or detention. She led Natal women in the 1952 Defiance Campaign and again in the 1956 Womens March to Pretoria.

She called for boycotts of government controlled beer halls in Cato Manor in the late 1950s, as women lost income when beer-making at home was criminalised. She reportedly used a stick to chase non-compliant men out of the beer halls.

When the ANC was banned in 1960 Nyembe was recruited by its military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe. Within a decade she was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Upon her release she joined the Natal Organisation of Women in their fight against Apartheid injustices.

In 1992 Nyembe received the Chief Albert Luthuli Prize from the ANC for her life-long commitment and in 1994, she was elected a Member of South Africas first democratic Parliament.

Did You Know?

At Nyembes funeral one man reflected on how he still carried the scar from when Nyembe had chased him during the Cato Manor beer-hall protests.