Lilian Ngoyi

Lillian Masediba Ngoyi "Ma Ngoyi", (1911 - 13 March, 1980), was a South African anti-apartheid activist. She was the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, and helped launch the Federation of South African Women.

Ngoyi joined the ANC Women's League in 1952; she was at that stage a widow with two children and an elderly mother to support, and worked as a seamstress. A year later she was elected as President of the Women's League. On August 9 1956 Ngoyi led a march along with Helen Joseph, Albertina Sisulu, and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn of 20,000 women to the Union Buildings of Pretoria in protest against the apartheid government requiring women to carry passbooks as part of the pass laws. Ngoyi was not an intellectual, rather she was known as a strong orator and a fiery inspiration to many of her colleagues in the ANC. She was arrested in 1956, spent 71 days in solitary confinement, and was for a period of 11 years placed under severe bans and restrictions that often confined to her home in Orlando, Soweto. A community health centre in Soweto is named in her honour.

On August 9, 2006, the 50th anniversary of the march on Pretoria, Strijdom Square from which the women marched, was renamed Lilian Ngoyi Square. August 9th is commemorated in South Africa as Women's Day.

External links

* [http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/people/lngoyi.html ANC historical documents]
* Bernstein, H., 1975. "For their triumphs and for their tears - Women in Apartheid South Africa", International Defence & Aid Fund, London, United Kingdom.
* [http://africanhistory.about.com/od/apartheid/a/WomensAntiPass.htm About.com - Women's Anti-Pass Law Campaigns in South Africa]
* [http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/womens-struggle/09August/menu.htm Women's Day March - August 9th, 1956]