Christine Douts Qunta (born 1952)"Christine Qunta"
at

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Rut ...

. is a South African writer, lawyer and entrepreneur. She has served on several public and private boards, and her work in various fields has been described as being "held together by the quest for a more just and free society." She was an activist in the anti-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) during the 1970s and spent 17 years in exile, studying and practising law in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, before returning to South Africa in 1993."Christine Qunta"
, ''Who's Who Southern Africa''.

Biography

Early years and activism

Christine Qunta was born in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, in 1952. After ending her formal education in the 1970s, she devoted herself to anti-apartheid political activism. She was on the regional executive of the

South African Students' Organisation The South African Students' Organisation (SASO) was a body of black South African university students who resisted apartheid through non-violent political action. The organisation was formed in 1969 under the leadership of Steve Biko and Barney P ...

and the

Black People's Convention The Black People's Convention (BPC) was a national coordinating body for the Black Consciousness movement of South Africa. Envisaged as a broad-based counterpart to the South African Students' Organisation, the BPC was active in organising resis ...

at the University of the Western Cape in the 1970s and was among the hundreds of student activists who gave up their studies during the 1973 walk-out to work more closely with the people,

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

(ed.), "Christine (Douts) Qunta", in ''Daughters of Africa'' (1992), p. 823. which "mobilised communities to such an extent that the apartheid regime was forced to employ the first black vice-chancellor, Richard van der Ross."Charles Molele
"So how dangerous is the 'Queen of Racial Politics'?"
''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', 30 September 2007; via ''

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''. After being detained by the government for her activism, she fled the country and was granted asylum in

, remaining in exile until 1993.

Legal career

She went on to study law in

at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

(BA, LLB, 1981),"Christine Qunta (Director & Shareholder)"
Pholosang BEE Resolution Services. subsequently practising law in Australia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, before returning to South Africa in 1993 and working as a Legal Advisor for Sanlam. In 1994, she completed a course in Restructuring of Business Entities with the

International Development Law Institute The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the promotion of the rule of law. With a joint focus on the promotion of rule of law and development, it works to empower people and communiti ...

Rome, Italy , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

. Her area of expertise is corporate law with a special focus on company law. In 1995, she started her own law firm specialising in corporate law, Qunta Incorporated, in the CBD of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

which was the first black firm to do so. She was also the senior partner in the firm until 2008, when she left the firm to focus on other business ventures. She was deputy chair of the South African Broadcasting Corporation until her resignation in 2009.

Literary work

Qunta began publishing her writing while in exile, including the poetry collections ''Hoyi Na! Azania: Poems of an African Struggle'' (1979) and ''Heroes & other Treasures'' (1990), as well as editing the non-fiction anthology ''Women in Southern Africa'' (1987). She is also the author of ''Who's Afraid of Affirmative Action: A Survival Guide for Black Professionals'' (1995) and her most recent book is ''Why We Are Not a Nation: Essays on race and transition in South Africa'' (2016). Qunta has also been a newspaper columnist, and her work has appeared in many publications, among them the anthology ''

Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'' (1992). In 2013, she started the non-profit publishing company Seriti sa Sechaba (a name meaning "dignity of the nation") aiming "to publish fiction and non-fiction by Black (African, Coloured and Indian) authors that reflect the lived experience and culture of the majority of the people in South Africa", in English and indigenous languages."About"
Seriti sa Sechaba Publishers website.

Bibliography

* ''Hoyi Na! Azania: Poems of an African Struggle'' (Marimba Enterprises, 1979) * (Editor) ''Women in Southern Africa'' ( Allison and Busby, 1987; 1988, ) * ''Heroes & other Treasures'' (Seriti sa Sechaba Publishers, 1990, ) * ''Who's Afraid of Affirmative Action: A Survival Guide for Black Professionals'' (Kwela Books, 1995, ) * ''Why We Are Not a Nation: Essays on race and transition in South Africa'' (Seriti sa Sechaba Publishers, 2016, )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qunta, Christine Living people 1952 births 20th-century South African lawyers 20th-century South African poets 20th-century South African women writers 21st-century essayists 21st-century South African lawyers 21st-century South African poets 21st-century South African women writers Anti-apartheid activists People from Kimberley, Northern Cape South African activists South African publishers (people) South African women activists South African women lawyers University of New South Wales alumni Women book publishers (people) Women civil rights activists