Cikizwa Ivy Gcina (13 July 1937 – 27 May 2021) was a South African politician and

anti-apartheid activist The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid, apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by ...

who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2009. During apartheid, she was a prominent figure in community organising in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

, particularly through the United Democratic Front and the Port Elizabeth Women's Organisation, the women's wing of the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation.

Early life and activism

Gcina was born on 13 July 1937. She was orphaned as a child and received her primary education through a church school. She joined the ANC Youth League in the 1950s and was active in protests against the apartheid-era Bantu Education Act. After the ANC was banned by the government in 1960, Gcina remained active in anti-apartheid politics in

in the Cape Province, from 1979 through the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (PEBCO). Dedicated to reviving the

Federation of South African Women The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was a political lobby group formed in 1954. At FEDSAW's inaugural conference, a Women's Charter was adopted. Its founding was spear-headed by Lillian Ngoyi. Introduction The Federation of South Afric ...

, she headed PEPCO's women's committee and in 1983 became the founding chairperson of the Port Elizabeth Women's Organisation, the women's wing of PEBCO. In the 1980s, she was a regional leader of the United Democratic Front, to which PEBCO affiliated. Gcina's children were also active in the movement: all four of her sons were ultimately recruited into the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. While they were children, she had taught them about the

Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...

(also banned by the government) using a copy handwritten from memory by a relative. Three of her sons – Mthetheleli, Mkhululi and Mziwoxolo – died while stationed with MK, two in combat and one in an accident at a military camp. In addition, Gcina's brother was Sipho Hashe, one of the PEBCO Three who disappeared in 1985, presumably into police custody; in the 1990s, it was confirmed that he had been murdered by the police's Security Branch. Gcina herself was detained on several occasions, including during the state of emergency of 1985 and later from June 1986 to June 1987. After her initial release in 1985, she was a witness in a class-action lawsuit against the state in which she testified to having been severely tortured in detention. Later, at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a Security Branch agent applied for – and was refused – amnesty for having petrol-bombed her home.

Parliament: 1994–2009

In the 1994 general election, South Africa's first under universal suffrage, Gcina was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, the lower house of the new South African Parliament. She served three terms in her seat, gaining re-election in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, and she represented the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

constituency. She retired after the 2009 general election.

Personal life and death

Gcina died on 27 May 2021 after a long illness. President Cyril Ramaphosa granted her a special provincial official funeral, which was held in Port Elizabeth, by then renamed Gqerberha.

References

1930s births 2021 deaths African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 21st-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians {{DEFAULTSORT:Gcina, Ivy Anti-apartheid activists 20th-century South African politicians 20th-century South African women politicians Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa