Judy Chalmers (; born 16 November 1932) is a retired South African politician and activist who represented the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

from 1994 to 2009. During

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 ...

, she was the chairperson of the

Black Sash The Black Sash is a South African human rights organisation. It was founded in Johannesburg in 1955 as a non-violent resistance organisation for liberal white women. Origins The Black Sash was founded on 19 May 1955 by six middle-class white ...

in 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 ...

Early life and activism

Chalmers was born on 16 November 1932 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 ...

in the former

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

. Her father was Edgar Bellhouse, a founding member and former chair of the liberal (

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

)

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Italy ...

, and her elder sister was renowned activist

Molly Blackburn Molly Bellhouse Blackburn (12 November 1930 – 28 December 1985) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, political activist, civil rights campaigner and politician, widely respected by both blacks and whites. Biography Molly Bellhouse was ...

. She was educated in Port Elizabeth and briefly attended college in England. As

intensified, Chalmers and Blackburn grew disenchanted with traditional white politics, particularly after they attended the funeral of

Robert Sobukwe Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a prominent South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), serving as the first president of the organization. Sobukwe w ...

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province. It is also the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the c ...

in 1978. By the early 1980s, Chalmers had joined the

; she became its chairperson in the

. During this period, with Blackburn and others, she reopened the Black Sash's Port Elizabeth Advice Office, through which she conducted outreach with black residents of the region and monitored

human rights abuses Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...

by the apartheid government. The office was often subject to vandalism and was ultimately set alight. In late December 1985, Chalmers and Blackburn were in a car accident while driving back to Port Elizabeth from

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1 ...

with fellow Black Sash activist Diana Bishop. Chalmers and Bishop were injured, but Blackburn and Bishop's husband, Brian, were killed.

Parliament: 1994–2009

In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, Chalmers was elected to represent the ANC in the

. She served three terms, 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 constituency.

Personal life

Chalmers is married and has three daughters and several grandchildren. After leaving Parliament, she retired to

Summerstrand Summerstrand is a seaside suburb of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It is located south-east of the Port Elizabeth city centre. It is primarily a residential suburb along with shopping and business facilities. It is also home to three Nelson Mandel ...

in Port Elizabeth.

References

External links

Speech on the occasion of Nelson Mandela's birthday
(2008)
Interview by Diana Russell
(1987) African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 21st-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians Living people {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, Judy 20th-century South African politicians 20th-century South African women politicians 1932 births People from Port Elizabeth Black Sash