Mittah Selekanyana Seperepere (; 1929 – 30 October 2010) was a South African

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 ...

from the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

. A veteran of the African National Congress (ANC) and its Women's League, she lived in exile from 1966 until the abolition of apartheid in 1994. Thereafter she represented the ANC in the National Assembly from 1994 to 1999.

Early life and activism

Seperepere was born in 1929 in the present-day Northern Cape and attended school in Majeng, now part of

Magareng Local Municipality Magareng Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Frances Baard District of the Northern Cape in South Africa. Magareng is a Setswana name meaning "in the middle". The name reflects the geographic location of the municipality in relat ...

. She joined the ANC Youth League in the 1940s and was secretary of the ANC's branch in

Galeshewe Galeshewe is a township in Kimberley, South Africa. Within the Sol Plaatje Local Municipality in the Northern Cape Province, it is named after Kgosi Galeshewe. History The township of Galeshewe was founded in 1878 after diamonds were discov ...

. She was also active in the ANC Women's League, particularly in women's protests against the pass laws. Her activism continued after the party was banned by the apartheid government in 1960, and she was imprisoned on a political offence in 1965. Upon her release, she was incorporated into the underground of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the ANC's armed wing.

Exile

In 1966, Seperepere and her husband left the country to evade the attention of the Security Branch. They spent time in Botswana before settling in Tanzania, where Seperepere sat on the ANC's regional political committee, served as an ANC welfare officer, and helped establish the primary school at the

Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College The Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO), was an educational institution established by the exiled African National Congress (ANC) in 1978 at Mazimbu, Tanzania. It provided primary and secondary education to students who had fled South Afri ...

. In 1981, she moved to Lusaka, Zambia, where the ANC was headquartered, and later that year, with Dulcie September, she represented the ANC Women's Section at the World Congress of Women for Equality, National Independence and Peace in Prague, Czechoslovakia. In 1989, she was appointed as the ANC's chief representative in Madagascar, Reunion, Seychelles, Mauritius and the Comoros.

Legislative career

Seperepere returned to South Africa during the

democratic transition Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

and in South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, she was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly, the lower house of the South African Parliament. She served a single term in her seat; according to the ANC, she declined to seek 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 ...

on the grounds that younger people should be given the responsibility to advance the country's democracy.

Personal life and death

Seperepere died on 30 October 2010. In 2012, Northern Cape Premier

Hazel Jenkins Hazel Gertrude Jenkins is a South African politician and former Premier of the Northern Cape province. She served as Premier from May 2009 until she officially stood down in April 2013, following a stroke. The motion to recognise her stepping ...

opened the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre in

Kimberley, Northern Cape Kimberley is the capital and largest city of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is located approximately 110 km east of the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The city has considerable historical significance due to it ...

in her memory. President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

awarded her the Order of Luthuli in bronze in 2014 "for her excellent contribution to the fight against apartheid and serving the country with bravery, ensuring that all South Africans enjoy democracy". She was married to Maruping Seperepere, who died in Tanzania in 1981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seperepere, Mittah 1929 births 2010 deaths 20th-century South African politicians 20th-century South African women politicians African National Congress politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Anti-apartheid activists South African activists Prisoners and detainees of South Africa UMkhonto we Sizwe personnel Members of the Order of Luthuli