Sizani Ngubane was a South African activist who worked for

rural women Rural women are a fundamental part of rural communities around the world. They play an important part in rural society, providing care and being involved in number of economic pursuits such as subsistence farming, petty trading and off-farm work. ...

's rights. She was the founder of the Rural Women's Movement (RWM) which originated in her peace-building efforts in the final years of minority-rule wherein she brought women together across partisan lines to end political violence. RWM was formally registered in 1998. Working on issues central to its constituency, rural women and girls, RWM would come to number over 50,000 members across KwaZulu-Natal. The movement works both at the grassroots and policy levels on issues including women's access to land rights, ending gender-based violence, promoting

food sovereignty Food sovereignty is a food system in which the people who produce, distribute, and consume food also control the mechanisms and policies of food production and distribution. This stands in contrast to the present corporate food regime, in which ...

and fostering healthy, democratic rural communities. Sizani Ngubane was recognized for her work as the 2018 NGO CSW Woman of Distinction and as a 2020 finalist for the Martin Ennals award.

Biography

Ngubane was born in KwaMpumuza, near

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

. As a young girl, Ngubane witnessed her mother experiencing

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

from her male relatives and her own husband. In 1965, her mother had been kicked off of her own land by her brothers in law and went to a traditional leader to request land where she was denied because she had no sons. Ngubane said, "I grew up knowing I had to be part of the solution." In 1990, Ngubane launched the Rural Women's Movement (RWM). From 1999 on, she began to research how women were treated in rural

KwaZulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locat ...

and she found that many were treated "as subordinates to men." She also began fighting against the Traditional Courts Bill which she felt would give traditional, male leaders unchecked power that could "significantly undermine women's rights." The Bill died in 2014. In 2011, Ngubane addressed the United Nations on issues facing rural women. In 2020 she was nominated for the

Martin Ennals Award The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, sometimes called "the Nobel Prize for human rights", is an annual prize for human rights defenders. It was created in 1993 to honour and protect individuals around the world who demonstrate except ...

together with Yemeni lawyer

Huda Al-Sarari Huda El-Sarari or Hoda El-Sarari; Hoda Al Sarari (; born c. 1978) is a human rights lawyer from Yemen who was awarded the Martin Ennals Award. She exposed that foreign governments were operating prisons in Yemen. 260 people were released from unl ...

and Norma Librada Ledezma. Huda Al-Sarari became the 2020 laureate She died on December 23, 2020, of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

External links

Sizani Ngubane: The Impact of Traditional Authority on Rural Women in South Africa
(2014 video) {{Authority control 1946 births 2020 deaths South African women South African activists People from Pietermaritzburg