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Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe (27 July 1927 – 15 August 2018) was a South African nurse who played an integral role in the
/ref> Victoria Hospital was established in 1898 through the Lovedale Missionary Institution and it was the first hospital in South Africa to train black nurses.Victoria Hospital, Accessed 6 August 2017
/ref> While Zondeni Sobukwe was a trainee, she got involved in a labour dispute with hospital management. The dispute escalated to strike action and Sobukwe was one of the leaders, which caught the attention of
/ref> Zondeni Sobukwe was expelled from Lovedale College the same year for her participation in the Victoria Hospital Strike. After her expulsion, the Fort Hare ANC Youth League sent Sobukwe to Johannesburg to deliver a letter to Walter Sisulu to bring to his attention the struggles of the nurses in Alice. On 6 June 1954, she married
/ref> While her husband was in prison, Zondeni unsuccessfully petitioned
/ref> In a bid to find the truth about the cause of her husband’s death, Zondeni Sobukwe testified to the
Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe (27 July 1927 – 15 August 2018) was a South African nurse who played an integral role in the Defiance Campaign
The Defiance Campaign against Unjust Laws was presented by the African National Congress (ANC) at a conference held in Bloemfontein, South Africa in December 1951. The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conference. The demonstrations, ...
. Her husband, 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 ...
, was a prominent political dissident. Her family was constantly harassed by the police.B.Sands. Herald Live.Tribute to women warriors.http://www.heraldlive.co.za/the-algoa-sun/2014/01/25/tribute-to-women-warriors/ Accessed Thursday, June 29, 2017
Background
Veronica Sobukwe (née Mate) was born on July 27, 1927, in Hlobane, KwaZulu-Natal. Sobukwe was a trainee nurse at Victoria Hospital in Lovedale, Eastern Cape.Ndaba, Baldwin. “Daughter of Afrika turns 90 Today”, The Star, 27 July 2017, Online./ref> Victoria Hospital was established in 1898 through the Lovedale Missionary Institution and it was the first hospital in South Africa to train black nurses.Victoria Hospital, Accessed 6 August 2017
/ref> While Zondeni Sobukwe was a trainee, she got involved in a labour dispute with hospital management. The dispute escalated to strike action and Sobukwe was one of the leaders, which caught the attention 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 ...
who was the president of the Student Representative Council at Fort Hare University in 1949.Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Human Rights Violations, 12 May 1997, Accessed 4 August 2017/ref> Zondeni Sobukwe was expelled from Lovedale College the same year for her participation in the Victoria Hospital Strike. After her expulsion, the Fort Hare ANC Youth League sent Sobukwe to Johannesburg to deliver a letter to Walter Sisulu to bring to his attention the struggles of the nurses in Alice. On 6 June 1954, she married
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 ...
and they had four children, Miliswa, Dinilesizwe, Dalindyebo and Dedanizizwe. After they married she worked at Jabavu Clinic in Soweto.“Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe” Robert Sobukwe Trust./ref> While her husband was in prison, Zondeni unsuccessfully petitioned
Jimmy Kruger
James Thomas Kruger (20 December 1917 – 9 May 1987) was a South African-born politician who was part of the conservative National Party government which championed apartheid. He rose to the position of Minister of Justice and the Police in t ...
and Prime Minister B.J. Vorster
Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster (; also known as John Vorster; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983) was a South African apartheid politician who served as the prime minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and the State President of Sou ...
, demanding the release of her husband so that he could get medical treatment at home Sipuye, T. “Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe: 90 years of struggle, suffering and sacrifice” Pabazuka News, 27 July 2017, Online./ref> In a bid to find the truth about the cause of her husband’s death, Zondeni Sobukwe testified to the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...
in King Williams Town on May 12, 1997.
She died on 15 August 2018 at the age of 91 years after a long illness.
Honours
TheANC
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
's Regional Headquarters in Nelson Mandela Bay
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality ( af, Nelson Mandelabaai Metropolitaanse Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Nelson Mandela Bay or ''uMasipala waseBhayi'') is one of eight metropolitan municipalities (also called Category A municipalities) in So ...
was renamed Florence Matomela House in November 2012. Ms Angie Motshekga
Matsie Angelina "Angie" Motshekga (born 19 June 1955) is a South African politician and educator, serving as the Minister of Basic Education since May 2009. She was also appointed as an acting president of the Republic of South Africa on 2 July ...
, then Minister of Basic Education and President of the ANC Women's League
The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress, African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League ...
described Florence Matomela, at the Florence Mathomela Memorial Lecture, as having battled 'triple oppression', i.e. colonial, patriarchal and class domination.http://www.gov.za/florence-matomela-memorial-lecture-''-importance-1956-women's-march''-ms-angie-motshekga-minister The Red Location Museum
The Red Location Museum is a museum in the New Brighton township of Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The museum was opened to the public on 10 November 2006 as a tribute to the struggle against Apartheid. It is situated in a shack settlement that ...
in New Brighton held a year-long exhibition dedicated to these women of the liberation struggle, by paying tribute to Florence Matomela
Florence Matomela (1910–1969) was a South African people, South African anti-pass laws, pass law activist, communist, civil rights campaigner, African National Congress, ANC veteran, teacher and mother who dedicated her life to fighting against A ...
, Nontuthuzelo Mabala, Veronica Sobukwe, Lilian Diedricks and Nosipho Dastile
Nosipho Dastile (1938–2009) was a community and anti-Apartheid activist in the small town of Uitenhage, just outside Port Elizabeth. She was elected councillor under the banner of what was then the new democratically constituted Uitenhage Transit ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobukwe, Veronica 1927 births 2018 deaths Anti-apartheid activists Members of the Order of Luthuli