Cynthia 'Ma' Fraser (7 December 193414 June 2020) was a South African political activist.

Biography

Born in

Elsie's River Elsie's River (Elsiesrivier in Afrikaans) is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. History Elsies River was probably named after Elsje van Suurwaarde who farmed in the area in 1698. Baptized on 8 October 1662 in the Cape of Good Hope, Elsje was a ...

suburb of

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, Fraser's mother was a trade unionist which drew her into activism at a young age. She passed out leftist newspapers, including ''New Age'', ''The Spark'', and others in

Klipfontein MS ''Klipfontein'' was a Dutch ocean liner launched in March 1939 and delivered 29 July intended for South African service. Declaration of war in Europe, including Britain and South Africa declaring war on Germany, resulted in the ship being tra ...

. She was also involved in the underground activities of the then-banned

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC) including Operation Vula. The ANC operation, begun in 1986, which sought to smuggle into the country exiled ANC activists and to maintain open communication between ANC activists in prison, public, and exile. After the ANC was unbanned in 1990, she was involved in many of its community initiatives throughout the Western Cape province.

References

1934 births 2020 deaths South African activists Members of the African National Congress People from the Western Cape South African women activists {{SouthAfrica-bio-stub