Sizani Ngubane was a South African activist who worked for

rural women Rural women play a fundamental role in rural communities around the world providing care and being involved in number of economic pursuits such as subsistence farming, petty trading and off-farm work. In most parts of the world, rural women work v ...

'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 Food distribution, distribution. This stands in contrast to the present corporate Agr ...

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 (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

. As a young girl, Ngubane witnessed her mother experiencing

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

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) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

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

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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