Zondeni Veronica Sobukwe OLS (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 in South Africa, 1951. The Campaign had roots in events leading up the conferenc ...

. Her husband,

Robert Sobukwe Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (5 December 1924 – 27 February 1978) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, ...

, 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

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

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 and Prime Minister

B.J. Vorster Balthazar Johannes "B. J." Vorster (; 13 December 1915 – 10 September 1983), better known as John Vorster, was a South African politician who served as the prime minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and the fourth state president of So ...

, 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 ac ...

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

The ANC's Regional Headquarters in

Nelson Mandela Bay The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (; ) is one of eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. It is located on the shores of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape province and comprises the city of Gqeberha, the nearby towns of Uitenhage and De ...

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 who is currently serving as the Minister of Defense and Military Veterans since 3 July 2024. She served as the acting president of the Republic of ...

, 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 (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from ...

described Florence Matomela, at the Florence Mathomela Memorial Lecture, as having battled 'triple oppression', i.e. colonial, patriarchal and class domination. The Red Location Museum in New Brighton held a year-long exhibition dedicated to these women of the liberation struggle, by paying tribute to Florence Matomela, 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, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. She was elected councillor under the banner of what was then the new democr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobukwe, Veronica 1927 births 2018 deaths South African anti-apartheid activists Recipients of the Order of Luthuli South African Methodists