Winnie Motlalepula Kgware (1917 – 1998) was a South African

anti-Apartheid activist Several independent sectors of South African society opposed apartheid through various means, including social movements, passive resistance, and guerrilla warfare. Mass action against the ruling National Party (NP) government, coupled with So ...

within the

Black Consciousness Movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Af ...

(BCM). She was elected as the first president of the Black People's Convention (BPC), a BCM-affiliated community-based organisation in 1972.

Early life

Winnie Kgware was born in Thaba 'Nchu in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

in 1917. Growing up in the racially divided Free State, before the institutionalisation of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

through

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, she was politically inclined and encouraged the youth to be active in political structures. Heeding her call, the youth formed a branch of the South African Student Movement and established a School Representative Council (SRC) at Hwiti High School, where struggle icon

Peter Mokaba Peter Mokaba, OLS (7 January 1959 – 9 June 2002) was a member of the South African parliament, deputy minister in the government of Nelson Mandela and president of the South African governing party's youth wing, the ANC Youth League. Th ...

was elected SRC President. As a result of this, when he was only 15 years old, Kgware recruited Peter Mokaba to join the underground movement. Mokaba was subsequently expelled from Hwiti High School because of his involvement in the struggle for liberation. After completing his matric as a private candidate, he did not have funds to pursue tertiary education and as such opted to teach mathematics and sciences at a local school. Kgware intervened and assisted her political mentee with funds to study at university, where he enrolled for a Bachelor of Science in Computer Technology.

Political life

Kgware (then still Winnie Monyatsi) was trained as a teacher and later married Professor WM Kgware, who was appointed the first black rector at the

University of the North The University of Limpopo () is a public university in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2005, by merger of the University of the North and the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA). These previous institutio ...

(Turfloop), where she then took up residence. With the campus being the heart of Black Conscious ideas, Kgware became involved in supporting students in their protests against the Government's restrictions on campus. One of her earliest acts was to organise a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

prayer group in defiance of an order that banned students from worshipping on campus. Beyond this, she gave sustenance to the student movement and allowed her and her husband's residence to be used as a meeting place for the ''University Christian Movement'' (UCM), an organisation that was banned from the campus at the time. Regardless of the age gap between her and her fellow activists, she played a leading role in the launch of the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) in 1968, after its breakaway from the UCM, due to discontent by black activists (including

Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalism, African nationalist and ...

) with the UCM's all-white national executive committee. In 1972, the Black People's Convention (BPC) had its first national conference in

Hammanskraal Hammanskraal is a trans-provincial region anchored in northern Gauteng province, South Africa. The region consists of multiple residential, industrial, and commercial areas in a decentralized settlement pattern. History The historical roots of ...

from 16 to 17 December, with over 1400 delegates in attendance representing 154 groups. At that conference, Winnie Kgware, Madibeng Mokoditoa, Sipho Buthelezi, Mosubudi Mangena and Saths Cooper emerged as president, vice-president, secretary-general, national organiser and public relations officer respectively, making up the inaugural national executive committee of the BPC, an umbrella body of the

then led by

. On 19 October 1977, a few weeks after

’s murder in police custody, 18 BCM-affiliated organisations were banned by the South African government, with BPC amongst these. One incident that stands out in the portrayal of Kgware's sheer determination to render the Apartheid system ungovernable occurred in 1977 when the bus-taking mourners to

’s funeral in Ginsberg, outside of

King Williams Town Qonce, formerly King William's Town, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The town is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. It has a population of around 35,000 inhab ...

, were stopped by security forces. Kgware, then 66 years old, evaded the police and hitched a lift all the way to

to attend Biko's funeral. Some of the lesser-known women with whom Kgware led and served with in the Black Consciousness Movement include

Mamphela Ramphele Mamphela Aletta Ramphele (; born 28 December 1947) is a South African politician, anti-apartheid activist, medical doctor and businesswoman. She was a partner of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, with whom she had two children. She is a form ...

, Deborah Matshoba, Oshadi Mangena, and Nomsizi Kraai. After a long life of teaching and activist work, Kgware died in 1998 at home in North West- Bophuthatswana.

Accolades

In 1998, the Umtapo Centre in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, which claims to be inspired by the

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

of Black Consciousness and founded in memory of the BCM and

AZAPO The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) is a South African liberation movement and political party. The organisation's two student wings are the Azanian Students' Movement (AZASM) for high school learners and the Azanian Students' Convention (A ...

leader Strini Moodley, awarded the Steve Biko Award to Kgware in recognition of her role in the liberation struggle. Later on, in 2003, then President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

conferred, post-humously, the

Order of Luthuli The Order of Luthuli is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003 and is awarded by the President of South Africa for contributions to the struggle for democracy, human rights, nation-building, justice, or peace and conflict ...

to Winnie Kgware for outstanding leadership and lifelong commitment to the ideals of

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

non-racialism Non-racialism, aracialism or antiracialism is a South African ideology rejecting racism and "racialism" while affirming liberal democratic ideals. History Non-racialism became the official state policy of South Africa after April 1994, and it is ...

, peace and justice.South African History Online/ http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/winnie-kgware

External links

The PresidencySteve Biko Foundation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kgware, Winnie 1917 births 1998 deaths South African activists South African anti-apartheid activists South African women activists South African women in politics 20th-century South African politicians Black Consciousness Movement Racism in Africa Recipients of the Order of Luthuli

Early life

Political life

Accolades

See also

External links

References