Lillian Ngoyi: Unknown South African Hero

Lilian Masediba Matabane Ngoyi, "Mma Ngoyi", was a South African anti-apartheid activist. She was the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, and helped launch the Federation of South African Women. Prior to becoming a machinist at a textile mill, where she was employed from 1945 to 1956, Ngoyi enrolled to become a nurse.Ngoyi was born in Bloed Street, Pretoria. She was the only daughter of Annie and Isaac Matabane, and a sister to three brothers, Lawrence, George and Percy. Her grandfather, on her mother's side, was Johannes Mphahlele, a member of the royal Mphahlele household, who became a Methodist evangelist, working alongside Samuel Mathabathe. Ngoyi's mother worked as a washerwoman and her father was a mineworker. Ngoyi attended Kilnerton Primary School until Standard Two. In 1928, she moved to Johannesburg to train as a nurse at City Deep Mine Hospital, and completed three years of training in general nursing. During this time, she met and married a van driver, John Gerard Ngoyi, in 1934. They had a daughter, Edith Ngoyi. Lilian's husband died in a motor car accident in 1937, after which she became a seamstress, working both from home and in garment factories at various times. From the 1950s onwards, she lived in Orlando, Soweto, with her mother and her children. Join the community! Instagram: @discoverafricancinema Website: https://www.discoverafricancinema.com... Facebook: Africa Facts