Elizabeth Mafikeng was born in 1918 in Tarkastad and attended school until Standard 7. Living conditions in her birthplace forced her to leave for Paarl in Cape Town in early 1930s. In 1935 she started working in a canning factory where she peeled fruit. She worked in the industry until Pass Laws were introduced. She thus became actively involved politics to fight the injustice brought about by these laws. She first rose to the position of National Vice-President of the ANC Women's League and later elected into the National Executive Committee of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) in the 1940s.

In 1952 Mafikeng participated in the African National Congress (ANC) led Defiance Campaign and SACTU 1957 'Pound a day' Campaign. Mafikeng also served as the president of the militant South African Food and Canning Workers Union and Paarl branch secretary of the Food Workers Union.

In 1955 she skipped the country without legal papers to represent the Food Workers Union at a trade union conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria. She was met by the police brutality upon her return from the conference. Police sought to know what was her business at the conference. There was an attempt to deport her to a remote area in the Northern Cape. On the night of her deportation the union leadership organised a large number of workers to bid her safe journey.

She got onto a train and started waving farewell. She quietly walked two coaches and jumped off the train unnoticed. She was whisked to Lesotho and sought political refuge in there to avoid deportation.

In honour of all the work she did, Mafikeng was awarded with Meritorious Service posthumously.

References

•  
  • Gerhart G.M and Karis T. (ed)(1977). From Protest to challenge: A documentary History of African Politics in South Africa: 1882-1964, Vol.4 Political Profiles 1882 - 1964. Hoover Institution Pres: Stanford University.
  • Shope G.N. (2002). Malibongwe. Celebrating Our Unsung Heroines, p. 28.
  • FAWU Tributes: Elizabeth Mafikeng [Online]. Available at: fawu.org.za/ [Accessed 23 August 2010]
back to top