Born on 25 April 1932, the daughter of Banoo (born Bodhadwala) and Nassarwangee Sohrabji Ginwala, Frene Ginwala travelled abroad to study law at the University of London where she completed her LLB. She returned to South Africa to complete her legal training at a time when it was becoming clear that the South African government would outlaw the African National Congress (ANC).

The leadership of the organisation had started to make arrangements for an ANC office to be established outside the country and on 22 March 1960, immediately after the Sharpeville massacre, Ginwala was asked by the ANC to leave South Africa for Mozambique where her parents resided, and to assist in smuggling the ANC deputy president, Oliver Tambo, out of the country. While in Maputo (then Lourenco Marques) she heard that the ANC acting president, Oliver Tambo, had left South Africa and was in Botswana.

Ginwala then travelled to Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, where she made arrangements for Tambo, Congress activists, Ronald Segal, Yusuf Dadoo, and herself to travel to Tanzania to establish an ANC office in exile. Because of the state of emergency in South Africa at the time Ginwala could not return. 

Ginwala subsequently arranged for other ANC leaders including Nelson Mandela, Andrew Mlangeni, Raymond Mhlaba and Wilton Mkwayi, to travel out of South Africa clandestinely, and return in the same way.

In Tanzania Ginwala established a monthly journal, Spearhead, and worked as a journalist until she was deported and declared a prohibited immigrant. At the time she had injured her leg in an accident and was hospitalised in the United Kingdom. When she was permitted to return to Tanzania, Ginwala did not return immediately as her injuries required bone grafts. She then began producing radio programmes and writing scripts for a non-profit organisation, which had produced cultural programmes for Africans.

While in the United Kingdom Ginwala gave lectures to trainee diplomas at Oxford University and was eventually admitted to study at the university. She began her studies in the late 1960s but they were interrupted in 1969 when President Nyerere of Tanzania asked her to become managing editor of the national English-language newspaper, The Standard, which was to be nationalised. Although government-owned, the newspaper was given a charter to enable it to be independent. With the support of Oliver Tambo, Ginwala accepted the position. She also worked as a freelance journalist in East Africa for British newspapers, including The Guardian, The Observer and The Economist as well as for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Ginwala held the position of managing editor of the monthly political journal, Spearhead, until 1972 when she was dismissed for publishing an article attacking General Mamare who had executed members of the Communist Party in Sudan. She had been unaware that she was due to pay a state visit to Tanzania. Ginwala returned to Oxford and completed her DPhil. She then obtained legal chambers with the aim of establishing her own legal practice.

In 1974, after the coup in Portugal, Ginwala returned to Mozambique to see her parents. As a result of political changes in the region, it was decided that she should work full-time for the ANC and she was asked to assist in establishing its Department of Information and Publicity. She never returned to pursue her legal career.

Ginwala worked in Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and the United Kingdom as an ANC official and as journalist and broadcaster in East Africa and Europe. She also lectured at universities and institutions in a number of countries and participated at various United Nations, Unesco and other international conferences on South Africa, covering conflict research, women's issues, development and technology transfer. She was one of 14 international experts invited to advise the director-general on Unesco's programme on Peace and Conflict Research (1987-88).

Prior to her return from exile in 1991, Ginwala was head of the Political Research Unit in the office of President Tambo where she conducted research focusing on the transfer of military and nuclear technology. She also served as ANC spokesperson in the United Kingdom on sanctions, the nuclear programme and the arms and oil embargo relating to South Africa.

After she returned to South Africa in 1991 Ginwala formed part of the task force to establish the ANC Women's League in South Africa. She helped to set up the Women's National Coalition, which was made up of organisations from across the political spectrum with the aim of drawing up a women's charter and was elected its national convenor. She has also held the following positions: member of the secretariat in the ANC president's office: member of the ANC's negotiating team at the Convention for a committee on the Independent Electoral Commission set up by the Multi-party Negotiating Forum in 1993.

Ginwala stood as an ANC candidate for the national assembly in the April 1994 general elections and became a member of parliament. She was then elected speaker of the national assembly. In this capacity, she has been instrumental in many of the changes in parliament, which have opened up the committee process to the public and the press: eased the dress codes; and relaxed restrictions regarding entrance to the public gallery.

In addition, Ginwala has served as head of the ANC's research department and as its representative on the Science and Technology Initiative. At present she is deputy head of the ANC Commission on the Emancipation of Women; member of the board of Land and Agriculture Policy Centre; member of the board of the Group for Environmental Monitoring; trustee of the Govan Mbeki Fellowship (University of Fort Hare) Multi-media Trust; and trustee of the Democratic Media Trust.

Ginwala widely published on anti-apartheid and women's issues. Some of her publications include:

• Indian South Africans: Minority Rights Commission
• Press in South Africa: United Nations
• Workers Under Apartheid: United Nations
• Women Under Apartheid: Unesco (co-author)
• Sanctions in South Africa in Question: John Lonsdale (ed), Heineman London
• Gender and Economic Policy in a Democratic South Africa: Ginwala, Mackintosh and Massey. Open University UK
• Women and the Elephant, Putting Women on the Agenda, Raven, Johannesburg
• Women and the African National Congress: 1912-1943, Agenda, No 8, 1990

At the ANC's December 1994 congress held in Bloemfontein, Ginwala was elected to the party's national executive committee. In February 1995 she was elected to the organisation's national working committee.

Ginwala has also received the following awards:

• LL D - Honoris causa (University of Natal) (20 April 1996)
• LL D - Honoris causa (Rhodes University) (12 April 1996)
• LL D - Honoris causa (University of Cape Town) (1997)

Her other activities include:

• Member of the Technical Committee on the Independent Electoral Commission at the Multi-Party Negotiations Forum
• Founder member and later elected as National Convenor of the Women's economic, social and religious spheres
• Invited to lead the UNDPs Women's Programme on International Women's Day, Copenhagen (1995)
• Led South African Parliamentary delegations to India (November 1995) and to Zimbabwe (July 1996)
• Led the South African Parliamentary Delegation to the Beijing Conference and chaired an IPU panel discussion on Discrimination Against Women and the Rights of the Child

Patron of the following:

• Group for Environmental Monitoring (GEM) Trust
• The President's Award
• National Water Conservation Campaign
• Presented at various United Nation, UNESCO and other national and international conferences

Ginwala currently holds the following positions:

• Speaker of the National Assembly of the South African Government (since 1994)
• Member of the Constitutional Committee of the Constitutional Assembly
• Member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ANC
• Member of the ANC Constitutional Commission
• Convener of NEC Sub-committee on Governance and Legislature
• Chairperson, ANC Committee responsible for retrieval and deposit of ANC archives
• Member of joint ANC Forth Hare Committee for the management of ANC Archives
• Member of the Informal Advisory Group to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
• Co-Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (South Africa branch) and the International Parliamentary Union (South Africa branch)
• Member of the Board of Directors, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)
• Trustee: Govan Mbeki Trust, University of Fort Hare.

References

• Who's who in South African Politics: Number 5, Shielagh Gastrow, and Pg 77-9

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