Ida Fiyo Mntwana

Born: 5 August 1903
Died: 1960
Updated: 20 Jul 2026

Summary

First president of the African National Congress Women’s League, elected to the ANC Executive Committee, National president of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW), defendants in the 1956 Treason Trial.

Ida was born in 1903 and worked as a dressmaker. She was the first president of the African National Congress Women’s League and a leader of many mass women’s demonstrations from Western Native Township. She was elected into the African National Executive Committee (ANC) Executive Committee during the 1950s, and in 1954 was also elected as National president of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW), a position she held until 1956. She led the women’s anti-pass demonstrations of the 1950s and was instrumental in the organisation of the Congress of the People. In 1956, Ida was also one of the defendants in the marathon Treason Trial. Ida died in 1960.

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, August 27). Ida Fiyo Mntwana. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0067964

South African History Online (2011) 'Ida Fiyo Mntwana', South African History Online, 27 August. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0067964 (Accessed: 21 July 2026).

South African History Online, Ida Fiyo Mntwana [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0067964, (accessed 21 July 2026).

"Ida Fiyo Mntwana." South African History Online, 27 Aug. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0067964. Accessed 21 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Ida Fiyo Mntwana." South African History Online. August 27, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/B-0067964.