31 August 2012

On 31 August 2012, anti-Apartheid activist Sister Bernard Ncube died at the age of 80. She was a practicing Roman Catholic nun and was recruited into the anti-Apartheid struggle by Albertina Sisulu. Despite reservations from the church, Sister Ncube used her faith to defend her activism and was outspoken about the human rights abuses of the Apartheid state, the dangers of capitalism, and the importance of reproductive rights.

Sister Ncube was detained at various times throughout her life; her longest prison sentence lasting over a year in solitary confinement. She was informally known as the ‘commie nun’ who was the first sister to be arrested in South Africa. Her threat to the Apartheid state was evidenced in 1986 when the security police bombed the nunnery in which she was cloistered. Nevertheless, she persisted and was an active member of the United Democratic Front. In the late 1980s, Sister Ncube was one of the founding members of the Mandela Crisis Committee alongside Reverend Frank Chikane and Cyril Ramaphosa.

The Committee was formed in response to the brutality of the ‘Mandela United Football Club’ in Soweto under the alleged guidance of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. After being elected to parliament in 1994, Sister Ncube chaired the portfolio committee on Arts and Culture and was elected mayor of the West Rand municipality in 2002. She continued to be active in politics throughout her life despite the church maintaining that nuns should not be politically active. She further distanced herself from the church by being a strong proponent of abortion and supporting the 1996 Choice of Termination Act. Her funeral was held at the Regina Mundi Church where President Jacob Zuma paid tribute to her saying that “South Africa has lost a compassionate human being who was fearless and never relented in her convictions”.

References

Sapa, “Zuma Saddened by Death of Sister Ncube”, Mail & Guardian Online. 1 September 2012, https://mg.co.za/article/2012-09-01-zuma-saddened-by-death-of-sister-ncube|Sunday Times, “Sister Bernard Ncube”, The Pressreader, 9 September 2012. https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/sunday-times/20120909/281934540135024|South African History Online, “Sister Bernard Ncube”, South African History Online, 17 Feb 2011. https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/sister-bernard-ncube|The Star, “Sister Bernard Ncube: Obituary: 1932-2012”, IOL. 6 September 2012. https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/sister-bernard-ncube-obituary-1932-2012-1376884