1. Lillian Ngoyi was the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, and helped launch the Federation of South African Women.
11 Facts About Lillian Ngoyi
1. 2.
Lillian Ngoyi was the only daughter of Annie and Isaac Matabane, and three brothers, Lawrence, George and Percy.
3.
Lillian Ngoyi's mother worked as a washerwoman and her father was a mineworker.
4.
Lillian Ngoyi joined the ANC Women's League in 1952; she was at that stage a widow with children and an elderly mother to support, and worked as a seamstress.
5.
On 9 August 1956, Lillian Ngoyi led a women's march along with Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Sophia De Bruyn, Motlalepula Chabaku, Bertha Gxowa and Albertina Sisulu of 20,000 women to the Union Buildings of Pretoria in protest against the apartheid government requiring women to carry passbooks as part of the pass laws.
6.
Lilian Lillian Ngoyi was a transnational figure who recognised the potential influence that international support could have on the struggle against apartheid and the emancipation of black women.
7.
Lillian Ngoyi would visit England, Germany, Switzerland, Romania, China and Russia, meeting women leaders often engaged in left-wing politics, before arriving back in South Africa a wanted woman.
8.
Lillian Ngoyi was known as a strong orator and a fiery inspiration to many of her colleagues in the ANC.
9.
Lillian Ngoyi was among the 156 Treason Trialists arrested in December 1956, and was finally acquitted of the charges against her in 1960.
10.
Lillian Ngoyi was rearrested more than once in the early 1960s, and spent 71 days in solitary confinement in 1963.
11.
Lillian Ngoyi spent a total of 15 years living under three five-year banning orders, which included restrictions that confined her to her home in Orlando, Soweto, and prevented her from meeting any other banned persons.