Anti-apartheid veteran Naidoo's death marks loss of liberation struggle icon

PRETORIA - Shantavothie “Shanthie” Naidoo Tweedie, born in Pretoria in 1935 and one of the most enduring figures in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, died at age 91. President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a tribute on Friday honoring her life, describing her as “a hero who followed in the footsteps of her politically active family and sacrificially devoted her extended life to fighting for a free, non-racial South Africa.”

Naidoo Tweedie’s activism took root while she was still in school. She went on to become a central figure in the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress, the Federation of South African Women, the South African Congress of Trade Unions, and the African National Congress. The breadth of that organizational reach reflected a deliberate strategy: building opposition to apartheid across racial and sectoral lines simultaneously.

The apartheid state responded with force. She endured repeated detention, including solitary confinement under the Terrorism Act, and faced banning orders restricting her movement and associations. On one occasion, she spent two months in prison after refusing to testify against Winnie Mandela and 21 other comrades charged with furthering ANC objectives. The government initially barred her from leaving South Africa altogether, relenting only after sustained domestic and international pressure, including a campaign led by former liberal Member of Parliament Helen Suzman.

In 1972, she went into exile in the United Kingdom. She and her husband, Dominic Tweedie, eventually worked for the ANC at the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Tanzania. She remained outside South Africa’s borders until 1991, nearly two decades of continued political work from afar.

Ramaphosa’s statement framed her passing as a moment for national reflection on the sacrifices made by those who sustained the liberation struggle. The timing carried particular weight: her death fell on the eve of Women’s Month, which prompted the President to connect her legacy to the wider history of women’s resistance. He referenced the historic march of 20,000 women to the Union Buildings, placing Naidoo Tweedie within a continuum of female activism that reshaped South African society.

The President conveyed condolences to her husband, the Naidoo family, and her friends and comrades. His call to action was direct. “We can only repay Shanthie Naidoo Tweedie by honouring her sacrifice and leadership, and continuing to make South Africa a nation that works for all, and especially women,” Ramaphosa stated, framing her legacy not as a closed chapter but as an ongoing obligation for the living.

Whether the institutions she helped build can yet deliver the inclusive society she spent nearly a century working toward remains the open question her death leaves behind.