In its October postgraduate commencement, Rhodes University will bestow an honour of Doctor
of Laws (honoris causa) on journalist and anti-apartheid activist and High Commissioner to
Namibiza, Thenjiwe Mtintso. Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sizwe Mabizela mentioned the honour
was in recognition and celebration of Mtintso’s lengthy and sustained contribution as a
devoted freedom fighter and a dedicated gender activist.
“Our nation owes her an unpayable debt of gratitude and appreciation for all the sacrifices
she has made throughout her life as a dedicated human rights and gender activist. She gave a
voice to the many who had been rendered voiceless by the iniquitous and oppressive system
of apartheid. I am delighted that the Rhodes University community has seen it fit to honour
her sustained and significant contributions by the award of an Honorary Doctorate and
warmly congratulate her on this richly deserved recognition and notable achievement,” mentioned
Professor Mabizela.
High Commissioner Thenjiwe Mtintso was born on 7 November 1950
in Soweto, Johannesburg, the place she grew up. Her mom, Hanna Mtintso, was a home
employee, and her father, Gana Makabeni, was a commerce unionist and a member of the African
National Congress (ANC). Due to monetary constraints, she was compelled to go away college and
work full-time in numerous factories to finance her part-time research at secondary college. She
matriculated at Damelin College and went to review Bachelor of Social Science diploma on the
University of Fort Hare.
Being born to an activist father, it was not stunning that at college, she grew to become a member
of the South African Student Organisation (SASO) and Black Consciousness Movement. Her
activism in scholar politics led to her being detained a number of instances by the safety police in
the Seventies and her eventual expulsion from the University of Fort Hare.
After being expelled for political actions, she moved to King Williams Town and labored
as a political organiser with the Black Consciousness Movement leaders Steve
Biko and Mamphela Ramphele. She was additionally a reporter for the Daily Dispatch, a liberal
newspaper edited by an antiapartheid campaigner Donald Woods. During the Seventies, she was
subjected to banning, detentions, solitary confinement, and extreme torture by the South
African police. After Biko was murdered whereas in police custody, she went into exile in 1978.
While in exile, she joined the ANC and its navy wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK). She
underwent navy coaching and rose via the ranks to develop into a commander of MK. She
was despatched for additional coaching in Cuba on the Fé del Valle School. After receiving navy
coaching, she labored in Lesotho with the Regional Political-Military Council, which
coordinated the ANC’s political and navy actions in that nation. She later served as
head of the Regional Political-Military Council in Botswana (1986–1989) and because the ANC’s
first chief consultant to Uganda (1989–1991).
Mtintso remained in exile till 1992, when she returned to South Africa and enrolled for her
Bachelor of Arts diploma in Political Science and Sociology on the University of
Witwatersrand. She was appointed into the Transitional Executive Committee and thus
grew to become an lively participant within the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA)
negotiations. After the primary democratic elections in April 1994, she grew to become an ANC Member
of Parliament.
Mtintso turned down a suggestion of a ministry and selected to not contest her seat once more. She was
elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in 1994, 1997, and 2002. In March 1997,
Mtintso was appointed the primary chair of South Africa’s Commission on Gender Equality and
chairperson of the board of Gender Links. She resigned a 12 months later after being elected because the
first girl ANC Deputy Secretary-General in December. Mtintso additionally served as a member
of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP). Meanwhile, she
additionally enrolled for a Master of Arts (MA) diploma on the University of the Witwatersrand in
1998.
In 2004 she resigned from being the ANC Deputy Secretary-General, partly due to
persevering with well being issues brought on by her torture. She served as South Africa’s ambassador
to Cuba (2003–2008), Italy (2009–2012), Romania (2014–2016), and Spain (2019–2022). In
addition, Mtintso was South Africa’s excessive commissioner to Malawi from 2016 to 2019. In
2022, she was appointed South Africa’s High Commissioner to Namibia.
Mtintso has been lively in numerous gender and girls’s constructions all through her life. She
has engaged in gender coaching, particularly for ladies in politics in Africa. She has written
articles printed in numerous native and worldwide publications on girls, patriarchy,
gender relations and defence. She has offered papers and participated in numerous nationwide
and worldwide workshops, seminars and conferences on girls, gender, democracy, and
defence.
This fearless freedom fighter will likely be honoured on Friday, 14 October 2022 on the 1820
Settler’s Monument in Makhanda.