Eva Krotoa
1643-1674
The only slave, from the time, of whom there is a portrait.
Anna De Koningh
1656-1734
She is the first young girl taken into a European household as a maid; one of the first interpreters between the Fort and the Peninsular Khoikhoi.
Sarah Baartman
1789-1815
Baartman was exhibited as freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe.
Charlotte Maxeke
1874-1939
The first black woman to hold a graduate degree.
Anna Tempo
1870-1946
Christian missionary who dedicated her life to helping the downtrodden, especially women prostitutes in Cape Town.
Cissie Gool
1897-1963
Leader of the National Liberation League (NLL) and Non-Europe United Front (NEUF), advocate and representative on the Cape Town City Council.
Frances Baard
1909-1997
Organiser of the African National Congress (ANC) Women’s League and Trade Unionist.
Florence Matomela
1910-1969
Teacher, anti-pass activist, and civil rights campaigner.
Lilian Ngoyi
1911-1980
A South African anti-apartheid activist; she was the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, and helped launch the Federation of South African Women.
Albertina Sisulu
1944-2003
Albertina Sisulu ‘the mother of the nation,’ activist and nurse, who has struggled for human rights and dignity her whole life.
Rahima Moosa
1922-1993
A member of the Transvaal Indian Congress and later the African National Congress. She is well known for the role she played in the national uprising of women on 9 August 1956.
Miriam Makeba
1932-2008
Makeba was the first vocalist to put African music onto the international map in the 1960s. Makeba is well known throughout the world known as ‘Mama Africa’ and the ‘Empress of African Song.’
Esther Mahlangu
1935
She is known for her bold large-scale modern paintings that reference her Ndebele heritage.
Winnie Madikizela-
Mandela, 1936-2018
An anti-apartheid activist and politician. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2003, and from 2009 until her death, and was a deputy minister of arts and culture from 1994 to 1996.
Sophia Williams-
De Bruyn, 1938
A former South African anti-apartheid activist. She was the first recipient of the Women’s Award for exceptional national service and is the last living leader of the Women’s March.
Navanethem Pillay
1941
A South African jurist who served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014.
Sizani Ngubane
1946
The founder of the Rural Women’s Movement in 1990 which later became the National Movement of Rural Women.
Nonkuleleko Nyembezi-
Heita, 1960
A South African business executive who has been active in steel, tele-communications and finance
Brenda Fassie
1964-2004
An anti-apartheid Afropop singer, songwriter, dancer and activist. She was sometimes described as the Queen of African Pop, the Madonna of The Townships or simply as The Black Madonna.
Irene Grootboom
1969-2008
A South African housing rights activist best known for her victory before the Constitutional Court in 2000.
Zanele Muhloli
1972
A South African artist and visual activist working in photography, video, and installation.
Billie Zangewa
1973
A half Malawian half South African artist who works on silk fabrics. Since 2004, her art has featured in international exhibitions including at the Paris Art Fair at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Dineo Seshee Bopape
1981
A South African multimedia artist whose work ‘engages with powerful socio-political notions of memory, narration and representation.’
Mary Sibande
1982
A South African artist, based in Johannesburg. Her art explores the construction of identity in a postcolonial South African context.
Lady Skollie
1987
A feminist artist and activist from Cape Town, South Africa.
Caster Semenya
1991
A South African middle-distance runner and 2016 Olympic gold medalist.
Sho Madjozi
1992
A South African rapper, singer, songwriter, actress and poet. Regarded as one of the best performers in Africa, Madjozi incorporates the Tsonga culture through her music.
Zozibini Tunzi
1993
A South African model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2019.
Tony Gum
1995
A photographer and artist who wrestles with the infinite existence of womanhood, femininity, loss and solace.
Zoe Modiga
1996
An artist who represents the present and future of African music drawing from the roots of African storytelling.