Adelaine Hain

Adelaine "Ad" Florence Hain (born Stocks; 16 February 1927 – 8 September 2019) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. She was a member of the South African Liberal Party and was active in Pretoria. After she and her family left South Africa, she continued to agitate in London. Hain is the mother of British politician Peter Hain, and she worked for him part-time until she was 82.

Biography Hain was born on 16 February 1927 in Port Alfred. She grew up in Mentone, near the Kowie River. The couple both joined the South African Liberal Party in 1954. In 1958, they came back to Pretoria, where they became very involved in the Pretoria chapter of the Liberal Party.

After the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, the family was under increasing surveillance and harassment by the South African police. Despite being banned, Hain continued to fight apartheid, helping to deliver messages to political prisoners and helping one person flee South Africa. The family continued to protest in London, targeting the South African embassy. In London, Hain once found a letter bomb sent by the South African security services in her home. Her husband, Walter, died in 2016. Hain died on 8 September 2019. South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to the family at her death. He said of Hain, "She deserves our respect and gratitude for mobilising her own family as much as she mobilised communities to dismantle apartheid."