Dora Tamana

In 2015, a dedication was made in Rondevlei, Cape Town within a public park, officially named after Dora Tamana in honor of her legacy regarding social change and equity among Southern Africans. Dora Ntloko Tamana OLG (11 November 1901 – 23 July 1983) was a prominent South African anti-apartheid activist known for her unwavering commitment to social justice, equality and gender issues. Her life and work were dedicated to challenging the oppressive apartheid regime in South Africa. Her experiences with the injustices perpetrated under apartheid fueled her determination to fight for society where all individuals would be treated equally regardless of race or background. Tamana's efforts contributed to the eventual dismantling of apartheid in South Africa, and challenged rigid gender expectations assented by many in power.

Early life (1901–1921) Dora Ntloko Tamana was born in 1901 to parents Minah and Joel Ntloko. She was the eldest of four children. She described her childhood as a picture of somber and isolation, in an untouched community of Hlobo, Transkei, then part of Cape Colony. Critically, Hlobo was under colonial rule, and faced land dispossession with major migrant labour pressures and missionary schooling influence. Tamana's education consisted of attending school until the fourth standard at 10 years old, however she was mainly self-educated due to education being limited for Black children under colonial education policy.

Career (1930–1981) Dora Tamana's particular interest in activism centered around self-help programs such as a food committee (Cape Town's Women's Food Committee), a women's sewing cooperative, and a childcare program, which sought to have local authorities provide ample supplies. The program was extremely useful during World War II when the Women's Food Committee pressured the government to bring those in need aid, especially among working-class communities. She was an executive member here where she set up vegetable gardens, and arranged for deliveries of fresh milk for the people in the settlements.

Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) and African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL). She became involved with the Communist Party of South Africa, which was banned in 1950 then later reconstructed as the South African Communist Party (SACP) in 1953 and met many prominent figures like Ray Alexander, someone who would become very close to her. This movement focused on issues related to housing and rent. She officially joined in 1942 as an executive member. As part of the Athlone committee for Nursery Education in the Blouvlei settlement in Cape Town, Dora Tamana was able to create nurseries for children while simultaneously creating economic opportunities for women to provide for their families. A community that held a reputation for a shortage in housing and poor sanitation due to lack of resources.

While living in Blouvlei she became more politically active, especially through the South African Communist Party (SACP). In her career, Dora Tamana eventually went on to take higher roles in the African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL). One of her first jobs was going door to door to encourage people to protest against the National Party, a party that caused problems for African Americans through highly restricted legislation. Her political career reached its height when she became acting Secretary. She understood what it meant to come from a poor, rural and working class family. She would describe her political journey as a slow burn that further inflamed as she spent more time with people, learning from them.

Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) It was through Ray Alexander, one of the founders of FEDSAW, in the CPSA where Dora Tamana was able to fully become involved in the anti-apartheid movement. One of her first memorable actions in this role was giving the inaugural conference speech. FEDSAW had international relationships with the WIDF, which allowed her to go to the World Congress of Mothers in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1955. Although Tamana's work was vital, she is not inherently recognized as a founding member of FEDSAW in many major sources, she is instead noticed as a fundamental organizer, especially in terms of social class workers.

World Congress of Mothers 1955 The Federation of South African Women chose two delegates to attend the Congress of Mothers organized by the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) in 1955. Dora Tamana accompanies fellow delegate and founder of FEDSAW, Lilian Ngoyi to the Congress. The journey to the Congress of Mothers was not easy. Neither she nor Ngoyi had official passports since it was hard for women associated within this work to obtain one. Tamana and Ngoyi stowed away on a boat leaving Cape Town for Britain under false identities.

Relationship with Lilian Ngoyi Dora Tamana's relationship with Lilian Ngoyi reflected an aligned partnership within the Federation of South African Women that worked endlessly to bridge communities, and national leadership. In her sixties, she served two jail sentences for her activism, and her son Bothwell was imprisoned and sentenced to death, which was later changed to life imprisonment (he was later released, after Zimbabwe's independence). You who have no words, speak. You who have no homes, speak. You who have no schools, speak. You who have to run like chickens from the vulture, speak. Let us share our problems so that we can solve them together. We must free ourselves.

Influence on urban life and activism Like mentioned before, Dora Tamana's influence in terms of urban life and activism extends deeply into working-class Black residents, particularly townships like the Cape Flats. Among the many mobilization she undertook, she organized aid around food insecurity, loss wages, and labor rights. Her efforts specifically reflect the realties of urban poverty under apartheid. Likewise, her emphasis on labor activism and women's movements was closely intertwined with the development of grassroots in terms of political consciousness, particularly among ordinary people.

While her work was enormous during apartheid, Tamana's involvement among the Black working class was remarkable. Simultaneously facilitating a foundation for mass urban resistance, while also fighting against apartheid.

Personal life After her father's death, Dora Ntloko had moved to Queenstown by the 1930s. She married John Tamana, with whom she had four children with, but only one survived infancy.

Her efforts were also recognized on a level of academic commemorations, where Safundi: The Journal of South African and American Studies has published her work and analyzed her, by way of activism throughout the apartheid regime. Tamana's legacy has been preserved at a scholarly level, examining both her transnational activism and her work among the African women's political movement.