Inka Mars

Inka Mars (née Deppisch; 7 August 1928 – 18 October 2017) was a German-born South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inkatha Freedom Party from 1994 to 2009. Prior to her election to parliament, she worked for the Red Cross.

Early life Inka Deppisch was born on 7 August 1928 in Hamburg in the Weimar Republic. She was 11 years old when World War II began and spent the duration of the war in Hamburg, which was bombed by the Allies. After the war, she moved to London in the United Kingdom and worked as an au pair for a Jewish couple. She met Paul Ernst Mars, a medical doctor, in London and they subsequently married. They moved to South Africa in 1951 during the early years of apartheid. Mars opposed apartheid and was outraged by the closure of missionary schools and the implementation of Bantu education. She was 89 years old. Mars is survived by her two children.