Victoria Mxenge

Victoria Nonyamezelo Mxenge (1 January 1942, King William's Town, Cape Province – 1 August 1985, Umlazi, Durban, Natal) was a South African anti-apartheid activist; she was trained as a nurse and midwife, and later began practising law.

Mxenge was murdered in August 1985, gunned down by four black men as she returned from a political meeting. She was killed on her driveway in Umlazi in front of her own children. The men were thought to be part of a government death squad. After her death, more than 1,000 students marched in Durban in protest and were "dispersed by police using dogs and clubs." During their marriage, her husband faced various government-sanctioned bans and detentions. was attended by 10,000 people, and letters of condolence were received from Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo amongst others. After her funeral, mourners in Duncan Village took to the streets and vandalised public property. This resulted in clashes between the police and residents which left nine people dead and 138 injured.

In 1987, South African magistrates claimed that she had died from "head injuries and had been murdered by person unknown". The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Report on the assassination of Victoria Mxenge documents that Marvin Sefako (alias Bongi Raymond Malinga) was allegedly recruited by the security branch and that Brigadier Peter Swanepoel was his handler. Malinga confessed that he had killed Mxenge.

Legacy

In October 2005, the South African Ministry of the Environment launched the third and final s named Victoria Mxenge in her honor. The Victoria Mxenge Group of Advocates was officially established on 1 July 2011 and is part of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates.

In popular culture

Victoria Mxenge was mentioned alongside other anti-apartheid activists Steve Biko and Neil Aggett in the 1987 song Asimbonanga by the South African band Savuka, composed by Johnny Clegg and dedicated to Nelson Mandela.