Born: 21 August 1950, South Africa
Died: 3 December 2025
Country most active: South Africa
Also known as: Colleen Rayson
The following, “Colleen Lombard,” is republished from South African History Online in line with the SAHO Copyright, Disclaimer & Privacy policy.
Colleen Lombard (previously known as Colleen Rayson), an anti-apartheid activist, former political detainee, and treason trialist, was born in Wynberg, Cape Town, Western Cape, on 21 August 1950.
Lombard attended St Matthew’s Primary School and St Matthew’s Anglican Church in Claremont, Cape Town, before moving on to Oaklands High School in Lansdowne. She left school in Standard 9 (Grade 12) and later completed a secretarial course.
In 1970, Colleen married the jazz promoter and photographer, Rashid Lombard. Rashid passed away on 4 June 2025.
In 1984, Lombard became Treasurer of the Clothing Workers’ Union (CLOWU) and its administrative secretary in 1985. In 1986, she took on the role of part-time administrator with the Churches Urban Planning Commission (CUPC), a service and developmental organisation in Cape Town.
Bongani Jonas, a commander of the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) armed wing uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), recruited Colleen Lombard in 1987 to assist young ANC members fleeing the country for military training.
During one such mission, Lombard was arrested at the Lesotho border alongside the late Zurayah Abass. They were detained under Section 29 of the Internal Security Act, which allowed for incommunicado detention without the right to legal representation.
Lombard was released from detention on 29 January 1988 but was subjected to strict conditions, including mandatory reporting to the Guguletu Police Station.
Shortly thereafter, she and 11 other ANC members were put on trial for high treason as part of a group known as the “Yengeni Trialists.” The state later changed the charges to “terrorism,” but Lombard and her fellow accused remained defiant.
During the trial in the Cape Town Supreme Court, the accused refused to plead and instead Tony Yengeni read a statement which ended:
The state, therefore, stands accused of treason, and the people do not and will not withdraw that charge. As for the charge we now face, we again say that it is the state that stands accused.
In February 1990, the defence team won significant legal rulings, leading to the withdrawal of charges against eight of the trialists, including Lombard, who was released immediately.
The trial against the remaining six trialists continued for another year before all charges were eventually withdrawn on 19 March 1991.
In 2021, Colleen published her memoir, To the Moon and Back: A Detention Memoir.
Colleen Lombard passed away in Cape Town, Western Cape, on 3 December 2025.
In a statement issued by the family, Shadley Lombard, Colleen’s son, said Colleen leaves behind her three children, Chevan, Shadley, and Yana, and her grandchildren Liya, Ayden, Oliver, Amir, and Stella. Her granddaughter, Hannah, passed away in 2002.