Born: 11 November 1901, South Africa
Died: 23 July 1983
Country most active: South Africa
Also known as: Dora Ntloko
As a young woman, South African anti-apartheid activist Dora Tamana lost her father in the 1921 Bulhoek Massacre of the family’s Israelite sect. This trauma would spur her activism, which centered on programs that empowered people (particularly women) to help themselves, including the Cape Town’s Women’s Food Committee, a women’s sewing cooperative, nurseries to provide childcare, and the Cape Flats Distress Association (CAFDA), a group dedicated to improving poor living conditions for African and other communities.
Tamana was also a member of the Communist Party in South Africa (CPSA) and the African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL), eventually becoming acting Secretary. She was a leader in the anti-pass movement, protesting the restriction of Black women’s movement, and became National Secretary of the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) in 1954. In this capacity, she attended the World Congress of Mothers in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1955 with FEDSAW founder Lilian Ngoyi. Due to difficulties activists faced in obtaining passports, the women were smuggled out of the country under false identities. Although successful, Tamana was banned by the South African government from attending political meetings after the Congress. Despite harassment from authorities, she continued her activism into her 70s, establishing the United Women’s Association (later the United Women’s Organization).
In 2015, a park in Cape Town was named in her honor.