Florence Mophosho

Mophosho was born in 1921 in Alexandra, a township outside Johannesburg in the former Transvaal. Her father was chronically ill and her mother, though trained as a teacher, worked as a domestic worker. The eldest of three siblings, Mophosho left school at Standard Six to enter the workforce, first as a domestic worker and then as a worker in a garment factory. She joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1952, inspired by the party's Defiance Campaign of that year. She became involved in organising the ANC's next major campaign, the 1955 Congress of the People; she travelled Alexandra soliciting residents' proposals for the Freedom Charter. She also joined the ANC Women's League and was a member of the executive of the Federation of South African Women; in that capacity, she helped organise the national Women's March of 1956. The following year, she was a member of the committee that organised the Alexandra bus boycott. Later described by Maggie Resha as "a magic organiser", Mophosho ultimately became a full-time organiser for the ANC. She was arrested in 1958 during a women's anti-dompas protest in Johannesburg. == Activism in exile ==

Women's International Democratic Federation After the ANC was outlawed in 1960, Mophosho continued to work for the organisation underground, though she was arrested on several occasions and served with a banning order in 1964. Later in 1964, Over the next decade, Mophosho travelled extensively to represent the ANC abroad, including at the All-Africa Women's Conference of 1972, and she received military training in Lusaka in 1978. and, with her secretary Gertrude Shope, she established Voice of the Women, a publication for ANC women. In addition, she was co-opted onto the ANC National Executive Committee in 1975. gaining direct election in 1985. == Personal life and death ==

Mosphosho had children, who were raised by her family inside South Africa. In April 2007, she was awarded the Order of Luthuli by Thabo Mbeki, the second post-apartheid president, for:Her excellent contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle, braving police harassment to mobilise society for a just and democratic South Africa, and striving for gender equality. == References ==