Ntombi Shope
Member of the National Assembly
In office
9 May 1994 – 13 August 2003
Personal details
Born(1950-04-15)15 April 1950
Tzaneen, Northern Transvaal
Union of South Africa
Died13 August 2003(2003-08-13) (aged 53)
Political partyAfrican National Congress
RelationsSheila Sithole (sister)
ParentMark Shope (father)

Ntombi Regan Shope (15 April 1950 – 13 August 2003) was a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 until her death in August 2003. During apartheid, she was a member of the United Democratic Front in the Transvaal and served a three-year prison sentence for aiding the ANC.

Early life and activism

Shope was born on 15 April 1950[1] in Tzaneen in the former Transvaal.[2] Her father was trade unionist Mark Shope, a Treason Triallist who went into exile abroad after the ANC was banned in 1960;[3] her sister, Sheila Sithole, was also an activist and ANC politician.[4]

In the early 1980s, Shope was active in the anti-apartheid movement through the Azanian Students' Organisation, the Federation of South African Women, and the United Democratic Front.[2] In 1984 to 1985, she was trialled in a high-profile criminal trial,[5] in which she was charged and then convicted of being a member of the ANC, of recruiting for the ANC, of keeping a dead letter box for transmitting messages to activists abroad, and of possessing banned literature.[3] In late January 1985, she was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.[3] Her cousin, Emma Ntimbane, was also jailed for refusing to testify against her.[3] At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ten years later, a South African Police officer applied for amnesty for having tortured Shope in detention.[6]

Parliament: 1994–2003

After the ANC was unbanned in 1990, Shope became active in the ANC Women's League,[7] which Nelson Diale later described as "her political home".[2] In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, she was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly.[8] She was re-elected in 1999.[1] She died close to the end of her second term on 13 August 2003.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Motion of Condolence: The late Mrs Ntombi Shope". People's Assembly. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 South Africa 1984: Renewed Resistance, Increased Repression (PDF). Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. 1985. pp. 17–18. ISSN 0887-8706. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "International Children's Day (Debate)". People's Assembly. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Karis, Thomas; Gerhart, Gail M.; Glaser, Clive (2010). From Protest to Challenge: A Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa, 1882-1990. Challenge and victory, 1980-1990. Indiana University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-253-35422-8.
  6. ↑ "TRC Final Report Volume 2, Section 1". Truth Commission Special Report. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  7. ↑ Meer, Shamim (1998). Women Speak: Reflections on Our Struggles, 1982-1997. Oxfam. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-85598-416-8.
  8. ↑ South Africa: Campaign and Election Report April 26–29, 1994. International Republican Institute. 1994. Retrieved 13 April 2023 – via Yumpu.
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