Dorothy Nyembe

Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe (December 31, 1931 – December 17, 1998) was a South African activist and politician.

Biography
Born near Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal, Nyembe was the daughter of Leeya Basolise Nyembe, whose father was Chief Ngedee Shezi. She attended mission schools until Standard 9. She had her only child when she was fifteen. A hawker by trade, she joined the African National Congress in 1952 and soon became an active member. She led women from Natal in the Defiance Campaign of 1956. She was also active in the movement to boycott beer halls. In 1959 she was elected president of the Natal division of the African National Congress Women's League. When the ANC was banned in 1960, she joined Spear of the Nation. In 1963 she led women during the Natal Women's Revolt.

Nyembe spent much of her life under apartheid either under banning orders or in prison, serving terms from 1963 to 1966 and again from 1968 until 1983. Nyembe joined the Natal Organisation of Women (NOW) after her 1984 release. She was again released from detention in 1987. She was elected to the National Assembly in 1994.

During her career she received the Order of Friendship of Peoples, from the Soviet Union, and the Chief Albert Luthuli prize, the latter in 1992.