Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa

Media statement 

Wednesday, 22 August 2018 

As the country holds the memorial service of the struggle heroine uMama Zondeni Veronica Sobukhwe in Graaff-Reinet today following hear passing last week, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) equally pays its last respect to this gallant nursing stalwart whose struggle footprint speaks volumes about her unwavering opposition to all forms of injustice.

She showed her determination to fighting the then injustice and unfairness in the profession in the apartheid days from as early as 1949, a year after the National Party gained political control of the country, when she was still a student nurse and at the time it was unthinkable for one to do so.

While many would knew her as the wife of Robert Mangaliso Sobukhwe, the former leader of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), the reality is that she was a leader in her own right, who waged the struggle against unfair treatment of black nurses from as early as 1949 when she was serving as a student nurse at Victoria Hospital in Lovedale. 

She was fearless in waging and leading the struggle and strike against unfair labour practices at the hospital to management whilst a student nurse, and this is how she met her husband, Robert Sobukhwe, who was then the SRC President at the University of Fort Hare. They got married a year later. 

While there are still many challenges that face student nurses and nursing profession today, the nursing profession is honoured to have had a fearless leader in the mould of Zondeni who stood tall in challenging what was systematically designed to make black nurses inferior merely on the basis of the colour of their skin.

DENOSA would also like to point out that Zondeni put her profession to good use and saved many lives during the times when apartheid forces were running havoc in black communities using maximum force against protesters of the apartheid system, as she would render healthcare service to the injured and critical.

Equally, her younger sister, Florence Rebeiro, who was a professional nurse herself and who had married a medical doctor, were also of great service to communities during the struggle days as they would render healthcare service to the injured communities free of charge during public protests and strikes. They paid a heavy prize as they were murdered in the 1980s because of their work. 

As a nursing organisation, DENOSA pays its special tribute to Mama Zondeni for her fearless and selfless leadership and service to humanity, at the time it was most challenging for black professionals like her to have done without paying a heavy prize for their activism. 

May her Soul Rest in Peace. 

Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) 

For more information, contact:

Cassim Lekhoathi, DENOSA Acting General Secretary

Mobile: 082 328 9671 

Or

Simon Hlungwani, DENOSA President 

Mobile: 082 328 9636 

Website: www.denosa.org.za

Facebook: DENOSA National Page 

Twitter: @DENOSAORG