Struggle stalwart, ex-MP Nocwaka Lamani dies aged 90

Struggle stalwart and former MP Nocwaka Lamani died in hospital, in Gqeberha, on Wednesday.

She was 90 years old.

Lamani had been ill for some time, according to a statement from the ANC in the Eastern Cape.

“Lamani is among those selfless South Africans who experienced minimal joy in their lives, due to their decision not to surrender until this country and its people were free from racist oppression.

“She dedicated her life to the liberation struggle of all South Africans and served the South African government in various responsibilities post 1994. She was a well-known activist, dedicated to the cause of liberation of women from patriarchy,” the statement read.

Lamani served as an MP between 1994 until 2004 and served on the health portfolio committee.

Born in 1931 at Pirie Mission, near Qonce, she was the 12th of the 13 children born to Isaac Vantyi, a farmer and Minah Vitsha, a stay-at-home mother.

In 1953, Lamani left the province via boat from Port Elizabeth to Durban to enrol for a nursing training course at McCord Hospital. After completing her studies in 1960, she moved to Gqeberha to live with her sister, Nokuzola Hans in New Brighton.

In the same year, she got a job at the New Brighton Clinic where she later became the head sister.

She married Alfred Zilindile Lamani, AZ as he was affectionately known, and they had four children; Tango, Xhanti, Nombasa and the late Solomzi,

Lamani juggled work between being a nurse and working at a funeral parlour owned by her husband. She retired from nursing when her husband closed the funeral parlour and opened a petrol service station in Zwide Township where she assisted in managing it.

During this time both became involved in community work.

She started as a member of a youth group and later became a member of the Masizakhe Church Club and the Mothers Union.

Her anti-apartheid activism started in the 1980s when she joined the Port Elizabeth Women’s Organisation (Pewo) under the leadership of the late Ivy Gcina.

Her children were in and out of police detention countless times. In 1986, when a state of emergency was declared, Tango was detained for three years together with thousands of other comrades.

During the 1980s political upheavals in Gqeberha, the Lamani home was a shelter for many Cosas, Peyco, Pewo & UDF activists. It was subject to frequent raids by the apartheid security police who were looking for her four children.

In one instance, it got petrol bombed by the security police trying to intimidate the family. They all survived and she continued with her political activism.

She was left to carry her family as a matriarch in 1991 when her husband passed away.

After the 1994 general elections, she was called by the late ANC and struggle icon Govan Mbeki, who was in charge of the ANC regional offices in Gqeberha with Raymond Mhlaba, who told her that she had to prepare to go to parliament.

As an MP, she was part of the formulation of the new constitution, a process led by Cyril Ramaphosa and Roelf Meyer.

She represented the then Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Jansenville constituency, working with Judy Chalmers. She later opened her constituency office eDaku in ward 21, Kwazakhele.

After retirement Lamani did not slow down. She was active in the establishment of the Nelson Mandela Metro’s older people forum — a forum that deals with the promotion of the rights of the elderly. Together with the collective leadership of the regional forum, she was instrumental in influencing the establishment of the provincial older people forum.

“Her commitment and dedication to the liberation of the majority of South Africans will always be cherished. We have lost a spirited and consummate activist and a pioneer health professional who championed the rights of the poor. We have lost a resilient activist, a gallant fighter for the rights of women and children, a fighter for justice and freedom,” the ANC said in the statement.

Lamani is survived by her children, Tango, Xhanti and Nombasa as well as grand and great-grandchildren and nieces.

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