Helen Joseph: One who risked it all

Born April 8, 1905, in a village in West Sussex, England, Helen Joseph spent most of her childhood in London. Graduating in English, she took up a teaching job in India before moving to South Africa in the 1930s, where she married a dentist and joined the club of well-off white South-Africans. Her work with the military during World War II may have served as an eye-opener, but it was her social work that likely pushed her to join the struggle against apartheid in 1952 - similarly to other notable social workers like Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

DW spoke to Carl Niehaus, himself a veteran of the African National Congress and a former spokesperson for Nelson Mandela, to discuss Helen Johnson's life.

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DW: When did you meet Helen Joseph?

Carl Niehaus: I met Helen Joseph at the age of 19 and she became one of the most influential political mentors in my life.

What kind of person was Helen Joseph?

She was a highly principled and committed human being. She was strongly influenced by her Christian views that all people are created equal by God. She was convinced that the racist apartheid state had to be opposed. Therefore, she got involved in the Congress of Democrats, which joined the ANC alliance.

The Congress Alliance and the women's march

The ANC-led Congress Alliance united parties from all racial groups separated under apartheid with the aim of leveraging support across these groups. Why did the alliance give her a chance to lead?

Her ability to articulate her views made her one of the outstanding leaders of that alliance. She was given a chance to present a section of the Freedom charter during the Congress of the People gathering in Kliptown and led the famous march of the women to the Union buildings in 1956.

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On August 9, 1956, 20,000 women expressed their anger at apartheid policies, one of them being the obligation for women to carry passes, a move that limited their freedom of movement and chances to work and care for their families. Together with a black, a "colored" and an Indian woman, Helen Joseph led the march and left bundles of petitions at Prime Minister J. G. Strijdom's office. What were some of her feminist values?

She believed women should stand and fight for themselves. She was convinced that women abusers deserved to be punished.

White resistance to apartheid

How did this white English-born woman blend in with the anti-apartheid resistance?

She was committed to a non-racial society and obtaining freedom for all South Africans. She was the most non-racial person I have ever known.

Being in her forties when the apartheid system came into vigor, Helen Joseph was among the first generation of anti-apartheid-activists. What do you remember most about her?

I met her when she was already in her late 70s. She was still full of vigor and fully participating in the anti-apartheid struggle. This was the time she was banned and confined to her house in Northcliff, Johannesburg, for about five years.

The system was not known to be mild towards its white opposition. Did you witness any incidents of brutality that Helen Joseph experienced?

There were several times when apartheid white supremacists came to her house and opened gunfire despite her being old and defenseless. I recall one morning after such an incident when I arrived at her house and found her busy sweeping up the glass of the windows that had been shot out. There was fire in her eyes. She was extremely angry, and she kept on saying: They can kill us, but they will never kill the ideal of the struggle for freedom in this country.

I also recall when she visited me when I was arrested. She came to my trial too and sat on the front row on a wheelchair.

At her house she would always ask me to kneel with her in front of a wooden cross that she had put on a table. She spoke strongly against narcissism and racism.

A fighter until her last breath

What are some moments of her activism that you still remember about her?

She made sure that those incarcerated and their families were remembered. Every Christmas day she held a party and at exactly 12, o'clock midday gave a toast and said, "To our absent comrades.”

What do you remember about Helen Joseph's last days?

She was a fighter till she took her last breath. I was on her bedside when she died on Christmas day at exactly 12 noon. She died at a hospital in Johannesburg now known as Helen Joseph, after her name.

That was in 1992, when the path to democratic South Africa was laid out. The renaming of the former J. G. Strijdom Hospital in 1997 was a posthumous victory over the prime minister the women once rallied against. It was one of many symbolic acts carried out by Joseph's long-time comrades-in-arms. Throughout the years, did Helen Joseph always agree with other leaders of the struggle?

In some of my last conversations with Helen Joseph she expressed her concern that she felt that President Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress were beginning to make too many compromises during the negotiations. She felt that the project for reconciliation was being promoted at the cost of justice.

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Carl Niehaus is a veteran of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), and has been a party member for the past 42 years. He is currently a member of the National Executive Committee of the Umkhonto Wesizwe Military Veterans Association.

The interview was conducted by Thuso Khumalo.

Scientific advice on this article was provided by historians Professor Doulaye Konaté, Professor Lily Mafela and Professor Christopher Ogbogbo. African Roots is supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.