Dr. Zola Skweyiya

Dr. Zola Sydney Themba Skeweyiya was born in Simons Town on the 14^th of April in 1942. Here is where his passion for community and activism started, as he lived in Luyolo, a suburb within Simon’s Town where the then apartheid National Party wanted the residents removed because of the rich nature of the landscape. His family then moved to Port Elizabeth where he attended primary school in New Brighton and then later moved back where he attended school in Retreat, Cape Town. They moved again to Alice in the Eastern Cape where he attended Lovedale College, this is where his fight for injustices began as he fought against the introduction of the Bantu Education system. In 1960 he matriculated from the college and around this time is where he met and worked with Govan Mbeki.

During his time at Lovedale college, he joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1956, and once matriculated he attended Fort Hare University, where he became more actively involved and was known to mobilise support for Umkhonto We Sizwe. In 1962 he went into exile during which he received military training and worked for the ANC in various roles. He was offered an opportunity to study in the German Democratic Republic where he completed a LLD (Dr of Law) at the university of Leipzig in 1978. He represented the ANC at many international institutions; the United Nations Human Rights Commissions 1984-1993, the Organisation of African Unity, and he helped set up the office of the ANC in Addis Abba, Ethiopia. He was called back to Lusaka to help set up the ANC legal and constitutional department, which he headed until 1990.

In 1990 he returned from exile, where he was invited by then vice chancellor of the University of the Western cape, Prof Jakes Gerwal, to join the flourishing community law centre founded by advocate Dullah Omar. During this period, he was also appointed as leader of the ANC constitution committee, therefore the community centre become central for supporting and researching the new constitution making process. In 1994 he was elected to work under former President Nelson Mandela and formed part of the cabinet as Minister of Public Service and Administration. Under President Thabo Mbeki, in 1999, he was the Minister of Social Development which was responsible for the implementation of the child grant, this is a successful project of Dr Skweyiya to reduce poverty. He spent 15 years within parliament until 6 May 2009 when he retired.

Under President Zuma, he was tasked with representing South Africa as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, a position he held until 2014. In 2015 he returned to the UWC law community centre to celebrate its 25^th anniversary and the renaming of the centre to the Dullah Omar institute. This is where he urged those that are in power to not improve their own benefits but to improve that of all South Africans. He died in hospital

on the 11^{TH of} April 2018 at the age of 75.

By Fawziyah Khan

References

Dougie Oakes, #ZolaSkweyiya was ‘gentle, but also tough’, 2018

https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zolaskweyiya-was-gentle-but-also-tough-14390894

https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/look-back-zola-skweyiyas-life/

https://dullahomarinstitute.org.za/news/copy_of_dullah-omar-institute-statement-on-the-passing-of-dr-zola-skweyiya

Dr. Zola Skweyiya

Dr. Zola - Skweyiya

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Place

Luyolo