Ntombi Shope
South African politician (1950–2003)
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Ntombi Regan Shope (15 April 1950 – 13 August 2003) was a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 1994 until her death in August 2003. During apartheid, she was a member of the United Democratic Front in the Transvaal and served a three-year prison sentence for aiding the ANC.
Sheila Sithole (sister)
Lyndall Shope-Mafole (half-sister)
Lenin Shope (half-brother)
Thaninga Shope-Linney (half-sister)
Ntombi Shope | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 9 May 1994 – 13 August 2003 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 April 1950 |
| Died | 13 August 2003 (aged 53) |
| Party | African National Congress |
| Relations | George Shope (brother) Sheila Sithole (sister) Lyndall Shope-Mafole (half-sister) Lenin Shope (half-brother) Thaninga Shope-Linney (half-sister) |
| Parent | Mark Shope (father) |
Early life and activism
Shope was born on 15 April 1950[1] in Tzaneen in the former Transvaal.[2] Her father was trade unionist Mark Shope, a Treason Triallist who went into exile abroad after the ANC was banned in 1960;[3] her sister, Sheila Sithole, was also an activist and ANC politician.[4]
In the early 1980s, Shope was active in the anti-apartheid movement through the Azanian Students' Organisation, the Federation of South African Women, and the United Democratic Front.[2] In 1984 to 1985, she was trialled in a high-profile criminal trial,[5] in which she was charged and then convicted of being a member of the ANC, of recruiting for the ANC, of keeping a dead letter box for transmitting messages to activists abroad, and of possessing banned literature.[3] In late January 1985, she was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.[3] Her cousin, Emma Ntimbane, was also jailed for refusing to testify against her.[3] At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ten years later, a South African Police officer applied for amnesty for having tortured Shope in detention.[6]
Parliament: 1994–2003
After the ANC was unbanned in 1990, Shope became active in the ANC Women's League,[7] which Nelson Diale later described as "her political home".[2] In South Africa's first post-apartheid elections in 1994, she was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly.[8] She was re-elected in 1999.[1] She died close to the end of her second term on 13 August 2003.[2]