Albertina Sisulu

Albertina Sisulu OMSG
Albertina Sisulu in 2007
Member of the National Assembly
In office May 1994 – June 1999
1st Deputy President of the African National Congress Women's League
In office April 1991 – December 1993
President	Gertrude Shope
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Thandi Modise
Personal details
Born	Nontsikelelo Thethiwe (1918-10-21)21 October 1918 Camama, South Africa
Died	2 June 2011(2011-06-02) (aged 92) Johannesburg, South Africa
Political party	African National Congress
Other political affiliations	United Democratic Front
Spouse	Walter Sisulu ​ ​ (m. 1944; died 2003)​
Children	5, including Max, Mlungisi, Zwelakhe, and Lindiwe 3 adopted, including Beryl
Occupation	Politician nurse activist
Awards	Isitwalandwe Medal (2019)
Nicknames	Ma Sisulu Ntsiki

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Albertina Sisulu OMSG (née Nontsikelelo Thethiwe; 21 October 1918 – 2 June 2011) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she was the founding co-president of the United Democratic Front. In South Africa, where she was affectionately known as Ma Sisulu, she is often called a mother of the nation.

Born in rural Transkei, Sisulu moved to Johannesburg in 1940 and was a nurse by profession. She entered politics through her marriage to Walter Sisulu and became increasingly engaged in activism after his imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial. In the 1980s she emerged as a community leader in her hometown of Soweto, assuming a prominent role in the establishment of the UDF and the revival of the Federation of South African Women.

Between 1964 and 1989, she was subject to a near-continuous string of banning orders. In addition to intermittent detention without trial, she was subject to criminal charges on three occasions: she was acquitted of violating pass laws in 1958, convicted of violating the Suppression of Communism Act in 1984, and acquitted of violating the Internal Security Act in the 1985 Pietermaritzburg Treason Trial.

After the end of apartheid, Sisulu represented the ANC in the first democratic Parliament before she retired from politics in 1999. She was also the deputy president of the ANC Women's League from 1991 to 1993 and a member of the ANC National Executive Committee from 1991 to 1994.