Abstract
The history of South African women in the struggles against racial and gender oppression, inequality and segregation brought about by colonial systems is generally presented as a subservient history that occurred in the shadows of a more powerful masculine dominated history. Therefore, the stories of many very contributory and self-sacrificing women remain untold or sketchy. With the above view, this study aims to narrate and discuss the contributions to South African history that were made by one Mina Thembeka Soga, an African missionary, teacher and social worker from Queenstown, in the Cape province. Her actions and perspectives were influenced by Christian feminist ideologies and liberal politics. As the president of the National Council for African Women formed in 1936 to champion the rights of African women amidst the suppression of their voices by the political machinery and gender ideologies, Mina Soga spearheaded various project for the support and emancipation of women and children such as feeding schemes for children, creches, schools, support for the disabled and hostels for the destitute. Eventually, Mina Soga found herself working over and above women’s issues by representing both men and women dispossessed of their lands mainly by the Glen Grey Actas well as those who were subjected to unfair and inhumane working conditions in capitalist formations. The story of Mina Soga is considered from a common social theory perspective, shared by various feminist writers, which recognises that the history of women is basically the history of society and the two cannot be separated. Thus, the story of Mina Soga is linked with the various local and international historical developments as a way of showing this link. The study relied on a qualitative approach and used primary sources such as the original letters that Mina Soga wrote in her representations and the minutes of the NCAW. Secondary sources were also consulted.
M.A. (Historical Studies)