Women's Day tribute
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We celebrate alumnae who are forces for good.
This Women’s Day Wits Alumni Relations pays tribute to two illustrious alumnae Ruth First (BA 1946) and Nadine Gordimer (DLitt 1984) who remind us of the values we hold dear.
First studied at Wits from 1942 to 1946. She graduated with a BA (Social Studies), receiving firsts in sociology, anthropology, economic history and native administration. At the time her fellow students included Nelson Mandela, Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambican freedom fighter), Joe Slovo and Ismail Meer.
First was secretary to the Young Communist League, and was active in the Progressive Youth Council in the Johannesburg branch of the SACP. First became the Johannesburg editor of a left-wing weekly newspaper. Driven by her keen sense of justice, she specialised in investigative reporting. Articles about gross violations of human rights in the slave-like conditions on Bethal potato farms, migrant labour, bus boycotts and slum conditions remain witness to her courage to speak the truth in the 1950s.
Her research serves as an example of meticulous scholarship and fearless investigation into important social issues. She was arrested at Wits, while studying librarianship on 9 August 1963. She was detained under the 90-Day Detention Act. After 89 days she was released but immediately rearrested. She endured interrogation until her release on 5 December after spending 177 days in solitary confinement.
In November 1978, First took up the post of director of research at the Centre of African Studies in Maputo in Mozambique. Her life was ended with a parcel bomb on 17 August 1982.
Her legacy continues through the Ruth First fellowship, which enables journalists, writers, researchers, film makers or photographers to pursue in-depth projects that can be presented in ways to influence thinking, discussion and debate in South Africa.
She was posthumously awarded the Order of Luthuli: Gold in 2014 for her exceptional contribution to the struggle against apartheid. Her activism left an indelible mark that continues to spur generations to stand for what is just.
Gordimer’s time at Wits lasted one year only. She registered as an occasional student in English Literature and English Language in 1946. When asked whether she ever considered doing an undergraduate degree, she dismissed the idea, saying that at 20 years of age, she had already read much more than was on the degree reading list. Although she was a student for only a short period of time, she maintained connections with universities in South Africa, and was closely associated with the National Union of South African Students.
During her life, she received the Booker Prize, the Commonwealth Writer’s prize for the Best Book in Africa and the Nobel Prize for Literature. She was one of only four Wits alumni to have received a Nobel Prize, and of the four, she was the only woman.
She was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1984 from Wits and the citation at the time read: “Nadine Gordimer has been a major inspiration to the creative life of the city of Johannesburg and its environs. The international connections that have come with fame have not drawn her away from the country of her birth, where her presence has been a constant force for good.”
Gordimer told WITS Review in 2008: “The world thinks the problems began at the end of the 1940s when we invented apartheid, but the problems that we inherited go back centuries, of oppression, of totally unfair education...this backlog from the past, I always kept it in mind, that with our wonderful new constitution that we're so blessed with, you can't possibly refuse to face the problems we have.”
Today we salute all fellow Wits alumnae who’ve served and continue to serve their professions in a selfless manner and do not refuse to face the needs of society.