The enduring legacies of Ruth First, in whose memory this Trust was formed, and Justice Albie Sachs, Patron of the Trust, were honoured at the Unisa Chancellor's Calabash Awards hosted by former President, Mr. Thabo Mbeki.
Shawn Slovo accepted the Liberation Struggle Heroine Award on behalf of her family.
They were awarded the Liberation Struggle Heroine and Hero Awards respectively and Shawn Slovo accepted her mother's award on behalf of her family. Shawn captivated the audience while sharing her experience of her mother whilst highlighting the ever-relevant impact of Ruth First's passion and work. We are fortunate that Shawn shared her acceptance speech with us:
Shawn Slovo alongside a fellow guest
"Good evening. On behalf of the First-Slovo family, myself, sisters Robyn and Gillian, and Ruth and Joe’s grandchild, Cassie, it is an honor and a privilege to accept this award.
Ruth was a warrior, a fighter and a glamorous fashionista. She was generous, compassionate, with a huge capacity for friendship, and the hardest working woman I have ever known. She bequeathed to us her daughters a love of reading and writing and cinema and a strong work ethic that has stayed with us all our lives. Through example, she and Joe taught us the importance of engaging with the world, of speaking out about injustice, and of standing up for what you believe.
Throughout the 1950’s as a journalist for anti-government weeklies like The Guardian, and New Age, her incisive reporting about slave-like conditions on Bethal potato farms, the women’s anti-pass campaign, migrant labour and bus boycotts and slum conditions remain among the finest pieces of journalism of their time.
Exiled to the UK in 1964, she returned to southern Africa in 1978, and the last four years of her life were spent at the University of Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo. For her, this was an exciting and exhilarating time, where all the different strands of her life – writer, activist, teacher – coalesced, as she participated prominently in shaping a vision of post-colonial Mozambique.
On August 17, 1982, in her offices at the University, Ruth was killed by a parcel bomb, sent by agents of the SA apartheid government. Growing up in our family, this was something I had feared all my life, but we expected it in connection with Joe, our father. As chief of operations in Umkhontu We Sizwe and Chairperson of the SAPC, he was public enemy number one. Ruth was a journalist, a writer, an academic.
But of course it makes sense that she was a target. By fearlessly exposing the inequities of the apartheid state and by rigorously examining the structures of colonialism throughout her life, she gave truth to the old adage that the pen is mightier than the sword.
Everyone who knew her or came into contact with her would agree that she did not suffer fools gladly. Her impatience with bluster earned her enemies – I have seen grown men and few women quake in their boots as she weighed in and challenged their arguments with her incisive takedown of those who serve to serve themselves.
Last year, on the 17th of August 2023, the 40th anniversary of her assassination, I did a radio interview with Pallo Jordan, who was present when the parcel bomb sent to kill her exploded. One of the questions was whether we thought Ruth’s achievements and pivotal role in the fight against apartheid were in danger of being forgotten, or marginalised, and our answer was a resounding NO!
Her various books are all in print: her memoir 117 Days, an account of her incarceration in solitary confinement, her lauded and seminal biography of Olive Schreiner; her ground breaking book on Libya; her book about coup d’etats in Africa, Barrell of the Gun, which is considered a seminal text, and her life’s writings are archived at the University of London.
All over this country, roads and clinics and university buildings are named after her. A shout-out here to the educational trust and scholarship fund that has been set up in her name at Jeppe School for Girls, which keeps her memory and achievements alive year after year after year.
Ruth was a woman of her time, and a woman ahead of her time. She let neither her gender nor her persecution by the apartheid state stop her from doing what she thought was right. Ruth (and Joe) were not martyrs to a cause. They made the choices they did because that was what fulfilled them as human beings.
The tragedy of her loss is that she did not live to see or to participate in the transformation of this country and the extraordinary events that have taken place since her death.
In conclusion: it was great to be Ruth’s daughter, it was difficult to be her daughter, but I think I speak for all of us when I say we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Thank you."
It is a profound privilege for the Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust to honour Ruth First’s enduring legacy of justice and excellence, by shaping brighter futures and empowering generations through education.
Thank you for your continued support and I wish you and your families a blessed festive season.
Robyn Hill
Manager: Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust
Should you wish to make a donation, payment is accepted by SnapScan or eft to Absa, Eastgate, Branch code 632005, Account number 4076706321. Many thanks.
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