Frene Ginwala
Ginwala (left) in 2017
1st Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa
In office 9 May 1994 – 12 July 2004
Deputy	B.G. Ranchod (1994-1996) Baleka Mbete (1996–2004)
Preceded by	Gene Louw(Speaker of House of Assembly)
Succeeded by	Baleka Mbete
Chancellor of theUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal
In office April 2005 – September 2007
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Zweli Mkhize
Member of theNational Assembly of South Africa
In office 9 May 1994 – 12 July 2004
Constituency	KwaZulu-Natal
Personal details
Born	Frene Noshir Ginwala (1932-04-25)25 April 1932 Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Died	12 January 2023(2023-01-12) (aged 90) South Africa
Political party	African National Congress
Residence(s)	Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Alma mater	University of Oxford
Profession	Journalist politician anti-apartheid activist

Frene Noshir Ginwala (25 April 1932 – 12 January 2023)^[1][2] was a South African journalist and politician who was the firstspeaker of the National Assembly of South Africa from 1994 to 2004.^[3] She was influential in the writing of theConstitution of South Africa and an important figure in establishing democracy in South Africa.^[3]

Born in Johannesburg, on 25 April 1932, Ginwala was anIndian South African from theParsi-Indian community ofwestern India.^[3]

Ginwala has written a number of books dealing with various aspects of the struggle against injustice.^[4][5] For her efforts, she has been honoured by international and local institutions and governments.^[6][7][8]

Using her anonymity, she played a tremendous role in establishing underground escape routes forANC (African National Congress) members in the period following theSharpeville massacre and the declaration of theState of Emergency (SOE) in 1960. These included Deputy-President of the ANCOliver Tambo andYusuf Dadoo, two leaders of theliberation movement. She also organisedsafe houses for those who had to remain in the country. Ginwala also chauffeuredNIC (Natal Indian Congress) leadersMonty Naicker andJ. N. Singh, who were operating from the underground after managing to dodge the police swoop. Their instructions were to travel around the province and raise money from secret donors in order to support the families left destitute through the arrest of their breadwinners under the SOE which hung over the country for five months.

Eventually she had to leave South Africa in the latter part of 1960 and together with Tambo, and Dadoo, they established an exile ANC office inDar es Salaam,Tanganyika which was still under British Colonial Administration until 9 December 1961. The overthrow of theSultanate of Zanzibar in January 1964 paved the way for the formation of theUnited Republic of Tanzania in 1964. Apart from the ANC, she threw herself in a very broad field of activities. She gave lectures to trainee diplomats at Oxford University where she studied for her PhD, she also wrote for a number of the established media outlets in the UK and elsewhere including theBBC. Frene Ginwala was instrumental in establishing a communications system in the newly establishedUnited Republic of Tanzania. At the request of PresidentJulius Nyerere, she became themanaging editor of the English-speaking daily newspaper Standard, andSunday News.^[9][10] During the entire period of herexile (she returned to South Africa in 1991) she traversed the world preaching the horrors ofapartheid and the fight against it.^[11] Ginwala held academic titles from several universities in Africa and abroad. She was abarrister at law;historian; apolitical scientist, and held a doctorate inphilosophy fromLinacre College at Oxford University.^[11][7]

In the first democraticSouth African elections in 1994, Frene Ginwala was elected to theParliament of South Africa. She was nominated by the ANC caucus and elected by parliament as theSpeaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, a position she held from 1994 until 2004.

After retirement as speaker, she continued serving in a number of international organisations includingUN subsidiaries, as Trustee of theNelson Mandela Foundation and as Chancellor of theUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal. Ginwala was appointed the first chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in April 2005. At the time, she was one of only four female university chancellors in South Africa.^[12]

South African presidentThabo Mbeki appointed Ginwala on 30 September 2007 to conduct the enquiry into National Director of Public ProsecutionsVusi Pikoli's fitness to hold office.^[13] She decided generally in favour of Pikoli, but criticised poor communication between departments. She also criticised the Director General of theDepartment of Justice and Constitutional Development, AdvocateMenzi Simelane, whose testimony was contradictory, and without basis in fact or Law.^[14][15] She also had harsh words for presidentJacob Zuma on his subsequent appointment of Simelane to National Director of Public Prosecutions.^[16]

Ginwala died from complications of a stroke suffered two weeks earlier on 12 January 2023, at the age of 90.^[2]

• 2003:North-South Prize^[17]
• 2005:Order of Luthuli, in silver^[2]
• 2008:Order of the Rising Sun, 2008^[8]

• Frene GinwalaArchived 17 January 2023 at theWayback MachineFreedom Collection interview

• 1932 births
• 2023 deaths
• Alumni of Linacre College, Oxford
• Parsi people
• African National Congress politicians
• Speakers of the National Assembly of South Africa
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• South African people of Parsi descent
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• Recipients of the Order of Luthuli
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• Apartheid in South Africa
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• Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun
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• Women political scientists
• South African women civil rights activists
• South African civil rights activists
• First women legislative speakers

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