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Some see her as the saviour of SA. Others as their Vice-Chancellor. For many she will always be Steve Biko’s mistress, while most see her as a human rights activist, intellectual and author.
Over the years Mamphela has proved that dynamite really does come in small, short packages. Mamphela was born in Limpopo to two parents who were teachers. She was one of only two girls in her matric class in 1966.
She was accepted into medical school at the University of Natal in 1968 where she would later meet her future forbidden lover Steve Biko.
In the book Across Boundaries: The Journey of a South African Woman Leader, Mamphela shares some of her memories from her days as a medic.
She recalls how the Black Consciousness ideology influenced her and her fellow comrades to identify themselves with their mother tongue names as opposed to their “slave names”.
She also said that hot pants became one of her signature sartorial choices. Shem, I can see how Mamphela could have been a catch in her day. Let’s face it. She still has flawless skin and looks great for a woman her age.
Mamphela worked at the South African Students Association (SASO) which was formed in 1969 and was lead by Biko.
Mamphela’s political activism grew while attending medical school with the likes of Biko and Barney Pityana.
During her time at medical school she was elected as the Chairwoman of a local branch of SASO. She graduated as a doctor in 1972.
She has two children with Steve Biko. Lerato Biko was born in 1974 and Hlumelo Biko in 1978. Sadly Lerato died after two months of birth from pneumonia.
Mamphela’s relationship with Biko was a controversial one as it emerged while Biko was still married to Nontsikelelo Mashalaba. Their affair started after her marriage to Dick Mabane ended in 1972.
In 1974 she was charged for having banned literature in her possession. Ramphele was the Director of Black Community Programmes (BCP) in the Eastern Cape during the time when Biko was banned.
In 1976 she was one of the first people to be detained under section 10 of the Terrorism Act. A year later she was given banning orders and was sent to Tzaneen.
During her time as a banned person, Helen Suzman who was the MP for the Progressive Party was one of Mamphela’s BFFs as she often visited Mamphela.
Mamphela married Sipo Magele in 1982 and had a son with him, Malusi, in 1983.
In 1983 Mamphela finished her Commerce degree from UNISA. She took up a job as a research fellow at the South African Development Research Unit (SALDRU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Before leaving for the mother city though she called it quits with Sipo and had a second divorce.She published two publications at UCT with the Professor of Economics Francis Wilson: Children on the Frontline in 1987 and Uprooting Poverty in (1988).
Ramphele left for the land of the free to go to Harvard with her two sons to become the Carnegie Distinguished international Fellow.
She became the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UCT in 1991 before eventually becoming the first black woman to be a Vice Chancellor when she was made VC of UCT in 1996.
After her stint in academia, Mamphela wasted no time in pursuing corporate/money making ventures. These efforts resulted in her making stacks and stacks of Randelas.
Over the years Mamphela has proved that dynamite really does come in small, short packages. Mamphela was born in Limpopo to two parents who were teachers. She was one of only two girls in her matric class in 1966.
She was accepted into medical school at the University of Natal in 1968 where she would later meet her future forbidden lover Steve Biko.
In the book Across Boundaries: The Journey of a South African Woman Leader, Mamphela shares some of her memories from her days as a medic.
She recalls how the Black Consciousness ideology influenced her and her fellow comrades to identify themselves with their mother tongue names as opposed to their “slave names”.
She also said that hot pants became one of her signature sartorial choices. Shem, I can see how Mamphela could have been a catch in her day. Let’s face it. She still has flawless skin and looks great for a woman her age.
Mamphela worked at the South African Students Association (SASO) which was formed in 1969 and was lead by Biko.
Mamphela’s political activism grew while attending medical school with the likes of Biko and Barney Pityana.
During her time at medical school she was elected as the Chairwoman of a local branch of SASO. She graduated as a doctor in 1972.
She has two children with Steve Biko. Lerato Biko was born in 1974 and Hlumelo Biko in 1978. Sadly Lerato died after two months of birth from pneumonia.
Mamphela’s relationship with Biko was a controversial one as it emerged while Biko was still married to Nontsikelelo Mashalaba. Their affair started after her marriage to Dick Mabane ended in 1972.
In 1974 she was charged for having banned literature in her possession. Ramphele was the Director of Black Community Programmes (BCP) in the Eastern Cape during the time when Biko was banned.
In 1976 she was one of the first people to be detained under section 10 of the Terrorism Act. A year later she was given banning orders and was sent to Tzaneen.
During her time as a banned person, Helen Suzman who was the MP for the Progressive Party was one of Mamphela’s BFFs as she often visited Mamphela.
Mamphela married Sipo Magele in 1982 and had a son with him, Malusi, in 1983.
In 1983 Mamphela finished her Commerce degree from UNISA. She took up a job as a research fellow at the South African Development Research Unit (SALDRU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Before leaving for the mother city though she called it quits with Sipo and had a second divorce.She published two publications at UCT with the Professor of Economics Francis Wilson: Children on the Frontline in 1987 and Uprooting Poverty in (1988).
Ramphele left for the land of the free to go to Harvard with her two sons to become the Carnegie Distinguished international Fellow.
She became the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of UCT in 1991 before eventually becoming the first black woman to be a Vice Chancellor when she was made VC of UCT in 1996.
After her stint in academia, Mamphela wasted no time in pursuing corporate/money making ventures. These efforts resulted in her making stacks and stacks of Randelas.
She was one of four Managing directors of the World Bank in Washington in 2000 where she worked until 2004.
From 2004 – 2005 she was the co chairperson of the Global commission on international migration.
From there she became the Director of Business Partners Limited until 2009. During this time she was also the Director of Medi Clinic International until 2012.
She was the Director of the Standard Bank Group Ltd from 2005-2007.
From 2010 – 2013 she was the Chairperson of Goldfields Limited. She is currently the chairperson of Capital Ventures which she began in 2005. In 2013 she founded her party called Agang which means “build” in seSotho.
Soon after the launch of her party, she declared her income and invited President Jacob Zuma to do the same.
To her surprise she didn’t receive much praise but rather a lot of hate and curiosity as to where she got net worth of R55 million from. Ouch.
Trevor Noah even used this scenario as one of his topics in his latest DVD It’s my culture. She did insist in an interview with the City Press that her wealth would not restrict her ability to relate with the poor.
Mamphiliii Ramphiiillii (As her other political BFF Helen Zille calls her) was announced this morning as the presidential candidate for the Democratic Alliance for the upcoming national elections.
There have been mixed responses from this morning’s announcement. We asked some of our Facebook readers what they thought about it all here.
Sources:
From 2004 – 2005 she was the co chairperson of the Global commission on international migration.
From there she became the Director of Business Partners Limited until 2009. During this time she was also the Director of Medi Clinic International until 2012.
She was the Director of the Standard Bank Group Ltd from 2005-2007.
From 2010 – 2013 she was the Chairperson of Goldfields Limited. She is currently the chairperson of Capital Ventures which she began in 2005. In 2013 she founded her party called Agang which means “build” in seSotho.
Soon after the launch of her party, she declared her income and invited President Jacob Zuma to do the same.
To her surprise she didn’t receive much praise but rather a lot of hate and curiosity as to where she got net worth of R55 million from. Ouch.
Trevor Noah even used this scenario as one of his topics in his latest DVD It’s my culture. She did insist in an interview with the City Press that her wealth would not restrict her ability to relate with the poor.
Mamphiliii Ramphiiillii (As her other political BFF Helen Zille calls her) was announced this morning as the presidential candidate for the Democratic Alliance for the upcoming national elections.
There have been mixed responses from this morning’s announcement. We asked some of our Facebook readers what they thought about it all here.
Sources:
http://whoswho.co.za/mamphela-ramphele-4739
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/dr-mamphela-aletta-ramphele
Across Boundaries: The Journey of a South African Woman Leader By Mamphela Ramphele
Dictionary of African Biography, Volumes 1-6
edited by Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong, Henry Louis Gates, Mr. Steven J. Niven
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