Joyce Piliso-Seroke

Joyce Piliso-Seroke (born July 11, 1933 in Johannesburg ) is a South African representative of the women's movement and former Vice President of the World Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA).

Life

Piliso-Seroke graduated from high school in Pretoria , after which she studied at Fort Hare University . She finished her studies with a bachelor's degree and a diploma in communication science . She worked as a teacher for a year, then did social work and received a scholarship from the South African Institute of Race Relations for her graduate studies at Swansea University . After her return to South Africa she worked for the YWCA in Natal . The greatest task of the association was the abolition of the Natal Native Code of 1891, which among other things made black women the property of men.

Piliso-Seroke was the national general secretary of the YWCA, and in 1975 she was appointed to the executive committee in Geneva . During the Soweto uprising , she traveled with the committee to Johannesburg, where she was held for several days in the Old Fort Women's Prison . In 1983 she was elected Vice President of the YWCA, she held the office until 1995. In 1992/1993 she was active in the National Council for Returnees , and in 1996 in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission . In 1999 she appointed Nelson Mandela Chair of the Gender Equality Commission, which she chaired until 2007. In 2005 the commission moved to Old Fort Prison . Thabo Mbeki named Piliso-Seroke as Grand Counselor of the Order of the Baobab in 2007 .

Web links

• CV of Piliso-Seroke in the pages of South African President (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ For the Natal Native Code see Benedic Carton: Blood from our children. The Colonial Origins of Generational Conflict in South Africa . Charlottesville 2000. ISBN 978-0813919324 . Extract from googlebooks .
2. ^ ^{A b} Gender commission moves into Women's Gaol . In: Joburg News from August 1, 2005, accessed on November 24, 2011 (English).