Background
Malethola Maggie Nkwe was born in March 1938 in Turffontein, Johannesburg.
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Malethola Maggie Nkwe
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Her family moved to a one-roomed house in Soweto in 1947, at a time when black residence in the urban areas was still a contentious issue. She started school at the Salvation Army Church School in 1948 where she excelled. In the early 1960s she qualified as a nurse, a career that introduced her to the daily social realities of life in the townships.
Her preoccupation with the quality of life for black people in the townships moved her to be one of the pioneers of primary healthcare in the volatile, post-1976 period when suspicions were rampant.
In 1974, she was elected the first black president of the Mother’s Union. Her life became a commitment to selfless community service, embracing mainly the marginalised groups in society, namely, abandoned children, women and widows.
After the 1976 unrest, Nkwe resigned from her nursing work to spearhead the drive to save the Orlando Children’s Home, which was a sanctuary for abandoned black children. Through her tireless initiatives, the Orlando Children’s Home was renovated.
She cared for the children and focused on giving them the kind of life of which they were deprived.
She promoted and led campaigns against the abuse of women, and also mobilised help for victims of natural disasters. Her other initiatives include pre-schools, after-school care centres, literacy programmes, a drop-in centre for individual and family disputes, workshops and training programmes on Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and sex education and sexuality for the youth and adults, moral enrichment and poverty alleviation.
