Keeping Mam Lydia’s memory alive

The late trade unionist and member of Parliament, Lydia Kompe-Ngwena, is the subject of Lydia: Anthem to the Unity of Women, written by Dr Kally Forrest and launched at the Black Sash office in Claremont last week.

Dr Forrest, 72, of Simon’s Town, was herself a trade unionist as well as the editor of the South African Labour Bulletin and a senior researcher for the Marikana Commission. She currently works as a researcher at Wits University.

“I wanted to write a biography that is about a South African woman. I heard stories about her, and if I did not do this book, I would be afraid that she would be forgotten,” said Dr Forrest.

Dr Forrest said she had initially started working on the book with Ms Kompe-Ngwena, or Mam Lydia as she was known, according to the book, in 2020, but had only had virtual contact with her then because of Covid-19.

Ms Kompe-Ngwena, who was born in Matlala, Limpopo, died in October last year at the age of 88. She was a former Black Sash member who worked on the Transvaal Rural Action Committee (TRAC), one of the organisation’s projects.

“I met her in 2022; she was eager for me to finish the book before she passed away. Mam Lydia wanted her children and family to see what she did,” said Dr Forrest.

According to Dr Forrest, the book tracks Ms Kompe-Ngwena’s life from growing up in the rural areas and being forcefully removed from her land under Apartheid to her work as part of the Metal and Allied Workers' Union and the Black Sash and her participation in drafting the Restitution of Land Rights Act as an MP.

Black Sash has been fighting for social justice and human rights since 1955.

“Lydia was very well known within the Black Sash circles, where she worked with the Transvaal Rural Action Committee (TRAC), and I know about her work in the restitution bill,” said the Black Sash’s Gail Kirchmann.

Former tourism minister Derek Hanekom, who was at the book launch, said: “We worked in Parliament together; she was a model member of the National Assembly; she never missed a session, and even when we were in recess, she would use her break to work in rural areas to get community projects going.”

Lydia: Anthem to the Unity of Women is available at Clark’s Bookshop or Wordsworth Books.