Ruth First was a journalist, activist, and scholar who dedicated her life to exposing the cruelty of apartheid in South Africa. Unafraid to challenge the regime, she used words as weapons against injustice. Her bold resistance made her a target, and in 1982, she was assassinated by a parcel bomb sent by South African police.
Ruth First was born on May 4, 1925, in Johannesburg to Jewish parents who had immigrated from Eastern Europe. Her father, Julius, came from Latvia, and her mother, Matilda, from Lithuania. Both were founding members of the Communist Party of South Africa and raised their children in a household where political discussion was part of daily life.
By the time she was 14, Ruth was already politically active, joining the Young Left Wing Book Club. She would later follow her parents into the Communist Party, which had aligned itself with the African National Congress in the growing fight against racial segregation in South Africa.
After graduating from High School, Ruth went on to become the first person in her family to attend university. She earned her degree in Social Science from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1946, excelling in subjects like anthropology and sociology. While at university, she helped found the Federation of Progressive Students and became friends with people who would later shape African history, including Nelson Mandela and Eduardo Mondlane.
Ruth’s passion for justice led her into journalism. She became editor of The Guardian, a leftist newspaper that was constantly harassed and banned by the apartheid government. She exposed the violent realities of apartheid through hard-hitting investigative work and used her platform to give a voice to the oppressed.
In 1949, Ruth married Joe Slovo, a fellow Communist and anti-apartheid activist. Together, they raised three daughters while also becoming a formidable force in South Africa’s resistance movement. Both were involved in the South African Communist Party, the ANC, and later in the Congress of Democrats, a white ally organization within the Congress Alliance.
Ruth also edited the journal Fighting Talk and helped draft the Freedom Charter, which outlined the aspirational principles of freedom and democracy in South Africa. Though she couldn’t attend the Congress of the People in 1955 due to a banning order, her ideas and activism were present in every line of that historic document.
In 1956, Ruth was arrested along with 155 other activists in what became known as the Treason Trial. Though she was eventually acquitted, the state kept her under constant surveillance. After the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, she was officially banned from publishing or attending meetings.
Her husband was arrested, and she fled temporarily to Swaziland with her children. She later returned to South Africa and continued her work underground. In 1963, Ruth was arrested again and became the first white woman detained under the 90-Day Detention Law. She spent 117 days in solitary confinement, enduring intense interrogation and psychological torture. Her memoir 117 Days, published in 1965, details the trauma of that experience.
After her release, Ruth was arrested again for another brief period. Her health deteriorated, and at one point she attempted suicide. Finally, in March 1964, she left South Africa for good.
In exile, Ruth found new ways to continue her fight. She settled in London and worked with the British Anti-Apartheid Movement. She also traveled extensively across Africa, researching liberation movements in Algeria, Ghana, Sudan, Egypt, and Nigeria. Her academic work earned her recognition as a serious scholar of African politics and development.
Ruth held research and teaching positions in Manchester, Durham, Dar es Salaam, and eventually in Mozambique, where she became the director of research at the Centre of African Studies at Eduardo Mondlane University.
Assassination in Maputo
On the morning of August 17, 1982, Ruth opened a parcel that had been delivered to her office in Maputo. It exploded instantly, killing her. The bomb had been sent by South African security forces under the direction of Craig Williamson, a senior officer in the apartheid state’s intelligence agency. The goal was simple: eliminate a powerful voice against the regime.
Her death shocked the world. Presidents, ambassadors, and activists from over 30 countries attended her funeral in Maputo. It was a chilling reminder that apartheid would go to any lengths to silence its critics.
Ruth First was not just a casualty of apartheid. She was a warrior who confronted it with everything she had. Her assassination did not end her influence. Today, she is remembered as a symbol of fearless resistance and as someone who paid the ultimate price for truth.
In 2014, more than three decades after her assassination, Ruth First was posthumously awarded The Order of Luthuli in Gold, one of South Africa’s highest honors. The award is given to citizens who have made a meaningful contribution to democracy, nation-building, justice, and peace. It was a powerful acknowledgment of her sacrifices and a formal recognition of her lifelong commitment to justice and equality.
Sources:
https://www.presidency.gov.za/ruth-first-1925-1982
https://www.wits.ac.za/news/sources/alumni-news/2020/womens-day-tribute.html
https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/37581gen327.pdf
