Marion Sparg
Encyclopedia
Marion Monica Sparg is a South Africa
n activist, former guerrilla and public administrator.
(MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress
during South Africa's apartheid era
. A Sunday Times
journalist, she was prompted into action after 32 ANC members and 19 civilians were killed by the South African Defence Force
in an attack on Maseru
, Lesotho
. She would spend the years between 1981 and 1986 in exile where she received training in guerrilla warfare and worked in the ANC's Communication Department on a publication named Voice of Women and thereafter joined the Special Operations Division of Umkhonto We Sizwe
In 1986 she was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment on charges of treason, arson and attempted arson. Pleading guilty to all charges, she admitted planting and exploding limpet mines at Johannesburg
's notorious police headquarters, John Vorster Square
, and also at Cambridge Police Station in East London.
in 1994. In the same year, at the age of 34, she was appointed deputy executive director of the Constitutional Assembly, the body that would draft South Africa's groundbreaking 1996 constitution
.
(NCOP) and in 2000 joined the office of Bulelani Ngcuka
where she became Chief Executive Officer of the National Prosecuting Authority
and the accounting officer of the Directorate of Special Operations, commonly known as the Scorpions.
In 2003, amidst a public spat between the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and Jacob Zuma
, South Africa's disgraced deputy president, anonymous letters were sent to the Public Service Commission
(PSC) accusing Sparg, her deputy Beryl Simelane and integrity unit head Dipuo Mvelase (also Deputy Chairperson of the South African Communist Party
) of tender-rigging, corruption and nepotism. The Commission found no criminal wrongdoing and referred the matter to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development - the parent body of the NPA. The Department head instituted 30 charges against the three women. South Africa's Financial Mail would describe the allegations as 'bizarre' after the charges were withdrawn at the formal disciplinary hearing, only to be reinstated two days later. They would be officially dropped in early 2007. In June 2007 she resigned from the NPA to take up employment in the private sector. Marion has since joined Draftfcb Social Marketing, a division of Draftfcb SA.
and Tanzania
.
Other white women who contributed to South Africa's liberation struggle include:
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n activist, former guerrilla and public administrator.
Struggle years
Marion Sparg was one of the few white women to join Umkhonto we SizweUmkhonto we Sizwe
Umkhonto we Sizwe , translated "Spear of the Nation," was the armed wing of the African National Congress which fought against the South African apartheid government. MK launched its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961...
(MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
during South Africa's apartheid era
History of South Africa in the apartheid era
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained...
. A Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (South Africa)
The Sunday Times is a popular South African Sunday newspaper. It has an audited circulation of 504,000 and a weekly readership of 3.2 million, making it the largest weekly newspaper in South Africa. Recently it was involved in exposing a corruption scandal involving the South African government's...
journalist, she was prompted into action after 32 ANC members and 19 civilians were killed by the South African Defence Force
South African Defence Force
The South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
in an attack on Maseru
Maseru
Maseru is the capital of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, bordering South Africa, Maseru is Lesotho's only sizable city, with a population of approximately 227,880 . The city was established as a police camp and assigned as the capital after the...
, Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
. She would spend the years between 1981 and 1986 in exile where she received training in guerrilla warfare and worked in the ANC's Communication Department on a publication named Voice of Women and thereafter joined the Special Operations Division of Umkhonto We Sizwe
In 1986 she was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment on charges of treason, arson and attempted arson. Pleading guilty to all charges, she admitted planting and exploding limpet mines at Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
's notorious police headquarters, John Vorster Square
John Vorster Square
John Vorster Square was an apartheid-era police station in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a notorious site of interrogation, torture and abuse by the South African security police of apartheid resistance fighters. It was named after J.B. Vorster, the fourth prime minister of the...
, and also at Cambridge Police Station in East London.
Release from prison
Following the unbanning of the ANC, she was released in 1991 at the same time as fellow treason prisoners Damian de Lange and Iain Robertson, shortly after which she was nominated to the ANC delegation that participated in an early round of CODESA, the multiparty negotiations that led to South Africa's first multi-racial electionsSouth African general election, 1994
The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission .Millions queued in lines over a three...
in 1994. In the same year, at the age of 34, she was appointed deputy executive director of the Constitutional Assembly, the body that would draft South Africa's groundbreaking 1996 constitution
Constitution of South Africa
The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the country of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the government. The current constitution, the country's fifth, was...
.
In government
In 1996 she was appointed Town Clerk of the Eastern Metropolitan sub-structure of the Lekoa- Vaal-metropole. Three years later she became the Secretary to the National Council of ProvincesNational Council of Provinces
The National Council of Provinces is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the constitution which came into full effect in 1997...
(NCOP) and in 2000 joined the office of Bulelani Ngcuka
Bulelani Ngcuka
Bulelani T Ngcuka was the first national Director of Public Prosecutions in South Africa, and is the husband of former Deputy President of South Africa Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. He was embroiled in controversy after being accused of being an apartheid spy...
where she became Chief Executive Officer of the National Prosecuting Authority
National Prosecuting Authority
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa , created a single National Prosecution Authority , which is governed by the National Prosecuting Authority Act...
and the accounting officer of the Directorate of Special Operations, commonly known as the Scorpions.
In 2003, amidst a public spat between the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of South Africa, elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election....
, South Africa's disgraced deputy president, anonymous letters were sent to the Public Service Commission
Civil Service Commission
-Chairmen:*John Houghton MHK, 2004-date*George Waft MLC, 1996-2004*Clare Christian MLC, 1981-1982*Noel Cringle MLC, 1992-1996*Walter Gilbey, years unknown...
(PSC) accusing Sparg, her deputy Beryl Simelane and integrity unit head Dipuo Mvelase (also Deputy Chairperson of the South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
) of tender-rigging, corruption and nepotism. The Commission found no criminal wrongdoing and referred the matter to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development - the parent body of the NPA. The Department head instituted 30 charges against the three women. South Africa's Financial Mail would describe the allegations as 'bizarre' after the charges were withdrawn at the formal disciplinary hearing, only to be reinstated two days later. They would be officially dropped in early 2007. In June 2007 she resigned from the NPA to take up employment in the private sector. Marion has since joined Draftfcb Social Marketing, a division of Draftfcb SA.
Other
Along with Jenny Schreiner and Gwen Ansell she edited Comrade Jack, a memoir of the late Marxist activist, Jack Simons, who lectured on politics in Umkhonto we Sizwe training camps in AngolaAngola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
and Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
.
Other white women who contributed to South Africa's liberation struggle include:
- Conny Braam, Dutch journalist who assisted with Operation Vula and later wrote a book about her anti-apartheid experiences
- Susan de Lange, political prisoner and wife of the guerilla Damian de Lange
- Barbara HoganBarbara HoganBarbara Hogan is the former Minister of Public Enterprises in the Cabinet of South Africa.-Early life:Hogan attended St Dominic's Catholic School for Girls, Boksburg and gained a degree at the University of the Witwatersrand....
, political prisoner - Janet Love, Operation Vula operative
- Ruth FirstRuth FirstRuth First was a white South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar born in Johannesburg, South Africa...
, ANC activist and wife of Joe SlovoJoe SlovoFor Joe Slovo Informal Settlement in Cape Town, see: Joe Slovo .Joe Slovo was a South African politician, long-time leader of the South African Communist Party , and leading member of the African National Congress.-Life:Slovo was born in Obeliai, Lithuania to a Jewish family who emigrated to South...
, killed by apartheid government assassinsCivil Cooperation BureauThe South African Civil Cooperation Bureau was a government-sponsored hit squad during the apartheid era that operated under the authority of Defence Minister General Magnus Malan...
in 1982 - Muff Andersen, former Sunday Times journalist
- Helena Pastoors, Dutch citizen
- Trish Hanekom, who served four years in prison in the 1980s and was deported to her native Zimbabwe on her release.