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Adv Duma Nokwe (1927-1978) was a SA’n political activist, teacher and lawyer who served as the SG of the ANC from 1958 until 1969. After being barred from teaching he took up Law & eventually became the 1st Black advocate to be admitted to the Bar.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has posthumously awarded struggle veteran and human rights lawyer Advocate Dumalisile Philemon Pearce Nokwe the honorary title of Senior Counsel (Silk) for South Africa, ahead of his reburial.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, says the conferral of the late Adv. Nokwe was done on the eve of the esteemed legal practitioner’s Special Provincial Official reburial in West Park Cemetery, Johannesburg.
He will be reburied alongside his wife, Mrs. Vuyiswa Malangabi-Nokwe, who passed away in 2008.
Advocate Nokwe went into exile in 1963 and died in Zambia in 1978 at the age of 50. However, in 2024, his mortal remains were repatriated to South Africa.
President confers posthumous Senior Counsel status on Adv Dumalisile Philemon Pearce Nokwe.
— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) May 16, 2025
Activism
In 1952 his Defiance Campaign led to imprisonment and his dismissal by the then Transvaal Education Department.
Amid his participation in the 1953 World Youth Festival and visits to the then Soviet Union, China and Britain, the South African authorities imposed a banning and restriction order on him.
The posthumous honour bestowed on the first African advocate of the Supreme Court is a high honour that recognises Adv Nokwe’s expertise and contribution to the legal profession.
This subsequently led him to study law and obtain an LLB degree. Adv. Nokwe became the first black advocate to be admitted to the Johannesburg Society of Advocates.
But the Native Affairs Department of the time debarred him from taking chambers with his white colleagues in the Johannesburg city centre and devoted himself to the liberation struggle. He was put on trial for treason and was subjected to banning orders, arrests and assault by the police.
[RECAP] Born on 13 May 1927, in Evaton, Adv Duma Nokwe emerged as a symbol of intellectual brilliance, unyielding courage, and visionary leadership. His life, tragically cut short in exile in 1978, offers profound lessons for a world still grappling with injustice. As we reflect… pic.twitter.com/ISx6PREBLU
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) May 14, 2025
Liberation struggle
Adv. Nokwe was elected Secretary-General of the African National Congress in 1958 and mobilised communities against apartheid until the underground leadership directed him to leave South Africa in January 1963.
He campaigned against the apartheid state on global platforms, including those of the Organisation of African Unity and African Union.
#sabcnews ANC Secretary General, @MbalulaFikile will deliver a memorial lecture in honour of Advocate Duma Nokwe who once served as the Secretary General of the party from 1958-1969. pic.twitter.com/BDDNZ2H7at
— Natasha Nokuthula Phiri (@NatashaN_Phiri) May 13, 2025
Legal honours
The application to confer the title of Senior Counsel (Silk) was submitted by the Legal Practice Council and the Duma Nokwe Group of Advocates. Both Advocate Nokwe and his wife were active anti-apartheid activists.
“The Posthumous honour bestowed on the First African Advocate of the Supreme Court, is a high honour that recognises Adv. Nokwe’s expertise and contribution towards the profession. President Ramaphosa has conferred the status on Adv. Nokwe, in line with the provisions of the Legal Practice Act of 2014, which governs this status and sets out the criteria for its conferral,” says Magwenya.
Remains of freedom fighters repatriated
