FACT SHEET
FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN HERITAGE RESOURCES AGENCY
DECLARATION OF
CHARLOTTE MAXEKE, LILLIAN NGOYI & HELEN JOSEPH GRAVES AS NATIONAL HERITAGE
SITES

The declaration of the three Women’s graves kick-starts a five year project
aimed at the identification of sites associated with Women who have made a
significant contribution in different terrains of the liberation struggle including arts,
business, education, literary writing, politics inclusive of mass campaigns and
armed combat.

To date, The Grading and Declaration Unit has complied with the requirements
of the National Heritage Resources Act No. 25 of 1999 requirements for l public
participation through Section 27 registered letters and have published an
advertisement in the Sowetan for broader participation, invitation of comments
and registration of . In addition to a site nomination and declaration dossier, two
incremental conservation management plans a government gazette notice was
published on Friday the 30th July 2010, officially granting a national heritage site
status to the two grave sites. The Burial Grounds and Graves Unit in conjunction
with the Grading and Declaration Unit have liaised with the families of the
deceased, as part of the consultation process to secure consent for declaration
of graves and implications thereof, as well as the proposed conservation
enhancement of graves and headstones.

According to section 3 (2) g of the National Heritage Resources Act no, 25 of
1999, “graves and burial grounds”, form part of the national estate that has a
significance for present communities and for future generations.
a. its importance in the community, pattern of South Africa’s history
Significance lies in the history of the three women’s contribution to the
defiance campaigns against oppression of human rights through Apartheid.
b. its strong or special association with the life or work of a person, group and an
organisation of importance in the history of South Africa.
Helen Joseph and Lillian Ngoyi helped organise and lead women in a
successful protest march against pass laws that would be immortalized in the
collective memory of all South Africans. Charlotte Maxeke was one of the first
black female leaders in South Africa who advocated freedom for women
from oppression and exploitation.

Significance of the Graves
The graves of Charlotte Makgommo Maxeke (1874-1939), Helen May Joseph (19051992) and Lillian Masediba Ngoyi (1911-1980), are a tangible representation of their
outstanding leadership and significant cultural contribution to, education, crosscultural exchange, African independent churches, and advocacy of non-racialism,
trade unionism, women’s rights and participation in resistance politics.
The location of Charlotte Maxeke’s grave within a historical cemetery of Nancefield,
proclaimed in 1921 as a first formal burial space designated for Africans within an
urban setting of Witwatersrand, portrays a historical layering of urban segregation to
which she was vocally opposed. The burial of Helen Joseph within the same grave
as Lillian Ngoyi in Avalon Cemetery which was proclaimed in 1972 for the resettled
communities of Soweto who were forcibly removed under the Group Areas Act of
1950; is a symbol of anti-apartheid defiance and achievement of a social cohesion
they could not achieve in life, attained in death.