Cecilia Makiwane

Cecilia Makiwane, Charcoal on Paper by Amitabh Mitra

Cecilia Makiwane
Born 1880
Macfarlane Mission, Victoria District, Alice, Eastern Cape , South Africa
Died 1919 (39 years)
Thaba ‘Nchu, Free State (province), South Africa
Occupation Registered Nurse

Cecilia Makiwane (1880–1919) was the first African registered professional nurse in South Africa and an early activist in the struggle for women's rights.

Early life

Cecilia Makiwane was born in 1880 at the MacFarlane Mission in the Victoria district of Alice, Eastern Cape. Her father, Rev. Elijah Makiwane, was born at Sheshegu location, Victoria East, and was a teacher and a minister. Her mother, Maggie Majiza of Burnshill was an assistant teacher at Girls' School of Lovedale. They had three children, Daisy (1878), Cecilia (1880) and Ashton (1882). Cecilia attended the Lovedale Girls' School where she obtained a teacher's certificate.

She came from a family of pioneers. Her father was only the second African Presbyterian Minister to be trained in South Africa, her sister Daisy was the first African woman to achieve a degree in mathematics and her niece Noni Jabavu became a well-known novelist.

Nursing education

In 1898, an experimental nurse's training school was opened for black nurses at the Lovedale Mission Hospital and in 1902 a three-year nursing course was introduced at Lovedale College. She enrolled in 1903 and on completion, she was sent to Butterworth Hospital (Eastern Cape) for further training to prepare for the Colonial Medical Council examination. On 7 January 1908, after passing her exams, Makiwane was registered as the first black professional nurse.

Other work

In 1912, Makiwane took part in what was probably the first women's anti-pass campaign. In this campaign, a petition was signed by some 5000 African and mixed-ancestry women in the Free State (province). It was sent to Louis Botha asking for the pass laws to be repealed.

Retirement

She resumed work with the Lovedale Hospital and served the hospital until she was granted long leave due to ill health.

Death and legacy

After leaving Lovedale, she joined her sister, Majombozi, in Thaba ‘Nchu, where she died in 1919 at the age of 39. A statue of Cecilia Makiwane was erected by the nurses of South Africa at the Lovedale Hospital in 1977. A postage stamp was issued in 1982 to honour local heroine Cecilia Makiwane by the short-lived republic "Ciskei", now known as the Eastern Cape. The Cecilia Makiwane Nurse's Recognition Award for health care professionals, was introduced by the South African government in 2002 in her honour. Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane township in the Eastern Cape has been named after her.

References

See also

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