South Africa: Struggle Icon, Duma Nokwe, Awarded Honorary Title of Senior Counsel

President Cyril Ramaphosa has awarded Advocate Dumalisile (Duma) Nokwe the honorary title of Senior Counsel (SC) for South Africa. This award is posthumous, as Nokwe passed away in 1978 while in exile in Zambia.

Nokwe was the first African advocate of the Supreme Court. The honor recognizes his expertise and contributions to the legal profession. President Ramaphosa conferred this status under the Legal Practice Act of 2014.

The Legal Practice Council and the Duma Nokwe Group of Advocates applied for this recognition. Nokwe's remains were repatriated to South Africa in 2024. His reburial will take place on Saturday, May 17, 2025.

He will be reburied at West Park Cemetery in Johannesburg alongside his wife, Mrs. Vuyiswa Malangabi-Nokwe, who died in 2008. President Ramaphosa has granted him a Special Provincial Official Funeral and will deliver a tribute at the ceremony.

Nokwe held a BSc degree from the University of Fort Hare and a diploma in education. He began teaching in Krugersdorp but faced imprisonment during the Defiance Campaign against apartheid in 1952.

In 1953, he was banned by the government after attending international events. He later studied law and earned an LLB degree. Nokwe became the first black advocate admitted to the Johannesburg Society of Advocates.

However, he was barred from taking chambers with white colleagues due to racist policies. This led him to focus on the liberation struggle instead. He faced treason charges, banning orders, arrests, and police assaults throughout his activism.

Nokwe left South Africa after being elected Secretary-General of the ANC in 1958. He mobilized communities against apartheid until directed to leave by underground leadership in January 1963.

He campaigned globally against apartheid through organizations like the Organisation of African Unity and remained active until his death in Lusaka in January 1978.