Ruth First Assassinated (1982)

Tue Aug 17, 1982

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Ruth First was a South African anti-apartheid activist, journalist, and scholar who was assassinated by South African police via mail-bomb on this day in 1982.

As an anti-apartheid activist, First had been harassed for years by the South African government. In 1956, First, alongside 155 other activists, were all charged and acquitted of treason in the country’s infamous “Treason Trial”.

After the state of emergency that followed the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, she was banned from political participation. First could not attend meetings, publish, and or be quoted. In 1963, she was imprisoned and held in isolation without charge for 117 days under the Ninety-Day Detention Law, the first white woman to be detained under this law.

In August of 1982, First was assassinated by South African police in Mozambique, where she was working in exile. Her funeral in Maputo was attended by presidents, members of parliament and envoys from 34 countries.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established in 1996 following the fall of apartheid, granted amnesty to Craig Williamson and Roger Raven, two of the men responsible for killing First.

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• Date: 1982-08-17
• Learn More: www.sahistory.org.za, en.wikipedia.org, www.ruthfirstpapers.org.uk.
• Tags: #Civil Rights, #Assassinations.
• Source: [www.apeoplescalendar.org](https://www.apeoplescalendar.org/calendar/events/ruth-first-assassinated -1982)