Struggle activist fondly remembered

• Published date: 14 September 2023
• Author: Lizahn Bowers lizahn.bowers@acm.co.za
• Publication title: Southern Suburbs Tatler

Ms Thornton, a former Rondebosch resident and Cape Community Media (CCM) columnist, died on Wednesday September 6 at the age of 91. She was at her daughter Helena’s home in Woodstock where she had stayed for the past three years. She leaves behind four children and three grandchildren

Ms Thornton was born in 1932 to parents who were actively involved in the struggle. It did not take long for her to follow suit, taking part in her first campaign against the National Party during the pivotal 1948 election when she was just 16.

In 1950 she joined the Modern Youth Society (MYS), a progressive youth movement involving mainly university students. Through MYS, Ms Thornton was involved in night school literacy classes for African workers in the Cape Town docks.

In 1952 she was appointed as the secretary of the Joint Congress Committee and was part of the delegation that was stopped by the police in Beaufort West and detained over the weekend in 1955.

From the start of the Treason Trial in 1956 she served on the Treason Trial Support Committee. She did voluntary work for the Guardian newspaper – doing research...