Activist, legal academic and politician. Left South Africa in the mid-1970s, studied law in Zambia and lectured in Botswana. She advised the ANC’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Department and in 1990 became a member of the ANC's Constitutional Committee and its negotiating team. From 1994 she served in government as: deputy minister of arts & culture; minister of public enterprise, of justice & constitutional development, and of housing. As activist, her focus was promoting the rights of women and children.