Norma Kitson

Norma Kitson was born in Durban, South Africa to a large Jewish family. At the age of fifteen she rebelled against post-war family life and ran away to be with her sister and worked as a secretary for a gold mine. Apartheid was implemented following WWII in which there was brutal oppression of all black people. Appalled by the treatment of black miners, Norma left for Johannesburg for eighteen months. She then joined the campaign of Defiance against of Unjust Laws.

She joined the Congress of Democrats when it was formed in the month of October of 1953. In June 1955, Norma decided to dedicate her life to the Congress of the People in Johannesburg. This was a convention of different races called together to vote about the Freedom Charter.

In 1959, after marrying and having a child Norma and her family returned to South Africa in order to continue participating in the struggle of liberation. In June of 1964 both Norma and her husband were arrested because of there involvement in the liberation movement. She was retained for 28 days and after being released she was immediately hospitalized for ten days. Her husband David was found guilty and sentenced for 20 years. After two years of Norma and her children were harassed by the police she decided to leave South Africa and move to London.

On January 6th 1982, Norma's adult son Steven went to visit his father in prison. While visiting he was arrested. Norma then formed a campaign to free her son called the "Free Steven Kitson Campaign". Not long after Norma's sister called her to inform her of her son's planned release, her sister was murdered.

Once her husband was released from prison after nearly 20 years, the two of them decided to move to Zimbabwe in order to be in a closer proximity to the liberation struggles. Until her death in November of 1997 Norma dedicated her life to her goal of liberation

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