Born in
Soweto, Senaoane Manku Noruka was introduced to politics while still at high
school in the late 1980s. Her political growth was primarily facilitated by
reading, a hobby she credits for shaping the person she is today. A book which
shaped her thinking and still informs her political activism is ‘I Write What I
Like’ a collection of essays by Steve Biko. “I write what I like, introduced me
to the black consciousness philosophy, which till this day informs my
worldview” says Manku. Today she considers it a privilege to be serving
in the same Standing Committee of the Azanian Peoples Organisation (AZAPO) with
Ntate Molefe Pheto the author of “ And the night fell”.
In 1992,
Manku registered for a Bachelor’s Degree at Vista University’s Soweto campus.
There she was instrumental in setting up a branch of the Azanian Students’
Convention (AZASCO) , a student formation of AZAPO. The following year she was
elected to be the branch organiser, a position she held till 1995. “ Being a
branch organiser was not easy, it meant you had to be at the forefront of
building the organisation on campus and recruiting members. One had to
quickly learn how to relate the core believes and mission of the organisation
to the daily lives of students” says Manku.
In 1997
Manku was elected to the National Executive Committee of AZASCO “the most
influential leadership in the history of AZASCO” as the Gender Officer. After
leaving student politics, in 2001 Manku joined the Phiri branch of the Azanian
Youth Organisation (AZAYO) another formation of AZAPO. This period was
followed by a “seven years break from political activism” in which she
devoted herself to her family. In 2009 “I reactivated my political involvement
and became active in AZAPO”. In 2010 Manku was elected to serve in the Standing
Committee of AZAPO as Secretary for Gender and Women Affairs, a position which
she holds to date.
MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC
I understand being under privillaged and it is through my deep love for my
community that I would like to make a difference. I believe that the first step
in doing so is to ensure that there our people are empowered and it is through
your vote that issues of education will be prioritized, our community is under
the scourge of drugs and I believe that is where I can make a difference and
that our people should be safe. By introducing community project for our youth
to be involved in it will remove them from the life of crime, drugs and make
our communities to be the safe heaven we all aspire. It is by your vote that we
can make this a reality
by Ineeleng Bogosi
