My mother, Olive Landman, who has died aged 103, was a teacher of English and Latin at “coloured” high schools in South Africa during the apartheid era. She fled to Britain in 1964 after she and her husband, Frank, became involved in anti-apartheid activity. Following a period teaching in London, they moved to Zambia, where they remained until retirement and a return to the UK.
Born in Knysna in the Western Cape, Olive was the eldest daughter of Hendrika (nee Pieterse) and Ellis Rosenberg, both of whom were teachers. After her secondary education at Livingstone high school, Olive studied English, Latin and Afrikaans at Cape Town University, where she moved in leftwing circles and became active in the anti-racist New Era Fellowship. She dropped out of university to nurse her dying mother, later completing her studies at Fort Hare University College in the Eastern Cape. There she became friendly with the future African National Congress leader Oliver Tambo, joining the student strike he led.
