About us - Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke Institute (CMMI)

The Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke Institute (CMMI) is a family initiative born out of the desire to preserve, promote, elevate and leverage the legacy left behind by Mme Charlotte. The CMMI was founded by three families related to this icon, namely the Maxeke’s, the Mannya’s, and the Makhanya’s (her sister Katie married into the Makhanya’s). The CMMI has been registered as a non-profit company (NPC).

MME Charlotte’s achievements and contributions to society both inside and beyond South Africa’s borders motivated the families to seek recognition of her accomplishments as well as continue to promote her teachings, the values she stood for, and the continued empowering of women and social activism she pursued during her lifetime.

In 2008 the Johannesburg General Hospital was renamed to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. It was one of three Gauteng hospitals renamed to honour individuals who had made a significant contribution to South Africa’s development. The CMMI would like to continue to build on this legacy.

Our most important objective is to establish a Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke African Girls School of Excellence (AGSE). Our vision includes building a modern, state-of-the-art educational, cultural, sports, and boarding facility that will, through its high standards, be considered one of the premier science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational institutions in the world.

Furthermore, the institute’s aim and objectives include:

Highlight Mme Charlotte’s history, preserve her heritage and celebrate her legacy.
Promote her teaching in the present context and through relevant programmes.
Revitalise, Rebrand and Reposition (RRR) her legacy through social developmental programmes and women empowerment initiatives that are aligned with her beliefs and values.
Re-connect with all institutions associated with MME Charlotte – both within South Africa and abroad. These include the Wilberforce College in RSA and the Wilberforce University in the USA, AME Church, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, all relevant families in the country and abroad…
Play a meaningful role in the regeneration of the African continent through the creation of an environment conducive to the growth of competent women of excellence and integrity who are able to compete on a global level.
Discover new talent via world-class skills enhancement programmes that will contribute to the production of high-minded citizens who will play a meaningful role in South Africa’s 2030 National Development Plan and African Union’s 2063 Vision.
Acknowledge and honour in particular African female icons and their contributions to the country, continent and the world.
Celebrating and encouraging women’s excellence.
Pave the way to establish a museum in honour of MME Charlotte by identifying and collecting the relevant archives and documentation, in order to disseminate and display a rich and comprehensive history of this icon.

About MME Charlotte
Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke (1871 – 1919) was a pioneering South African woman who was passionate about inclusivity, education, and evangelism. She grasped every opportunity presented to her and accomplished many notable firsts during her lifetime.

These include…
being the first black South African woman to achieve a BSC degree in 1901.

being the first woman to participate in the King’s Courts under King Sabata Dalindyebo of AbaThembu.

establishing a school in Evaton with her husband in 1908 (Wilberforce Institute)

being the only woman who attended and contributed to the first African National Congress (ANC) conference in 1912.

being co-initiator, organiser, and the first President of the Bantu Women’s League founded in 1918 (it would later become the ANC Women’s League)

Her Early Years

Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke was born to John Kgope Mannya and Anna Manci on 7 April 1871 in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape. Her father had grown up without access to education and always encouraged his children to seek to better ourselves. His stories of the lack of literacy in his village, and the mystery the written word held to him and his people, planted the first seed of ambition in Charlotte, who throughout her life was driven by the determination to not only better herself, but also to return to the mountains of her father’s village, and to teach her people.

She and her siblings attended Edwards Memorial – a missionary school – where her thirst for knowledge and a burning desire to be educated, and to educate, was fuelled by her teachers. In 1885, her father began to attend night school and at the same time he converted to Christianity and became a lay preacher at the local Presbyterian church. The Mannya family became dedicated church-goers, and the seed of another of Charlotte’s great callings – her evangelism – was planted. She often expressed how fortunate she was to have a father who encouraged her to pursue her dreams, and who would often tell her that God will make her dreams come true.
African Jubilee Choirs

Charlotte and her younger sister Katie joined the African Jubilee Choir and between 1891-1893 the choir was invited to tour England and perform for Queen Victoria. It was here that she had the opportunity to witness talks by some famous suffragettes, including Emmeline Pankhurst, who inspired her to lobby for women’s rights.

The African Jubilee Choir was so well-received abroad that it was invited to tour Canada and the States. After the tour ended Charlotte stayed behind as she felt the States could offer her opportunity and access to the education she had long aspired to. With the help of Bishop Turner from the African Methodist Church, she was granted admission to study at Wilberforce University near Xenia, Ohio.
Student life

Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke was born to John Kgope Mannya and Anna Manci on 7 April 1871 in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape. Her father had grown up without access to education and always encouraged his children to seek to better ourselves. His stories of the lack of literacy in his village, and the mystery the written word held to him and his people, planted the first seed of ambition in Charlotte, who throughout her life was driven by the determination to not only better herself, but also to return to the mountains of her father’s village, and to teach her people.
Return to South Africa

The couple returned to South Africa with the intention of making a difference and being instruments of change. For about a decade, they focused mainly on their evangelistic pursuits and Charlotte was elected as president of the Women’s Missionary Society by the AME.

Charlotte was afforded the privilege of participating in King Sabata Dalindyebo’s court in the Transkei. They started a school under this Royal Family and she was given the name Nogazo as a salutation. The husband and wife team also founded the South African Wilberforce Institution in Evaton – an establishment that has survived them both.

In 1912 the couple attended the founding of the African Native National Congress in Bloemfontein. Charlotte had become a strong proponent of changing the social and political situation of black women in South Africa – this included organizing anti-pass movements and marches; being a founder member of the Bantu Women’s League in 1918 (which later became the ANC Women’s League) and using every opportunity she had to raise the profile of women’s rights.

Charlotte Mannya-Maxeke lived to be sixty-eight years old. She died on 16 October 1919, however, her legacy and her story does not end there…

“I regard Mrs Maxeke as a pioneer in one of the greatest of human causes, working under extraordinarily difficult circumstances to lead a people, in the face of prejudice, not only against her race, but against her sex. To fight not simply the natural and inherent difficulties of education and social uplift, but to fight with little money and little outside aid was indeed a tremendous task”

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor.