#‎InTheSpotlight‬ Prof. Janet Cherry - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Janet Cherry was born in 1961 in Cape Town, where she was raised. Janet comes from a family committed to social justice. Her father, Robin, the Dean of Science at the University of Cape Town, and her mother Helen, have played active roles in opposing apartheid. While at school at Rustenburg Girls High in Rondebosch, Cape Town, Janet first became aware of the injustices in South Africa. At this time she was a strong supporter of the Progressive Federal Party. After matriculating with distinction in 1979, Janet began a degree in Economic History and Industrial Sociology at UCT.She became politically active while studying at the University of Cape Town in 1980. She was involved in the Wages Commission, doing support work for independent black trade unions, and in worker education and adult literacy programmes in Crossroads and Nyanga townships in the Cape. While at University, she ran the student printing press as a member of the Student Representative Council. In 1982, she was recruited into the African National Congress (ANC) underground. A year later, Cherry was elected General Secretary of the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). At that time, she was involved in discussions around the formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF).