Victoria Nonyamezelo Mxenge (1 January 1942, in King William's Town, Eastern Cape – 1 August 1985, in Umlazi, Durban, Natal) was a South African anti-apartheid activist; she was trained as a nurse and midwife, and later began practising law. Life Mxenge was born in Tamara Village on 1 January 1942 in King William's Town to parents Wilmot Goso and Nobantu Ntebe. After completing her primary education at Tamara, she went to Forbes Grant Secondary School where she completed the junior certificate (Grade 10). In 1959, she matriculated at Healdtown, Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Province. She trained as a nurse at Victoria Hospital and earned her qualifications in 1964. After she married Griffiths Mxenge, she and her husband moved to Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). She took midwifery at King Edward Hospital and worked as a community nurse in Umlazi. In 1965, her husband was convicted under the Suppression of Communism Act and was imprisoned for two years on Robben Island. During their marriage, her husband faced various government-sanctioned bans and detentions. She and her husband had two sons, Mbasa and Viwe, and daughter Namhla. Work After completing a midwifery course at King Edward Hospital, Victoria Mxenge worked as a community nurse at Umlazi Clinic. She then studied law through UNISA. In 1981, some five years after her husband had set up a legal practice she acquired legal qualifications, joined the practice and was subsequently admitted as an attorney. On 19 November 1981, her husband was brutally assassinated by Vlakplaas agents led by Dirk Coetzee in Umlazi township, south of Durban. He had multiple stab wounds and his body was found near the soccer field in Umlazi and it fell on her to identify his mutilated body at a government mortuary the morning after his murder. It was claimed by police general Dirk Coetzee that her husband was murdered by the African National Congress (ANC), which she vigorously refuted. The ANC issued a public statement from Lusaka decrying his murder and paying tribute to his contribution in the struggle. In 1996, Dirk Coetzee confessed that he led a group that killed Mxenge. After her husband's murder, Mxenge kept their law practice going. In 1983, she successfully defended students against the confiscation of their results by the Department of Education". She also intervened in cases in which the youth were ill-treated while imprisoned. Mxenge represented families of victims of the Matolo raid and