Veteran activist, Mildred Ramakaba-Lesiea recalls how she was drawn into political activity during resistance to the introduction of Bantu Education when she was living in Elsies River. She joined the Elsies River Civic Association to protest against the education board and subsequently joined the ANC, as well as the Communist Party of South Africa, which was banned. She recalls finding herself working openly and also in covert (underground) and her emergence as a leader with the onset of the Pass Laws. She was involved in some of the major turning points in history such as the finalisation of the Freedom Charter, the support activities for the wome's march on the Union Buildings in 1956.