Helen Zille, former leader of the Democratic Alliance, is born in Johannesburg

Helen Zille studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng) where she obtained a BA Degree. She went on to become a prominent journalist in the 1970s and 1980s. Zille became well-known after she exposed the real circumstances behind the death of Black Consciousness Movement leader Steve Biko. In the 1980s she joined the anti-Apartheid organisation the Black Sash. In the 1990s Zille joined the Democratic Party (now the Democratic Alliance). She became a member of parliament and was elected mayor of the Western Cape, where the Democratic Alliance dominated. In 2007 she was elected leader of the DA, a position she maintained until 2015 when she was replaced by Mmusi Maimane. She is married to Professor John Maree and they have two sons.