Carol Moses was born on 7 April 1968 in Oudtshoorn, Western Cape, one of seven siblings. She grew up on a farm outside Oudtshoorn. Moses was a struggle activist who stood up for the people of the Karoo.
Moses was arrested more than seven times; one of her arrests was when she was 14 years old in grade 9. She was arrested under the Internal Security Act, when she led a United Democratic Front (UDF) march in her hometown against the newly imposed Tricameral parliament (a name that was given to South African Parliament from 1984 to 1994, which included Coloured and Indian people). Moses was active in politics while at school. She joined the executive committee of an anti-apartheid community newspaper called Saamstaan (stand together) which was constantly harassed by the security police until it closed. She was also an active member of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS). In 1985, Moses organized students from three schools in Oudtshoorn to join a national three months classroom protest that COSAS called..
During the apartheid era, Oudtshoorn was a dangerous place for anti-apartheid activists. Moses was among those the security police harassed. In 1980, she was arrested in George, Western Cape, and held in prison for 10 months under the state of emergency regulations. Moses then led a two weeks hunger strike to force the authorities to allow the imprisoned students to write exams in jail.
Moses passed with exemption, which allowed her to enrol at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). While at UWC, she helped to start a newsletter, Student Voice, and was the editor. She also encouraged the university to join the South African Student Press Union (SASPU), which was then confined to white campuses. In 1991, she was elected as the union's first black woman president.
In addition, she worked for the African National Congress as a media assistant in the Western Cape. In 1997, Moses joined the public sector as communication and transformation manager at the Department of Water Affairs. She served as a Deputy Director of Environment Affairs, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
She was married to Clive Stuurman and they had two children, a son and daughter. Their daughter Khanyisa died in a car accident at the age of eight in 1995.
Moses died at the age of 50 after a short illness following colon surgery. Her husband Clive Stuurman and their child Che survive her.
Daniels, N., (2019), Family of activist Moses, 50, still coming to terms with her death, [online] Available at www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/family-of-activist-moses-50-still-coming-to-terms-with-her-death-19411761 [Accessed: 12 August 2019]
Gumede, W., (2019) The forgotten cadres are the ANC’s loss, from Mail & Guardian [online], Available at mg.co.za/article/2019-03-15-00-the-forgotten-cadres-are-the-ancs-loss [Accessed: 12 August 2019]
Daniels, N.,(2019), One of ANC's 'brightest, most dedicated activists' dies after short illness, from Independent Newspaper [online],Available at www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/one-of-ancs-brightest-most-dedicated-activists-dies-after-short-illness-19355092 [Accessed: 12 September 2019]