She was born in South Africa in 1914 and died in 2006 from the diabetes that she suffered. She was an only child and inherited her family's farm, which she lost later on due to the apartheid regime. She worked as a teacher for many years whilst she studied Social Work at the University of Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg.

After the student massacre that took place in Soweto in 1976, she decided to actively take part in the political movement against the apartheid regime. It was for this reason that she was detained by the South African authorities for 5 months in 1977. She also actively defended South African women's rights, and was well known for the great humanitarian work that she undertook. She was also a great proponent of gender equality and in numerous social integration programmes in the suburbs of Soweto.

For many years, Kuzwayo was the secretary of the  Young Women’s Christian Association, which is a women's movement aimed at working to get a social and economic change in the World.

She received the award for Woman of the year, from one of Johannesburg's most prestigious newspapers in 1979. In 1985 she wrote her autobiography Call me woman where she told of her experiences in Soweto. Thanks to this book she became the first black woman writer to receive the literary prize from the CNA, one of the most important in South Africa. After not appearing in public for a long time, she published Sit Down and Listen: Stories from South Africa (1996). She obtained many recognitions for her career and was honoris causa at the University of Natal.

Sources:

• http://www.interlog.com/saww/2000Ellen.html
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/apr/24/guardianobituaries.gender