Other livesSouth AfricaObituaryWendy Woods obituary
"Who do you think you are, Donald Woods?" his wife, Wendy – played by Penelope Wilton in Richard Attenborough's brilliant film Cry Freedom – exclaims at the news that she and their five young children will have to be uprooted suddenly from their beloved South Africa for a dramatic escape into exile late in 1977. Donald's transformation from respected editor of the Daily Dispatch in East London, in the Eastern Cape, into subversive friend of militant activist Steve Biko had turned the family upside down.
Wendy, who has died aged 73, was in fact stoical and selfless, qualities that enabled the Woods family to get through the many trials of harassment and, eventually, exile.
Born in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, Wendy excelled at school and became a music teacher. She married Donald in 1962 and, over the following decade, was active in the white women's group, Black Sash, campaigning against the imprisonment of political detainees. But by the 1970s, Donald's anti-apartheid stance brought increased security police intimidation, including death threats.
On one occasion, two local workers ran into their house, and Wendy hid them in an upstairs bathroom with her. When the security police knocked on the door, Wendy replied: "I'm in here," and the two policemen immediately withdrew, unable to imagine that a white woman could possibly be in a bathroom with two black men.
The security police wired the Woods' house with surveillance microphones and recorded all telephone calls. Twice its officers fired bullets into the home.
Following Biko's murder by the security police, and with Donald now banned, Wendy arranged to attend the 13-day Biko inquest in Pretoria. While she was away, their five-year old daughter, Mary, was sent a T-shirt which the security police had laced with acid-powder, burning her face and arms. Now there was no alternative but painful exile.
While living under apartheid brought constant challenges and fear, after Biko was killed Wendy's outlook moved past fear and turned into defiance and anger. Exile was especially traumatic for her. With Donald caught up in high-profile campaigning across the world, she looked after their children, who were also finding it difficult to adjust to cold, grey England. She still managed to work for the International Broadcasting Trust, as well as providing film script analysis for Marble Arch Productions, and as a journalist, not least for the Guardian. In addition, she collected thousands of books for the University of Fort Hare, where Nelson Mandela had been a student.
Wendy worked in charities, notably as trustee and director of the Lincoln Charitable Trust. She was chair of Age Concern, Kingston, and of Amnesty International, Esher. From 2003, she was founder and chair of the Donald Woods Foundation, doing vital work in the poverty-stricken Transkei region of the Eastern Cape – Mandela's homeland.
A decent, kind and selfless person, who showed great courage and sacrificed much, Wendy never fully recognised herself as the quietly inspirational figure she was to many people.
Donald died in 2001. Wendy is survived by her children, Jane, Dillon, Duncan, Gavin and Mary, and nine grandchildren. Her son Lindsay died in infancy.
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