Former ANC MP Val Viljoen’s disillusionment with the post-liberation ruling party was replaced with a rewarding 26-year experience in building community life in the metro.
Viljoen, 81, died on April 10 from leukemia at her home in Parklands Berea with family by her side.
Tributes from treasured local institutions, the East London Museum, Guild Theatre and Ann Bryant Art Gallery, where she played a leadership role after party politics, have not been aired much — Viljoen eschewed self-agrandisement and did not want a memorial service. But they do present an encouraging picture of how an Eastern Cape life can be lived in pure service of the community and public.
Viljoen gave her five years in parliament in the Nelson Mandela-led 1994 government her best shot, said fellow MP at the time, and now chair of the Guild Theatre board, Malwande Ntisana.
Ntisana said he worked with Viljoen on parliament’s arts, culture, language, science and technology portfolio. He was convenor of the sub-committee on culture and heritage, and Viljoen had been on the committee as it steered critical pieces of legislation through parliament.
He said: “Over the years, Val’s work consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to advancing human rights, heritage and cultural development in alignment with the constitution. Throughout her various leadership roles, Val championed campaigns against racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and gender-based violence.
“Drawing on her expertise in arts and culture administration, she has promoted the equitable sharing of cultural spaces across race, class, and gender. Her efforts have contributed to healing, dialogue, and nation-building, while reinforcing the importance of inclusive cultural engagement.”
Viljoen, an English immigrant, started her active adult life in the 1970s in then East London as a struggling single mom of two girls, serving the poor and repressed through the Black Sash advice office in town. Many of those assisted were families of detainees or detainees themselves.
She was thrust — initially with reluctance to leave family in the metro — into national leadership when the Eastern Cape ANC sent her to parliament. Once there, she worked with typical determination and pragmatism in a thrilling constitutional moment which laid the foundation of the SA democracy.
Ntisana said she had promoted transformation, access, inclusion, and the democratisation of cultural spaces contributing significantly to the “creation of a united, active, and engaged Eastern Cape province”.
She played a pivotal role in the drafting of the national cohesion strategy for the department of sport, arts and culture which fostered unity and understanding in post-apartheid SA.
The strategy was designed to transform SA society by promoting mutual recognition, nation-building, and economic emancipation.
She recognised the strategic role that arts and culture play in job creation and structured economic development and “consistently emphasised the need for cultural development to be integrated within broader socioeconomic policy frameworks”.
She also understood the arts were essential for “shaping contemporary culture and connecting to global cultural trends, but also in preserving and transmitting traditional knowledge and skills across generations”.
But her daughter, Julie Huckle said Viljoen ended her five years in parliament and with a sense dismay at burgeoning corruption within the state, and after serving as a Buffalo City ANC councillor from 2001 to 2010, her mother “cut up her party card”.
By then she was already deep into her work with the East London Museum, Guild Theatre and Ann Bryant Gallery and was dedicated to preserving and promoting the city’s natural and social history, arts and culture, Off Track was told by all of them.
At the museum, Viljoen served as board of trustee member (2000 to 2026), vice chair (2005 to 2007) and chair (2008 to 2012).
The museum posted that they were saying “goodbye to a devoted friend, supporter, and true champion of the museum and the wider arts community.
“Val gave so generously of her time, wisdom, and energy, touching countless lives through her deep commitment to heritage, justice, literature, and the arts. For more than two decades, she served the museum with distinction — as a trustee, chair and vice chair, library volunteer, proofreader, fundraiser, and trusted guide.
“Her impact reached far beyond our walls, shaping the cultural life of the community through her work with the Guild Theatre, Umtiza Arts Festival, and Ann Bryant Art Gallery, as well as her service in parliament. She will be remembered most for her humour, her steadfast spirit, and her kindness.
“We have lost a remarkable soul. Val’s legacy lives on in the institutions she strengthened and the many people she inspired.”
Ntisana said that as chair of the boards of both the Guild Theatre and the museum, [and on the Ann Bryant gallery’s advisory board], her support for drama, dance, music, poetry, and the visual arts “demonstrated a clear vision of leveraging arts, culture, and heritage as catalysts for economic development.
“Despite the sector’s fragility due to ongoing transitions and structural challenges, she and her board acknowledged these complexities and committed themselves to repositioning and transforming these institutions to meet societal needs and economic imperatives.”
Under her leadership, the museum and Guild Theatre “achieved significant progress, securing strategic partnerships and sectoral transformation. These advancements have positioned Buffalo City and surrounding areas within the Eastern Cape as a leading cultural destination — fostering artistic excellence while driving socioeconomic opportunity for current and future generations.”
Ann Bryant Gallery curator Leon du Preez said Viljoen was “a dedicated and influential figure in the cultural and civic life of her community.
“Through her leadership as chair of the advisory board of the Ann Bryant Art Gallery, as well as her involvement with the museum and Guild Theatre, she played a key role in strengthening important cultural institutions.
“As a councillor for Buffalo City metropolitan municipality, she championed tourism, arts, and culture, recognising their broader social and economic value.
“Known for her warmth and ability to bring people together, Val initiated and supported impactful projects, including the Auriol Batten retrospective exhibition.
She was also instrumental in establishing the Umtiza Arts Festival, which remains a lasting part of her legacy. Her contributions continue to resonate through the institutions she shaped and the people she inspired.”
