Sushila Gandhi (nee Mashruwala, 1907-1988) was born in Akola, India. She married Manilal Gandhi through a traditional arranged marriage in a match made by their parents in 1927. After the wedding Sushila moved to South Africa to join Manilal’s life at Phoenix Settlement. Sushila gave birth to three children at Phoenix Settlement – Sita, Arun, and Ela Gandhi – and raised them in the community. Sushila took on increasing responsibilities in the community over time. She learned to set Gujarati-language type in the printing press for the publication of the Indian Opinion newspaper during her first months in residence. In the ensuing years she became the manager of the paper’s Gujarati-language section, and took up managing the publication of the paper entirely as well as the affairs of the community whenever Manilal was traveling.

After her husband Manilal’s death in 1956, Sushila Gandhi continued to manage Phoenix Settlement through a time of cultural transition as apartheid policies intensified and anti-apartheid resistance rose in South Africa. To meet community needs Sushila ceased publication of Indian Opinion in 1961, and opened the Mahatma Gandhi Clinic in the press building to provide healthcare to area residents. She also expanded the Kasturba Gandhi School, and built a community library and museum.

Phoenix Settlement was a hub of anti-apartheid community organizing and activism under Manilal and Sushila’s leadership. For instance, the community hosted a five-day-long fast in 1960 to protest against the police firing upon nonviolent protesters in the Sharpeville Massacre and the resultant declaration of a state of emergency and the placement of anti-apartheid activists under house arrest. After Sushila decided to move away from Phoenix Settlement and retire at the age of 69, she continued to serve on the settlement’s board of trustees, and helped work toward formally establishing the historic site as a national heritage site of South Africa prior to her death.