She was the oldest and much beloved daughter of John Molteno, the first Prime Minister of the Cape, and many of her 18 siblings came to hold positions of influence in business and government.

Consequently, Elizabeth travelled a great deal as a child, especially to Italy and London, and grew up to share her father's interest in politics and current affairs.

The white community of Port Elizabeth was also strongly pro-British and when Miss Molteno refused to stop her protests she was forced to resign, despite a campaign of support from her ex-pupils and colleagues.

[6] Miss Molteno had become close friends with Emily Hobhouse and Olive Schreiner and worked with them on humanitarian and anti-war causes both during and after the Boer War.

Emily Hobhouse later wrote of her: "Your gift of seeing into the heart of things is so great, and you have control of such exquisite language for expressing moral and spiritual aspects".

She bought a cottage nearby at Ohlanga, as a base for her work to support several movements operating from the area, including the Gandhis, and those of early African statesmen such as John Dube.

She also facilitated their introduction to Emily Hobhouse and the Prime Minister himself, General Botha, who had long ignored Gandhi's requests for an interview but thereafter maintained cordial communications.

She lobbied against the neglect that Mrs Gandhi also suffered whilst in prison and, in a particularly severe case, visited the imprisoned and badly beaten "satyagrahi" Soorzai, who had been fatally assaulted for supposedly leading a strike.

She was also a regular speaker at the movement's meetings, and expressed the hope that in a future multi-racial South Africa, women would be allowed to play a prominent part.

[18][19] When the First World War broke out in 1914, she joined her close friends Emily Hobhouse and Olive Schreiner in wartime England, to work with conscientious objectors.