A former vice president of the World YWCA, she traveled internationally to speak about the effects of apartheid, overcoming imprisonment and attempted censorship in her pursuit of justice and gender equality.
She encountered racism at a young age: when shopping with her family in Mayfair, white Afrikaner shopkeepers would address her mother as "girl".
More than once, when Piliso-Seroke walked home with milk from the dairy, local white boys would set their dogs on her, laughing as she ran away.
[1] Piliso-Seroke studied at the South African Native College at Fort Hare next, earning her University Education Diploma[1] in 1956.
[4] With financial help from the Institute of Race Relations, she traveled to Europe and completed a postgraduate course in Social Policy and Administration in Swansea, South Wales.
[1] This work soon led Piliso-Seroke to develop her skills as a community organizer, teaching women to become active in political discussions.
[1][5] Between 1992 and 1993, Piliso-Seroke served on the Transvaal Board of the National Co-ordinating Council for Returnees, assisting efforts to help South African exiles return home.