Through the Black Sash organisation, Hayman offered free legal advice to many people, usually women, who had approached the Black Sash Advice Centre in Johannesburg, and often appeared herself in court to represent them.
Her activities brought her into direct opposition with the National Party government, and on 22 April 1966 she was served with a "banning order" under the Suppression of Communism Act and placed under house arrest.
(Dugard, J., 2004, p508) Hayman moved to London, with her husband, Mervyn Lazar, in 1968, and was a pioneer in the field of teaching English as a second language.
The Ruth Hayman Trust, set up in her memory, gives small personal grants to support the education and training of adults who live in the United Kingdom and whose first language is not English.
She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in February 1913, and died in London, England in October 1981.