BIG READ: Trauma and tenacity: how women activists shaped SA
Do we celebrate Women’s Month in SA, or do we use it to mourn all that is not right in the country related to women?
Women in Solitary is a true SA story of four women — Joyce Sikhakhane-Rankin, Rita Ndzanga, Shanthie Naidoo and Nondwe Mankahla — and their refusal to testify in the apartheid-era “Trial of 22” in 1969. The book tells the story of the trial, which included Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and looks at the gendered aspect of their activism. It details the torture and camaraderie the women experienced in prison, their triumph eventually and surviving a system that tried to oppress them, and failed.
In the book, I also explore why this 1969 story is relevant to us in 2020. The answer is that the “struggles” may be different but as the social-media generation says, the struggle is real, and it is still with us. Today, the struggles facing women range from gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) to unequal pay and patriarchy. Why are we still fighting to dismantle these oppressive and dangerous structures in our society in 2020?..
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