Women in Solitary: Inside the Female Resistance to Apartheid
Women in Solitary: Inside the Female Resistance to Apartheid
Couldn't load pickup availability
By (author): Shanthini Naidoo
The freezing loneliness made one wish for death,’ journalist Joyce Sikhakhane-Rankin said of solitary confinement. With seven other women, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, she was held for more than a year. This is the story of these heroic women, their refusal to testify in the ‘Trial of 22’ in 1969, their brutal detention and how they picked up their lives afterwards.
Share
As a South African born in '93, one year before democracy, I found that this book was well worth the read.
The school curriculum's taught me the story of Mandela and the various events that shaped our democracy. I never heard about the struggle that the women faced after the Rivonia Trial when the male leaders were imprisoned. The description of their time in solitary gave me goosebumps and the tears welled up in my eyes.
What is also so important is the way the author ties these stories to the years after 1994 - our current situation in South Africa and how the media portrayed Winnie Mandela. It just goes to show that an informed opinion, not just a media-based opinion, is vital to understand our country.
This is such an important piece of history that is important to me as a South African woman in a post-Apartheid era. Well done, Shanthini!
Subscribe to our emails
Subscribe to our mailing list for insider news, product launches, and more.