Grabbing the Sharp End of the Knife to Bring Liberation, Peace and Justice to South Africans: lessons from Ellen Kuzwayo and Phyllis Naidoo

abstract

The tableware sparkles, the fresh flower arrangements are fragrant, soft, live jazz music tones permeate the air as the luncheon, which is of a world-class standard, gets underway. I am attending the celebration to mark the opening of new teaching venues at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, named after political stalwarts Ellen Kuzwayo and Phyllis Naidoo. Tributes are paid to these prototypical giantesses, who had worked as teachers during a part of their lives. My interest is piqued: Who were these political icons whose memory was being preserved in the buildings? What obstacles did they experience as women in the struggle for political emancipation? How might these insights inform our cultural identity as South African women in modern day society?

In the present, pluralistic, patriarchal South African society, women encounter a multitude of challenges, including HIV and Aids, gender-based violence, unemployment, poverty, workplace gender discrimination and child abuse. However, women have broken the shackles of the past by resisting gender oppression and political injustices. Historically, women experienced exclusion within social and political spheres. For example, it took 31 years before women were permitted to join the African National Congress (ANC). Currently, the invisibility of women, compared to men in South African political history, is attributed in a large part to patriarchy. In order to address this vacuum, I use a feminist lens to look into the past to understand the herstorical accounts of these women, and locate the challenges and enablers which can serve to inform the empowerment of women today and in the future.

Keywords:

• gender shackles
• personal fortitude
• anti-apartheid activism
• compassion
• political motherhood

Notes

1 After the banning of liberation movements during the 1960s, Steven Bantu Biko established and led the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) which worked towards the reaffirmation of black peoples’ culture, affirmation of the black identity, African humanism and psychological emancipation. He envisioned racially classified black people as working together to rid themselves of colonial servitude. He married political activist, Mamphele Ramphele.

2 Lilian Ngoyi Papers, 1970s. Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2017.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ronicka Mudaly

RONICKA MUDALY is an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. A quest for a science education which is socially just and more relevant, inform her pedagogy. Her current interests include humanist approaches in science education from a Freirean perspective, indigenizing education, gender studies and youth empowerment through research. Email: [email protected]