The three editors of the book: from left, Dr Athambile Masola, and Professors Siphokazi Magadla and Babalwa Magoqwana.
This compelling collection of conversations and essays on and by African women intellectuals, activists, performing artists and cultural icons spanning the 19th to the 21st centuries, was recently launched at Nelson Mandela University. Published by Mandela University Press, it is being launched at the University of South Africa and Rhodes University in May 2025.
Book cover. Credit: Mandela University Press
The book is a revelation of the power and influence of black South African women through the ages. Their thoughts, poems, songs, humour, wisdom and activism come together in an exciting body of writing that retrieves and advances women’s vast, largely unacknowledged contribution to the world.
Miriam Makeba and Thandiswa Mazwai
To offer one example, we read about the activism of musical greats Miriam Makeba and Thandiswa Mazwai. We read about Makeba’s life and fearless activism. We read how she used her voice to share the magnificence of African music as well to advance black consciousness.
We meet contemporary musician Mazwai whose music is unapologetically African, feminist and radical; she challenges stereotypes as a black woman and seizes the right to express her freedom of being.
The editors
Dr Athambile Masola, and Professors Siphokazi Magadla and Babalwa Magoqwana
The three editors of the book are fiercely unapologetic feminists and academics. They are: Professor Babalwa Magoqwana - Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Director of the Centre for Women & Gender Studies at Nelson Mandela University; Professor Siphokazi Magadla - Associate Professor of Political and International Studies at Rhodes University; and Dr Athambile Masola – Senior Lecturer in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Cape Town.
The role of women
In the Foreword the Vice-Chancellor of Nelson Mandela University, Professor Sibongile Muthwa writes: “Throughout the recorded history of humankind, the role of women as architects, co-creators, and key drivers of human advancement and flourishing has been relegated, or reduced, to one of incidental or secondary relevance and import, while the exploits of men as the sole protagonists (be they heroes or villains), have held centre stage in the annals of history….
The voices of women have been muted, reduced to mere metaphorical whispers, recorded here and there throughout the ages, but inevitably subordinate to the histories of men … This volume serves as a disruptor of that trend, as it refocuses our attention and elegantly pays tribute to the centrality of intergenerational knowledges and wisdoms of women …”
Female emancipation
Barbara Masekela, author of ‘Poli Poli: A memoir’ adds to this in her endorsement: “The roads to female emancipation and their byways have brought us a long way.
The book speaks to the notion of viewing African women and their deserved position in history, as actors who also consciously gave shape to the contours of history in equal measure to men … not in the usual “heroism” that isolates the conventional image of the “big men” from the pedestrian. Rather, it is revealed in the everyday language of conversations entrenched in actual existence.”
Dr Brigalia Bam
We read about 95-year-old Dr Brigalia Bam, whom Magoqwana describes as “the foundation of elderhood: the real meaning of inyathi”. She is a bridge between the older generation and the generation of women today, a conduit between the generations of women leaders.
“She represents our grandmothers (ooMakhulu) who have shaped our ontological foundations despite their invisibility,” writes Magoqwana. She carries and transfers knowledge, always paying tribute to the “company of women” who have journeyed with her.
Born in 1933 in the former Transkei, Bam trained as a social worker and educator. Her work and career led her to become a feminist and advocate for gender justice. “Dr Bam is a living legend who has experienced and actively participated in the birthing of the South African democracy,” says Magoqwana.
Nosuthu Jotela
In the essay titled ‘The Enigmatic Nosuthu MamTshawe Jotela’ written by Nomathamsanqa C. Tisani, she shares how in the 19th century, Nosuthu Jotela embraced both her powerful amaXhosa clan life and the world of missionaries, defying narrow identities of either ‘indigenous woman’ or ‘convert’.
She crossed boundaries, creating new realities where she expanded on her African world to include Biblical beliefs and the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. She claimed her position as a leader and decisionmaker.
New visibility in the political arena
In ‘Asinakutula, Abantwana Babantu Banga Pela Zincuka: Nontsizi Mgqwetho’s Political Praxis’ by Precious Bikitsha she shares how “in the early 20th century women, both black and white, were beginning to gain new visibility in the political arena, engaging in activities that had political consequences; marching, protesting, demanding and gaining support. Women were discoursing in public, giving speeches and sermons, writing to the press and publishing literature.
Nontsizi Mgqwetho
She draws attention to Xhosa poet, Nontsizi Mgqwetho who attracted audiences with her extraordinary talent and powerful words. She made her voice heard in poetic form in the print media while also participating in protests and working for a newspaper.
As a member of the women’s Methodist Church group manyano, she wrote about the importance of the Thursday women’s prayer gathering as a space where women could express themselves freely and as a platform for political, social and economic mobilisation.
Miriam Makeba
Despite this, women’s contributions were not taken seriously, and their intellectual work was not given its rightful due in history and nor by the liberation movement. Nomfundo Xaluva expands on this in her essay ‘Zenzile Miriam Makeba: An Expansive Name and Legacy’.
She talks about Makeba’s life and persistent fight for dignity and liberation through the prism of her artistry, intellect, activism, global influence and power. She writes: “Makeba’s contribution to the liberation struggle in South Africa remains severely under-documented.”
She explains how in the documentary titled ‘Mama Africa’ (Kaurismaki, 2011), “Miriam recites her clan name (isiduko) in an act we refer to as ukuzithutha. This very powerful act serves as a declaration of identity, not just that of the individual but also the collective. It acknowledges the presence of those departed while communicating a strong message that our identities transcend our names.
Thandiswa Mazwai and Pumla Dineo Gqola
Moving to the contemporary, the book features a conversation between Thandiswa Mazwai and Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies, Pumla Dineo Gqola who is also the head of the DSI-NRF Chair in African Feminist Imagination at Nelson Mandela University. Mazwai is one of the most influential post-apartheid singers.
Her career started in 1996 with Kwaito music groups Jack Knife and Bongo Muffin. Kwaito developed as the post-1994 cultural and musical expression for many black artists who needed to make sense of their newfound freedom. Mazwai and her female contemporaries such as Lebo Mathosa and Thembi Seete fought for their space as women.
In Conversation with Prof Gqola she reflects on how this influenced many positive changes for women in the music industry. Her first solo project Zabalaza (2004) deservedly achieved double platinum.
Celeste Ntuli
Another contemporary giant featured in the book is Celeste Ntuli who disrupts the male-dominated stand-up comedian space that has seen few women and feminists taking to the stage. Ntuli is one of the most influential, award-winning comedians in southern Africa.
She uses her Zulu language to satirise the diverse aspects of black womanhood, such as the stereotype that black women are born strong. She claims the term umjendevu for herself, which is used to belittle single women. She embraces her independence and mobility and in so doing embodies a womanhood that makes way for current and future generations of women.
African women's intellectual brilliance
In so many ways, this book is seminal in its form and content. As Gabeba Baderoon, author of ‘Regarding Muslims: From slavery to post-apartheid’, puts it: "I held this book close to my heart in gratitude for its receptiveness to the kinds of knowledge that have nourished me, indeed, all of us, but found little recognition in official accounts. At last, here is a collection hospitable to the breath of African women's intellectual brilliance."