Six Black Women Writers Leading Feminist Thoughts in South Africa | by Rufaro Samanga

Feminism, like any other movement, is one that stands on the shoulders of its predecessors. In 1975, Miriam Tlali became the first Black South African woman to publish a novel. The semi-autobiographical work titled Muriel at Metropolitan was later banned by the Apartheid government but nonethless became the foundation upon which contemporary Black woman authors would contribute to literature in South Africa. Tlali, who was a notable anti-Apartheid activist and played a significant role in developing the South African Women’s Charter, also identified as a feminist. And like many Black women across the world who connect with this philosophy, Tlali was quite clear about how her brand of feminism, and the ways in which it served her and women like herself, was distinct from that of Western feminists.

The historical work of Tlali, along with the likes of Bessie Head, Lauretta Ngcobo, Gcina Mhlophe, Noni Jabavu, and so many others, has since foregrounded contemporary feminist thought further distinguishes the specific challenges facing African women from those of non-African Black women. Here is a list of just six Black women who are diligently and expansively utilising a broad mix of literature to carefully construct South Africa’s feminist landscape and document the lived experiences of women and queer communities.

Pumla Dineo Gqola

An African author and academic, Gqola is undeniably one of the foremost feminist voices in South Africa. Currently a research professor at the Nelson Mandela University in the Eastern Cape province, she has several award-winning books under her belt which explore a number of important intersectional feminist themes. A Renegade Called Simphiwe, which was published in 2013, is a compilation of eight essays that explore femininity, Blackness, language and more, with regards to the cultural phenomenon that is the musician Simphiwe Dana. Rape: A South African Nightmare won Gqola the prestigious Alan Paton prize for non-fiction and is perhaps one of the most critical feminist pieces on the rape scourge in South Africa, alongside her musings in Reflecting Rogue: Inside the Mind of a Feminist. More recently, however, Gqola published Female Fear Factory, which extensively covers global patriarchal violence through the eyes of a critical, unapologetic and hopeful feminist.

Makhosazana Xaba

Xaba, an anti-Apartheid African activist and advocate for women’s health rights, is an exceptional poet whose work has allowed for a deeper interrogation of erotica and the liberation that can accompany it. Her debut poetry collection, These Hands, published back in 2005, speaks of violence and racism in the aftermath of Apartheid, as well as its relation to Black African women’s personal and political histories. Running and Other Stories is a collection of short stories, published in 2014, in which Xaba details several engaging subject matters, from sexism among male anti-Apartheid comrades to a heated eroticism between two lesbian lovers. In the same year, Xaba also co-edited the Queer Africa: New and Collected Fiction anthology, which went on to win the 26th Lambda Literary Award for fiction in the anthology category.

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Simamkele Dlakavu

Dlakavu, a former student activist, is an African writer, academic and feminist scholar who joined the University of Cape Town’s African Gender Institute as a part-time lecturer in January 2020. Having written for a plethora of prominent publications in the country, as well as worked on the popular current affairs show The Big Debate, Dlakavu is an emerging feminist scholar of note. Her advocacy relating to gender-based violence and grassroots organising employs a youthful voice that builds upon the work of older generations for a rising group of young Black African women.

Zukiswa Wanner

Wanner is an African writer and novelist whose fiction often boasts characters who are both relatable and refreshing. Her debut novel The Madams, which was published in 2006, is a hilarious yet sobering account of a modern-day "every woman", who finds herself at the mercy of the superhero complex often imposed onto Black women: she feels consumed to be the perfect mother, wife, daughter, and working professional. Likewise, Behind Every Successful Man and Men of the South, which followed in 2008 and 2010 respectively, both explore contemporary womanhood set against the backdrop of expectations dictated by tradition and culture. Likewise, Behind Every Successful Man and Men of the South, which followed in 2008 and 2010, respectively, both explore 21st-century womanhood against the backdrop of South African patriarchal tradition. Wanner characterises these negotiations through her novels’ lead characters, such as Thandi and Nobantu, using them as a vehicle to drive through feminist discourse in a fun and accessible way.

Tlaleng Mofokeng

Mofokeng, often endearingly referred to as “Dr T'', is an African medical doctor and a fierce reproductive and sexual health rights activist. Prior to her appointment as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health last year, Mofokeng published her debut book A Guide to Sexual Health and Pleasure, which is just as much about the “pleasure revolution” as it is about empowering women when it comes to sex and intimacy. Moreover, Mofokeng not only explores how to make sex more comfortable and enjoyable, but also tackles, and critically so, important topics such as consent, sexual assault, and sex work and its decriminalisation. Her continued work in denouncing gender-based violence, championing access to safe abortions as a human rights issue, and fighting misogyny in healthcare and broader South African society has been critical to feminist scholarship in the country.

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Koleka Putuma

Putuma is a queer Black woman whose work is particularly important for advancing intersectional feminism and pushing back against cis-heteronormative narratives. As one of the most notable poets in the country, Putuma’s debut anthology Collective Amnesia was, and continues to be, a riveting success. Since its 2017 release, it has gone through nine print runs and multiple translations - a first for a South African poetry collection. Her debut anthology investigates notions of womanhood, queerness, gender-based violence, femicide and sexual assault in South Africa. Her latest offering, Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In, expands the conversations initiated in her first book to encompass themes of grief, spirituality, Black female erasure and mental illness.