Cheryl Roberts
At a juncture when South African women are determined to give power to females amid the male stranglehold of society, surfaces the authentic voice of a human rights and gender activist. Gertrude Fester, an oppressed woman who gave her life for freedom, has embraced the democratic South Africa but refuses to be accepting of patriarchy and the male control of our society.
An anti-apartheid activist and former high-treason trialist, Fester has never “left” or “taken a break” from activism. For the past decade, after completing a PhD and taking a break from academic life, and between bouts of ill health, the former member of Parliament in the inaugural non-racial, democratic government has been sculpting a powerful voice. This she has accomplished through research, talks and seminars, academic and scholarly work, as well as presentations on the African continent and around the world.
Now she invites Capetonians to gather, remember, and debate the fierce women activism of the 1980s in the horrendous apartheid era – especially the voices and struggles of oppressed women who demonstrated to the apartheid regime that “you strike a woman, you strike a rock” – through her book, South African Women’s Apartheid and Post-Apartheid Struggles: 1980-2014.
“The book has been published internationally by a German publisher, but it’s exorbitantly expensive. I just could not have my work being so out of the reach of South Africans. I have now ensured that the book is less expensive than the international price and more accessible to South Africans, with the publication of the South African edition in the near future,” says Fester.
In her book, the writer and publisher – who was herself a founding member and critical participant of the Cape Town-based United Women’s Organisation – explores women’s contributions and participation in the Struggle.
Fester researched and wrote her PhD on this anti-apartheid women’s organisation, which was formed in 1981. It later amalgamated with the Women’s Front to form the United Women’s Congress in 1986.
A few years later, the research has been published as a book, and Fester is launching and discussing the much-needed book on activist women’s struggles, as well as their achievements and defeats throughout South Africa.
The book is not only about women’s anti-apartheid struggles, but also about the post-apartheid battles and contestations, as women continue to demand that patriarchy be dismantled and for male control to be eliminated from society.
“I did my PhD and subsequently wrote the book as an inside-outsider approach; the insider is as a member and participant, and the outsider as the researcher,” Fester says about the publication, which fills a gap in anti-apartheid publishing in South Africa, with printed publications mostly written by men about men.
With her memorisation of the pivotal junctures and chapters of women’s activism, Fester is fully aware and concerned about the state of women’s activism in a democratic South Africa, especially during Women’s Month, when reports of rape, abuse and the assault of girls and women are rife.
And with the 60th reflection of the historic Women’s March in a year’s time, brave thinking and collaboration to commemorate and push forward for a visionary society that doesn’t abuse women is already being suggested by an activist who has never given up.
“With the 60th anniversary of the Women’s March looming, we should constructively consult and confer how, together, we should celebrate this event, but also look at what needs to be done to ensure a safe life for women and girls in South Africa.
“I congratulate the Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa for drawing the attention of the minister of justice to the early and irregular parole of Oscar Pistorius.
“On a sad note, though, I’m outraged by events at a Vosloorus primary school on August 17, where two girls were allegedly sexually assaulted by six boys between seven and 10 years old. This is an indictment of our society and should tell us to reflect about what is happening, and what we can do about it.”
Fester’s invaluable contribution to oppressed women’s voices in South Africa, her scholarly work and her indelible participation in the Struggle is acknowledged by international scholars and academics, among them Professor Shirley Randell, founder of the Centre for Gender at the University of Rwanda.
“I commend Professor Fester’s book to all feminists and human rights activists around the world who are interested in the struggle of women in Africa for human rights. Gertrude is in a unique position to write on feminism in South Africa, having lived and worked in the women’s liberation struggles through the anti-apartheid movement, been imprisoned for her efforts, privileged to serve in the Mandela government and lead significant organisations since then.
“She chooses to focus on grass-roots and women’s organisations, and through her insightful interviews their stories become alive for us. Her book is a brave history that will be feasted on by scholars for years to come,” says Randell.
While I have not read the book yet, judging by the dynamism, fearless and authentic voice that is Fester’s, I am already recommending the book be a prescribed text for all gender and women’s studies at tertiary institutions, and for every member of Parliament and government employee in South Africa.
This recall and celebration of women’s struggles, who boldly placed their lives on the line for human rights and a patriarchy-free South Africa, must never be allowed to be forgotten and placed on a shelf without remembrance and acknowledgement.
l Roberts is a Cape Town-based activist