A confluence of unfortunate historical forces was shaping the lives of South African women of colour for centuries. Since the founding of a white colonial society at the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC) in the 17th century, domestic labour was performed by the indigenous Khoikhoi.
The history of South Africa’s liberation struggle (c. 1960–1994) is a multi-layered saga that is still being uncovered. This process involves oral interviews with veterans and in-depth research conducted in archives and repositories of anti-apartheid movements worldwide. During this ongoing exploration, previously overlooked and unknown aspects of the freedom fighting have emerged. Typically, these ‘hidden histories’ involve the lives and lived experiences of the foot soldiers in both the political resistance and armed battle against apartheid.
Motlalepule Winifred (Winnie) Kgware (née Monyatsi) was born in Thaba Nchu, Orange Free State, on 27 October 1917. She was raised by her aunt in Kroonstad and became a teacher at Thaba Nchu. In 1942, she married a fellow teacher, William Kgware, who later joined the University of the North at Turfloop (currently University of Limpopo) as an academic and eventually became the Turfloop’s first Black Rector in 1977.
Carlos Achadinha was 18 years old when he left the small town of Estreito da Calheta on the island of Madeira, Portugal. Not only did he leave his childhood home behind but also his homeland, when he decided to explore opportunities in South Africa. Carlos left Madeira in 1947 and, like many other Portuguese men who were searching for greener pastures, he travelled by ship to Lourenço Marques (Maputo), the capital of Mozambique. At the time, Mozambique was a Portuguese colony and a key point of entry – legal or illegal – into South Africa.
During the first nine decades of Bloemfontein’s existence as capital of either a Boer republic or a British territory, the city received an impressive array of royal visitors from abroad, particularly from Britain. While all of them visited Bloemfontein as part of a tour of the central region or the whole country, they either insisted or were keen on visiting the city.