GUERRILLAS AND COMBATIVE MOTHERS, women and the armed struggle in South Africa

222pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Pietermaritzburg, 2023

Life histories of 40 women who fought with Poqo, the military wing of the PAC; uMkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC, and the township-based self-defence units, from 1961 to 1994.

"This groundbreaking study affirms women's exceptional contribution to South Africa's armed struggle. From the 'transnational guerrillas' who joined MK or APLA in exile, to the 'combative mothers' inside the trenches of South Africa's rural villages and black townships, women have proudly fought for South Africa's liberation and their own emancipation through their actions, commitment and beliefs." Arianna Lissani, Wits History Workshop

"Siphokazi Magadla deploys an African feminist framework to centralise and humanise African women's roles in the armed struggle and to ultimately reinsert them back into the broader national liberation narrative." Nthabiseng Motsemme, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Johannesburg