Must read memoirs by 5 South African female authors

In light of women’s month we have compiled 5 autobiographies written by some of the most inspiring and empowering women in South Africa. Through these intimate pages we explore the complex experiences women face and how these powerful authors managed to navigate through them.

Redi Tlhabi, Ending to Beginnings

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Top pick for Women’s Month: Review of the Soft Life by Lebohang Masango

In this astonishing debut, Endings and beginnings, Redi Thlabi makes the painful journey back to her death-marred childhood, a journey in which she eventually finds peace and allows her demons to rest. Redi grew up in the ’80s in Orlando, Soweto, with thoughts and emotions so intense they nearly swallowed up her childhood. It was a time when Soweto was under siege from two forces – apartheid and endemic, normalized crime. It was not strange or unusual to refer to so-and-so as ‘the rapist’ or so-and-so as ‘the killer’. It was also at this time that her father – her hero – was violently murdered, his body discovered on the street, with one eye removed. The perpetrators were never found, and the neighbourhood continued to talk about how he had to be buried without his eye. And then Redi meets Mabegzo: handsome, charming and smooth; Mabegzo, rumoured gangster, murderer and rapist, a veritable ‘jack-roller’ of the neighbourhood. Against her family’s wishes she develops a strong and sometimes uncomfortable attraction to him.

Bonnie Mbuli, Eyesbags and Dimples

Eyebags and Dimples is Bonnie’s shockingly naked account of how her depression almost robbed her of her shine and how she continues to fight this darkness. She opens up about her failed Hollywood stint and how she and her husband survived on next to nothing while they were there. With new information on hand, Bonnie is able to forgive her mother. It wasn’t that she hated Bonnie or got joy from abusing her; she was depressed and didn’t have an outlet.

Basetsana Khumalo, Bassie: My Journey Of Hope

In Bassie – My Journey of Hope, Bassie recounts her life journey, including her relationships with mentors like Nelson Mandela. She also shares the secrets of her success and all the lessons she’s learnt along the way. She opens up about the pressures of her high-profile marriage to Romeo Kumalo and their heartbreaking struggle to have a family. She talks honestly about motherhood and maintaining a healthy work/life balance, and unpacks how she pays it forward through mentoring young people she has met along the way. Bassie’s enthusiasm, humour and hope infuses every page of her memoir, making it an intimate, inspiring and entertaining account of a remarkable life.

Caster Semenya, The Race To Be Myself

Called ‘a threat to the sport’ and ‘not woman enough’, Caster found herself at the centre of the debate around the newly drawn line between gender and sport. Throughout the intense speculation, harmful rumours and long legal battle she has remained quiet, letting her running do the talking until she was banned from competing and defending her Olympic title in 2020.

In this book, Caster speaks openly about growing up in a loving family and community that never regarded her as different, just Caster; of her early years understanding her agency, sexuality and athletic ability; and of her infectious spirit and tenacity to be the best. Told with conviction and humour, The Race To Be Myself is the story of a life lived in the spotlight, a manifesto for acceptance and change for all. This is the unforgettable story of one of the most recognisable athletes in the world, and of a woman’s journey to run free.

Nozibele Mayaba, Positively Me

Born in Qgeberha in the 1990s, popular Aids activist Nozibele Mayaba’s upbringing was one of struggle and strife. She was raised by the tough hand of her mother in the confines of a strict Christian household. Nozibele strove to be the “good girl” that everyone adores to win her mother’s approval and the affection of her absent father.

Fearing stigma and feeling the need to maintain her “good girl” image, she kept her status a secret. However, she soon succumbed to depression. It is in the aftermath, when she picks up the broken pieces of her life that she finds purpose in all the pain she has endured. Told with gut wrenching honesty, Nozibele is at her most vulnerable in this brave account about what it means to live and love beyond HIV.

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