Caesarina Kona Makhoere
Caesarina Kona Makhoere | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1955 (age 70–71) |
| Education | Vlakfontein Technical High School |
| Occupations | anti-apartheid activist and prison writer |
| Notable work | No Child’s Play: In Prison Under Apartheid (1988) |
Caesarina Kona Makhoere (born 1955) is a former South African anti-apartheid activist and prison writer, known for her work No Child’s Play: In Prison Under Apartheid (1988).
Biography
Makhoere was born near Pretoria in 1955 and attended Vlakfontein Technical High School.[1][2] Her father was a policeman and her mother worked in domestic service, and Makhoere was one of seven children.[2] Alongside her family, she was forcibly removed under the terms of the Group Areas Act and relocated to Mamelodi as a child.[1]
Makoere became associated with the resistance organisation Black Sash.[3] She was arrested in October 1976 as an "agitator" under the Terrorism Act,[2] then spent ten months detained in Silverton Police Station, Mamelodi, Gauteng, awaiting trial.[1] In 1977, she was convicted for attempting to undergo military training[4] in order to resist legislation that school classes throughout South Africa were to be taught in Afrikaans.[1]
In 1982, alongside fellow imprisoned anti-apartheid activists Elizabeth Komikie Gumede, Thandi Modise, Elizabeth Nhlapo and Kate Serokolo, Makhoere made an application to the Minister of Justice, Kobie Coetsee, hoping to have their isolation declared illegal[5] and to improve their living conditions.[6] This was denied, but she was released from prison in October 1982.[1] After her release, she lived in hiding and later studied towards a business degree.[2]
Makhoere also become a prison literature author, writing No Child’s Play: In Prison Under Apartheid (1988) about her experiences in prison.[7][8][9][10] In the book, she describes her time imprisoned,[11] represents her body as a weapon in political battles (both inside and outside prison), and uses the plural pronoun we to identify herself with other incarcerated activists.[8][12] According to Ryan, Makhoere 's book "epitomized" the South African "writing of resistance."[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Caesarina Kona Makhoere". South African History Online. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
- ^ a b c d Scheffler, Judith A. (2002). Wall Tappings: An International Anthology of Women's Prison Writings, 200 to the Present. Feminist Press at CUNY. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-55861-273-0.
- ^ "Makhoere, Caesarina Kona". Nelson Mandela Foundation Archive. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ "Makhoere, Caesarina Kona". Nelson Mandela Foundation Archive. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
- ^ "Elizabeth Komikie Gumede (1921 - )". The Presidency, Republic of South Africa. Archived from the original on 2024-07-20. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
- ^ Barrett, Jane (1985). South African Women on the Move. Zed. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-946848-81-2.
- ^ Young, Sandra Michele (1 May 2009). "Pain and the Struggle for Self-Restoration: The Prison Narratives of Ruth First, Caesarina Kona Makhoere and Emma Mashinini". English Studies in Africa. 52 (1): 88–101. doi:10.1080/00138390903172567. ISSN 0013-8398.
- ^ a b Gititi, Gitahi (1 January 1991). "Self and society in testimonial literature: Caesarina kona Makhoere's no child's play: In prison under apartheid". Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa. 3 (1): 42–49. doi:10.1080/1013929X.1991.9677872. ISSN 1013-929X.
- ^ Yousaf, Nahem (2001). Apartheid Narratives. Rodopi. p. 33. ISBN 978-90-420-1506-7.
- ^ Mapanje, Jack, ed. (2002). Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-435-91211-6.
- ^ "No child's play: in prison under apartheid". AfricaBib. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
- ^ Young, Sandra Michele (1996). "Negotiating truth, freedom and self : the prison narratives of some South African women". Masters Dissertation, University of Cape Town.
- ^ Ryan, Pamela (1 April 1993). "Singing in prison ‐ women writers and the discourse of resistance". Journal of Literary Studies. 9 (1): 57–68. doi:10.1080/02564719308530028. ISSN 0256-4718.