Now you know how Mapetla died: The story of a Black Consciousness martyr – Zikhona Valela
Zikhona Valela unpacks her book 'Now you know how Mapetla died: The story of a Black Consciousness martyr' (Camera: Nicholas Boyd; Editing Darlene Creamer)
This article has been supplied.
In 1976 Mapetla Mohapi was the first Black Consciousness leader to be killed in detention. His comrade, Steve Biko, tried to get justice for him, but then he too was killed. Mapetla’s widow, Nohle Mohapi-Mbetshu, has been fighting for truth and justice ever since. She was the first to testify at the TRC, yet justice still eludes the family.
After his death, Thenjiwe Mtintso, a colleague of Mapetla, who was arrested in the same month, was tortured by an officer she believes was involved in his murder. But Judge Smalberger of the Eastern Cape Division later deemed her account of how his death was demonstrated to her by the apartheid police invalid, and her evidence too was invalidated.
The title of this book is based on what the officer said to her as a threat. In this book, Zikhona Valela battles the erasure of this remarkable story, weaving together the words of comrades and family, mapping new understandings of the Black Consciousness Movement and of our shared history.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Zikhona Valela is an historian. She has contributed writing for various publications including New Frame, The Johannesburg Review of Books and the Mail & Guardian. She holds a Master of Arts in History from Rhodes University. This is her first book. She lives in Johannesburg.
'Now you know how Mapetla died: The story of a Black Consciousness martyr' is published by Tafelberg, an imprint of NB Publishers
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