The book makes an important contribution to current debates on decolonizing the way knowledge is produced. Its most unique feature is that each story has been published in isiXhosa, Afrikaans and English, the languages used by the storytellers. Presenting the stories alongside photographs carefully chosen by the storytellers and sensitively taken by two photographers, Noncedo Gxekwa and Botswele Mogotlane, the book aims to show agency, dignity, and humanity behind the stories of suffering. In publishing these stories, the authors hope that the book will stimulate conversations among South Africans across languages, and enable South Africans to connect with one another in a manner that seeks mutual understanding about the complicated aspects of our shared history and the continuing impact of this history on the lives of individuals and communities.

The book is based on a research collaboration between Stellenbosch University and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, which was funded mainly by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences.

Edited by Pumla Gobodo Madikizela, Friederike Bubenzer and Marietjie Oelofsen
Published by Jacana Media
ISBN: 978-1-928232-74-2
Available at all good book shops and Takealot