Activist Palesa Musa reflects on youth in prison after 1976

TimesLIVE

2 days ago

A year shy of the youth uprising's 50th anniversary, political activist Palesa Musa reflects on the role she and others played in South Africa's liberation struggle, particularly during the pivotal year of the 1976 Soweto uprising.
At the age of 12, she was part of the historic student march that led to the death of more than 100 pupils protesting against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.
Graffiti pictured above honours Musa and other former detainees outside Constitution Hill in Johannesburg.
Musa stands at the women's jail where she was put in a cell with eight other inmates from the age of 12 until she was 18 years old.
Musa recalls a historic apple tree, which still stands today, where she and fellow inmates would secretly pluck fruit during their detention in the 1970s. The spot also served as a makeshift church, where prisoners would gather for worship in a courtyard at Constitution Hill.
Pictured below is the cloth used by female prisoners during their menstrual cycles as they were not provided with proper underwear. Musa, who was a minor at the time, recalls the humiliating experience of her fellow inmates who were subjected to random inspections by prison officers. The inspections involved invasive and degrading checks to verify whether they were menstruating.
Below are cleaning materials used by black prisoners in the women's jail, where they would clean the floors to make sure they were shiny.
Musa remembers the communal shower where she and fellow female inmates were allowed to bathe only once a month. Despite the rare opportunity for hygiene, the experience was humiliating as they faced mockery from other inmates.