THULI ZUMA,
“It’s a defining point in our history, looking at where we’ve come from and where we’re going.”
Women’s Day, she says, is an acknowledgement of the struggle women faced under the oppressive regime.
“The truth is that none of us would have any measure of freedom if not for the sacrifices of these women. They put aside their dreams and lives to fight for the future we all share now.”
She says it was invaluable to set a day aside to acknowledge our history.
“Our focus normally shifts to the men of the struggle, but we need to talk about what our women endured too.”
Zuma, President Jacob Zuma’s daughter, is known for being a storyteller and poet.
She has performed extensively at home and internationally.
According to her online profile on the University of KwaZulu-Natal website, she was placed second at the 2012 Individual World Poetry Slam, represented New York at the 2013 National Poetry Slam, and represented the US at the 2013 World Cup of Poetry Slam in Paris.
She is also the 2013 Urbana New York Grand Slam Champion.
Zuma said in an interview with online magazine ZAlebs last year that her family – so prominent on the political scene – was very supportive of her career in the arts.
“I think that regardless of what family you come from, we all have different struggles that we face. I’m like everyone else, I face pressure and I deal with those pressures accordingly.”
Touring
The production is part of several other events comprising the Playhouse’s 20th South African Women’s Arts Festival.
There will also be four free workshops for artists and suppliers on Thursday. They will deal with touring, funding, venue and technical management and financial contracts and human resource management in the arts.
Another short workshop will see Amar Mohanparasadh present a tutorial about the government’s Central Supplier Database, as well as the benefits of registering and how to go about it.
A production at the festival – We Are Still Marching – on Thursday and Friday is a dance work choreographed by Sunnyboy Motau of Moving Into Dance Mophatong.
The piece explores the struggles faced by women in South Africa and neighbouring countries from the apartheid era until the present day.
It is a reminder of incidents such as the Women’s March, the bus boycott and the recent mass #FeesMustFall campaign, and of the fact that even 22 years after the first democratic elections in South Africa, the struggle continues and women are still marching.
The festival will also offer open mic sessions, comedy shows, concerts, presentations and dance workshops on Friday and Saturday.
Blood, Sweat and Nothing, another production scheduled for staging on Saturday, tells the story of a female former Umkhonto weSizwe operative called Gcinizwe Khumalo, who lost both her parents while she was in exile.