Book Club: Books to read this weekend

When Secrets Become Stories by Sue Nyathi

South Africa is a country at war with its women. Rarely a woman can be found who has not been the victim of some kind of abuse or does not know a friend or a family member who has. Gender-based violence takes many different forms, emotional, financial, physical, sexual and structural. It can be meted out by strangers, intimate partners or a family member.

In this book, women from all walks of life, across racial lines, age and income demographics, boldly speak out. Many women are overcome by a sense of shame when they are sexually or emotionally abused but sharing what was once a secret, helps to break shame’s hold. And that is why these true stories must be told. ‘I am not defined by the abuse I have suffered,’ writes Sue Nyathi. Jonathan Ball Publishers, R265

Tough Love by Lovemore Ndou

Growing up in extreme poverty in Messina (today Musina) in the early 1980s, Lovemore Ndou was forced to start fighting to protect himself, his parent and his siblings.

At an early age he experienced the injustices of the apartheid system when his arm was broken during a beating in a police cell, an he saw his best friend gunned down in a protest march. After receiving his first boxing training at the gym of a local copper mine, he set off for Joburg to further his career.

There he was exposed to some of the hard truths of the boxing world, like unscrupulous promoters who made empty promises. Through sheer determination, he managed to stay afloat and soon the Black Panther (his name in the ring) started winning fights and eventually became a triple-world champion.  Jonathan Ball Publishers, R260

Mission of Malice by Erika Bornman

‘She is given a savage beating, the adults impervious to her screams. I have to look at her. I am not allowed to look away and I am not allowed to cry. I am not allowed to show any emotion at all. Because if I do, I will be next.’ In the 1980s, Erika Bornman’s family join, and ultimately move to, KwaSizabantu, a Christian mission based in KwaZulu-Natal, which is touted as a nirvana, founded on egalitarian values. But something sinister lurks beneath ‘the place where people are helped’.

Life at KwaSizabantu is hard. Christianity is used to justify harsh punishments and congregants are forced to repent for their sins. Threats of physical violence ensure adherence to stringent rules. Parents are pitted against children. Friendships are discouraged. Isolated and alone, Erika lives in constant fear of eternal damnation.

At 17, her grooming at the hands of a senior mission counsellor begins. For the next five years, KwaSizabantu wages emotional, psychological and sexual warfare on her, until, finally, she manages to break free and walk away at the age of 21.

Escaping a restrictive religious community is difficult, but rehabilitation into ‘normal’ life after a decade of ritual humiliation, brainwashing and abuse is much more painful, as Erika soon discovers. She cannot ignore her knowledge of the grievous human-rights abuses being committed at KwaSizabantu, and so she embarks on a quest to expose the atrocities. With her help, News24 launches a seven-month investigation, culminating in a podcast that will go on to win the internationally renowned One World Media Award for Radio and Podcast in 2021.

In Mission of Malice: My Exodus from KwaSizabantu, Erika chronicles her journey from a fearful young girl to a fierce activist determined to do whatever it takes to save future generations and find personal redemption and self-acceptance. Penguin, R250