EXCLUSIVE: Wits nude protester reveals all
BRAAMFONTEIN – When three female students took their shirts off and approached the police with their hands up in the air, police ceased shooting. We speak to one of the female students and find out her story.
The world watched as chaos unfolded at Wits University on 4 October when police and students clashed during a protest for free education.
Hlengiwe Ndlovu and two other female students removed some of their clothing and with their hands in the air, they marched towards police officers who were standing on the corner of the courtyard.
It was a stunning moment as the women bravely stood their ground trying to get the police to stop shooting at students.
Coming from a disadvantaged background with no parents, Ndlovu passed her Matric, qualifying for university but with no money to pay her fees, she found a job at a factory. She worked as a cleaner, working her way up to being a quality control supervisor.
“One day a woman I worked with offered to help me go to university but it was not easy, I was rejected several times,” she explained.
Ndlovu said the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is not an easy process as they wanted many documents from her that she simply did not have.
“Once you think you have submitted your documentation, and then you check your progress you are told that your file is lost,” she added.
Currently completing her thesis towards her PHD, she explained that during the shooting and throwing of tear gas and stun grenades, one of the other protesters approached her with the idea of going nude in order to stop the violence.
She pointed out that the nakedness of a woman was taboo in society and that despite being undermined as weak, the woman’s body is powerful.
Their main objective, she said, was to stop the shooting because they could see that students would not stop provoking police as they were angry and agitated.
“The narrative that appeared on TV changed that particular moment. If you see a woman stripping, it means that it is a broader societal problem in terms of violence,” she said.
“The moment that we stepped into the protest, because as much we were displaying the intolerance of violence, at the same time, it was a form of resistance to say the very same woman’s body is capable of ceasing fire and no one from national or local government could stop it,” she added.
