By February 1999, not one single woman in South Africa had publicly appeared before the Amnesty Committee. The Truth Commission's final report said only 56 of the estimated 7 000 amnesty applicants were known to be women. Also absent from the amnesty hearings were the voices of the mothers, wives, partners and daughters of the men who perpetrated gross human rights violations. In mid-1997, we received a letter from a woman wishing to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals and threats. She simply identified herself as "Helena, from the southern Lowveld of Mpumalanga". Angie Kapelianis turned her letter into a radio story with the help of Alet Joubert, Judith Lubbe and Danny Booysen.

Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/worldsright.htm#helena

slices of life - the imprisonment under apartheid of all south africans - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.