Nomboniso Gasa

Nomboniso started her 21 day water only fast on Feb 11th and completed it on the 4th of March.

Click here for a Q & A session with Nomboniso with IPS

Article by Nomboniso Gasa in The Star Newspaper 24 February 2009

Media Alert: Day 6 in the 21 day hunger strike results in Nomboniso Gasa requiring urgent medical treatment 17 February 2009

I have been a political activist against apartheid whose first of many detentions was at age 14 in the former Bantustan, Transkei and later in the Western Cape. I have a keen interest on the Human Rights of Women and Feminisms in Africa. My current research interests are on de/constructions of cultural identities, masculinities, intersections of unequal patriarchal power relations with gender and other social inequalities.

Currently I Chair the Commission for Gender Equality in South Africa. I have written in academic and non- academic publications on gender, democratisation and political transformation in South Africa and Nigeria (where I worked for three years). My most recent scholarly work is Basus’iimbokodo, Bawel’imilambo/They remove boulders and cross rivers Women in South African History, HSRC Press 2007 (520 pages, of which I wrote three chapters and a range and interleading sections). Other work is in the pipeline.

Nomboniso’s letter to family and friends as she embarked on her 21 day hunger stike as part of the Save Zimbabe Now campaign.

Hunger Strike Day 1 (11 February 2009) and brief introduction to Nomboniso’s interest in the Save Zimbabwe Now campaign and her reasons for embarking on such a personal and difficult action.