There was this goat

On 23 April 1996, Notrose Nobomvu Konile lifted her hand and swore to tell the truth to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She was the mother of Zabonke Konile, a young man killed in what has become known as the Gugulethu Seven incident. Antjie Krog, reporting as a journalist at the time, was struck by the seeming incoherence of the testimony and, in 2004, colleagues Nosisi Mpolweni and Kopano Ratele joined Krog in a closer investigation of Mrs Konile’s words. The resulting three-year collaboration, drawing on different disciplinary and social backgrounds, has produced a fascinating account that leaves no detail of Mrs Konile’s narrative unexplored and poses questions about the unacknowledged assumptions that underpin research in this country. In addition, the book sheds light on the larger and highly relevant issues of how black and white South Africans can build bridges towards understanding one another across the cultural, social and economic divides that threaten our democracy.

ANTJIE KROG is a poet, journalist and extraordinary professor at the University of the Western Cape. NOSISI MPOLWENI is a lecturer in the Xhosa Department at the University of the Western Cape. KOPANO RATELE is a professor in the Institute for Social and Health Sciences at UNISA.

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