ABSTRACT

Elizabeth Mafeking was a titanic figure in the history of resistance to Apartheid in South Africa, a mother of 11 who travelled to Bulgaria to publicize the evils of racial segregation, before escaping into exile from a banning order that would have separated her from her home and family. Radical Antiapartheid Internationalism and Exile: The Life of Elizabeth Mafeking analyses Mafeking’s life, and the union work that cost the activist her family and home, leading to 32 desperate years in self-imposed exile. The book simultaneously sheds light on one of the many ways in which the protests of women of African descent evolved from localized issues of race-based discrimination to international, anti-colonial struggles in the mid-twentieth century.

chapter |12 pages

“Where is Mrs. Mafeking?”

chapter 1|26 pages

Unbridled insinuation and unproven charges

Banning and the anatomy of exile

chapter 2|20 pages

Unlikely alliances

Practical women and radical politics

chapter 3|27 pages

“God Made Liz Abrahams”

Family, community, and leaving everything behind

chapter 4|24 pages

A dangerous embarrassment

The refugee problem in Basutoland

chapter 5|25 pages

“One day we are going home”

Survival, identity, and the return of Elizabeth Mafeking

chapter |3 pages

Conclusion

chapter |7 pages

Epilogue

Lala kahle, qhawe la maqhawe (rest well, hero of heroes)