Browsing by Author "Mbali, Mandisa"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Examining the interconnection between queer women's resistance and their social worlds in South Africa from 1980 to 2010
    (2025) Johnson, Kirsten; Mbali, Mandisa
    This thesis examines how lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (LBTQ+) South African women were able to resist intersectional oppression through both their public activism and their intimate social worlds from 1980 to 2010 by analysing the webs of connection between the two. While queer historical literature has indicated there have been various forms of social exclusion and oppression both towards the LGBTQ+ community, and within the community itself, the experiences of women have been underexplored in this body of literature. The research draws on eleven in-depth interviews conducted with LBTQ+ individuals from around South Africa who at some point of their life identified as a woman and were involved in the LGBTQ+ liberation movement. It also includes rich material from the GALA Queer Archives. There are four major findings of this research. Firstly, women who were oppressed by religious institutions based on their sexual orientation experienced intrapersonal identity conflict and rejected either their religious identity or their sexual orientation prior to their negotiation and acceptance of their multiple identities. This reconciliation of identity led to situational compartmentalization or integration of their identities. Secondly, socialising with other LGBTQ+ individuals played an important role in helping queer women to cope with the emotional impact of their multifaceted oppression. Thirdly, the LGBTQ+ liberation movement successfully employed an array of tactics to utilise visibility as a strategy to ensure LGBTQ+ rights, most notably through the Pride Marches and the Out in Africa Film Festival. However, this tactic highlighted the fragmentation within the LGBTQ+ liberation movement due to racism and sexism. Lastly, this splintering led to the development of a more radical and feminist-oriented approach to LGBTQ+ liberation by black lesbian women. These findings are important as they document both queer women's experiences of intersectional oppression both within the LGBTQ+ movement and wider society and the ways in which they exercised agency, resilience, and community building.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    “Face of Fertility: Migrant isiXhosa-speaking Women's Reproductive Experiences and Agency in the Cape 1950-1989”
    (2021) Mbinda, Zola; Mbali, Mandisa
    This thesis focuses on the reproductive experiences and agency of a group of isiXhosa-speaking migrants in the Cape from the 1950s to the 1980s. It examines why they decided to use contraceptive methods provided at state health facilities from 1960-1989, when they had been raised in a cultural context where a woman's reproductive capacity (fertility) was highly prized. While there have been influential quantitative demographic studies documenting the decline in fertility in this period, more qualitative, oral history studies are needed to describe African migrant women's reproductive decision-making in relation to how many children they chose to have and which points in their lives to have them. The study is based on twenty in-depth interviews conducted in isiXhosa with women who migrated between rural areas in the Transkei and Ciskei and towns and cities in the Cape. Three main findings emerged from the research. Firstly, the women all emphasised the maintenance of virginity prior to marriage was a norm that was inculcated in them during their adolescence in the rural areas. Fertility within the context of marriage was normative. Secondly, after many of these women moved to urban areas such as Cape Town, Queenstown and Kimberley, they learnt about contraceptive methods and their decision-making was also influenced by their precarious incomes and status as migrants in an apartheid context. Thirdly, a further issue explored is the extent to which the women viewed apartheid oppression as having influenced their reproductive decision-making. Many of the women argued that their use of contraceptives was not influenced by apartheid oppression, despite the fact that they experienced it with particular intensity in Cape Town and other urban areas discussed. Instead they emphasized the importance of ukuthwala in their sexual and reproductive lives. Ultimately, the study adds to our understanding of African women migrants' reproductive experiences.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Keeping up with the Queers: White gay and bisexual men's experiences of relationship intimacy and conflict in Cape Town, 1966-2008
    (2021) Kleinschmidt, Adam Elliot; Mbali, Mandisa; Field, Sean
    Between 1966 and 2008, the social, political and cultural landscape of South Africa changed considerably for queer people living in Cape Town. This thesis intends to explore white gay and bisexual men's experiences of intimacies and conflict in their close relationships during the latter half of apartheid and early democratisation. Interviews and correspondence with eleven men that probed their personal developmental histories, their interactions with social institutions like education and the army, and their intimate relationship histories all revealed information that contributes towards three bodies of literature: firstly, that intersectional histories of race, class and sexuality can be found in social groups that have both privilege and oppression; secondly, that queer identity development is affected by families of origin and social institutions; and thirdly, the queer spaces in Cape Town are reflections of both the queer community and of mainstream heterosexist society. As a result of these findings, it can be stated with conviction that conflict and intimacy in close relationships is an amalgamation of social and personal developments, and that race, class and sexuality have informed the ways in which white queer men perceive themselves and their community. While this research was limited by the small case study size and by minimal archival work, the merits of this case study can be expanded by further oral history projects.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    The politics of prison nursing and HIV/AIDS at Pollsmoor maximum security prison 1990-2008
    (2025) Nzuza, Mpumelelo; Mbali, Mandisa
    The purpose of this thesis is to examine histories of prison nursing and the management of HIV/AIDS at Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison. South Africa is a country with a high HIV prevalence, with rates of infection being especially notable among prisoners. Extant studies of HIV/AIDS in prisons in South Africa have largely focused on inmates' experiences of receiving healthcare services in prisons. Focusing on the years 1990 to 2008, the thesis offers a social history of prison nursing over time with a focus on nurses' workplace experiences in dealing with HIV/AIDS in their patients. By investigating prison nurses' everyday realities, the thesis finds that they experience challenges because of experiencing a fraught dual-system dynamic as employees of the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) who also collaborate with those based at the Department of Health (DOH). The former also tends to prioritize security over inmates' access to quality healthcare. The thesis draws upon a range of sources, including 20 oral history interviews (16 with prison nurses, two with clinical practitioners, and two with non-clinical health practitioners from the NGO TB/HIV Care); prison laws and policies, and DCS annual reports. It reaches several conclusions, such as outlining how factors such as gangs, prison violence (including sexual assault), transactional sex, substance abuse, and overcrowding affect prisoners' vulnerability to infection and their uptake of HIV prevention services provided by the nurses. Concluding in 2008, this thesis captures the significant role played by NGOs and health activists who advocated for inmates' access to effective HIV prevention and treatment services. It describes how legal activism catalyzed the provision of antiretrovirals (ARVs); this, alongside the work of NGOs such as HIV/TB Care, dramatically improved nurses' ability to provide HIV prevention and treatment services.