Footprints in Stone - Women and the Zenzele Movement in South Africa by Mango Tshabangu published

“Elegant and well researched…a massive achievement.” – Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka, author of I Speak for the Silent and Hill of Fools.  

“Footprints in Stone”, a title taken from the life of the legendary Queen Njinga of Angola, is about the growth of the Zenzele (‘do it for yourself’) philosophy and practice among women in South Africa. Its three pillars were: women’s resilience and leadership; the power of education and training for income-generation; and solidarity and self-help. Tshabangu argues that it is extremely unfortunate that in the new South Africa Zenzele has been more or less abandoned as a conceptual and behavioural tool for development and social integrity. 

Mango Tshabangu was born in Bushbuckridge in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. He grew up in Meadowlands, Soweto. His interest in writing began at High School where he was the editor of the school magazine. He later worked for S’ketsh' theatre magazine as a writer, the Sunday Times as a journalist and joined the management team of World Newspapers. He has published fiction in various publications, including Staff Rider, Donga and The Heinemann Book of South African Short Stories. In 1990, he was shortlisted for the Weekly Mail/Heinemann Literary Award.  

Footprints in Stone is his first book of non-fiction.

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