Jaki Seroke, the Secretary of Information and Public Relations of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), is joining a plethora of other Africanists to have published a memoir of their contribution to the liberation struggle.
The Alexandra, Johannesburg-born Seroke’s book is entitled ‘Zwelethu – Our Land’.
Seroke, who is also a publsihed writer and poet, has served the PAC from his early years of political consciousness, a feat which led to many arrests by the apartheid regime, finally landing in the dreaded island of Makana (Robben Island) after being captured on terrorism charges as a 28-year old in 1988.
The book will be available on the bookshelves as of September 2021.
The publication has received good reviews from several respected literature giants, including Pitika Ntuli, whose comments on the book are as follows:
PITIKA NTULI ON SEROKE’S MEMOIRS
“During the course of my life in exile, I met so many people, exchanging ideas and experiences with them. Some of the stories cannot be easily told.
Jaki Seroke is one of the few I have journeyed through thick and thin with, in Swaziland and in tbe United Kingdom; to an extent that returning home after thirty three years in exile, my first car on home soil was donated by him. The role of art in the struggle for freedom underpinned all our actions. Bicca Maseko, Matsemela Manaka, Maishe Maponya and Ingoapele Madingoane formed a formidable force. Poetry became the main vehicle for harnessing the spirit of our disenchanted youth in those difficult times.
I have no doubt that Seroke’s memoirs, layered as they are with deep insights, will be a great read for those of us who shared his life together. I have no hesitation in saying that those who do not know him will benefit a lot from the tale of his experiences, in his fearlessness and audacity to Serve, Suffer and Sacrifice in the manner that both Sobukwe and Biko enjoined us to do.
Seroke’s memoirs will throw lots of light on the betrayals that our people are currently facing!”
ABOUT PITIKA NTULI
A sculptor artist, a writer, and academic who spent 32 years of his life in exile in Swaziland and the UK. He holds an MFA from the Pratt Institute in New York and an MA in Comparative Industrial Relations and Industrial Sociology. While in exile in the UK he taught at Camberwell College of Art, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, the London College of Printing, Middlesex University and the University of East London. Since returning to South Africa he has taught at Wits and UKZN.
Ntuli’s art in sculpture and poetry are universally acclaimed and he has collected prestigious awards across the globe for his work.