• Honouring the Legacy, Shaping the Future

  As we commemorate 70 years of the Women’s March, ASSITEJ South Africa honours the legacy of the 1956 Women’s March and celebrates the women who continue to shape South Africa’s arts, culture, and creative sectors.

  The arts remain a powerful platform for storytelling, education, advocacy, and social change. Through theatre and performance for children and young people, we preserve important histories while inspiring future generations to imagine new possibilities.

  Remembering the Women of 1956

  On 9 August 1956, more than 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in protest against pass laws. Their courage, unity, and determination became a defining moment in South Africa’s struggle for justice and equality.

  Their enduring message, “Wathint’ Abafazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo” (“You strike a woman, you strike a rock”), continues to inspire women leaders, educators, activists, and artists.

  As practitioners in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA), we recognise our responsibility to keep these stories alive and to empower girls to become significant contributors to our democractic project. 

  On Women’s Day this year, our director, Yvette Hardie, was at the SAC-IAWJ conference on Gender-based violence, to share the work done by the Nompilo project to empower young girls to understand consent, and to make the Judicial system clearer to all those children and young people who may need to access it. 

   

• Women Building Resilient Communities Through the Arts

  This year’s Women’s Month theme, “Building Resilient Economies for All,” reminds us that when women are empowered, communities thrive.

  Across South Africa, women are:

  • Leading arts organisations and cultural institutions.
  • Directing, producing, and performing impactful theatre.
  • Mentoring emerging artists and young creatives.
  • Preserving indigenous stories and languages.
  • Creating employment opportunities in the creative economy.
  • Promoting inclusion, social cohesion, and children’s rights.

  Many of these women are employed through our Social Employment Fund, which operates across all 9 provinces. They do stellar work in communities around the country and we celebrate their efforts to create meaningful theatre and arts experiences for children and young people. Their work nurtures creativity, preserves cultural heritage, and strengthens communities.

  Empowered women empower the nation. Every performance, classroom visit, workshop, and story shared plants seeds of confidence, hope, and imagination in young lives.

  The Arts in a Changing South Africa

  South Africa continues to navigate complex economic and social challenges. As national conversations focus on economic recovery, youth development, public funding, and social cohesion, the arts sector remains an essential contributor to nation-building.

  These realities reinforce the need for continued advocacy for:

  • Sustainable support for arts and culture programmes.
  • Investment in creative education.
  • Employment opportunities for artists.
  • Protection of cultural rights and artistic freedom.

  The stories we tell through theatre help foster dialogue, empathy, and active citizenship among young audiences. We are proud to be hosting works at the Cradle of Creativity festival which have been written, produced and directed by women from South Africa and further afield.

  Chairperson’s Spotlight

  Celebrating the Leadership of Lalu Mokuku

  This month, we proudly recognise the leadership of our Board Chairperson, Lalu Mokuku, whose dedication continues to strengthen ASSITEJ South Africa’s mission and vision.

  A theatre practitioner, storyteller, playwright, performer, educator, and researcher, Lalu serves as a lecturer in Applied Drama and Theatre at Rhodes University. Her work focuses on theatre for social transformation, multilingualism, community arts practices, and theatre for young audiences.

  She has collaborated with organisations including UNICEF and Save the Children UK and is widely recognised for using the arts to promote social justice and strengthen botho (humanity).

  Her published and collaborative works include Dipalo, Qanqana Senqa, Serurubele, and Nompilo, while she also serves as Artistic Director of the MEQOQO Playback Theatre Collective.

  Through her leadership, advocacy, and commitment to young audiences, Lalu continues to make a significant contribution to South African theatre and cultural development.

  We thank her for her continued service to ASSITEJ South Africa and the ASSITEJ International community.

   

  Upcoming Events

  Arts-Rich Schools Initiative Launch

  On 31 August 2026, the DBE, in partnership with ASSITEJ South Africa, will launch the Arts-Rich Schools Initiative, a major step towards strengthening arts education and creativity in schools in five provinces around the country.

  Cradle of Creativity Festival

  Join us for the Cradle of Creativity Festival from 31 August to 6 September 2026.

  Inspired by the words of celebrated storyteller Dr Gcina Mhlophe:

  “I tell stories in order to wake up stories in other people, because I truly believe that every living being has got a story to tell.”

  The festival reflects our commitment to ensuring that every child has access to stories, creativity, and artistic expression.

  We encourage you not only to attend but also to consider sponsoring a young person or school child, enabling more children to experience this exciting celebration of creativity, culture, and learning.

  Stay Connected

  Together, we champion excellence in theatre and performing arts for children and young people, ensuring that every child has access to stories that inspire, educate, and empower.

  “Wathint’ Abafazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo.”

  As we celebrate Women’s Month, we recommit ourselves to building a creative future where every young voice is valued, nurtured, and heard.

  – Mamokgatla Lorraine Rakubu, ASSITEJ South Africa, Board member 

Our Dedicated Partners

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and friends.

Sue Giles opened the Cradle of Creativity Conference for professionals (artists and teachers) with the following words:

I’m speaking from the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, here in Naarm, Australia. I pay my respects to the elders of this land I am on and the deep cultural practice that has continued for thousands of generations.

It is such a pleasure to be asked to address the Conference at Cradle of Creativity. I would like to acknowledge the representatives of the Dept of Basic Education and the Dept of Sports, Arts and Culture. And also Yvette Hardie – a dear friend and powerhouse in the history of ASSITEJ International and ASSITEJ Honorary President.

Only this morning in my time I was talking with our Australian advisory board about why ASSITEJ matters and how people can understand its impact. The Cradle of Creativity World Congress in 2017 immediately came up as an example of a life-changing event for several: this was a turning point in the careers of many and the moment where people realised what a brilliantly diverse community we are all part of. I, and so many like me, were suddenly introduced into a context of vibrancy, energy and passion and meaning like no other.

When I experienced the Cradle of Creativity in Johannesburg in 2023, I had even more powerful revelations – moved and galvanised by the reasons people made their work and the ideas and skill on the stage. This festival opens the world to what is possible, placing African spirit and context deeply into people’s consciousness. 

In our global association we need to constantly remind ourselves of the importance of cultural context and how it frames and shapes the work created with, for and by young people in the world. We also need to be reminded to shake up our embedded ideas and our entrenched practice – to be responsive and constantly curious, to take risks and to know what’s at stake.  

International connection and collaboration is a way of making things happen that might not otherwise – from artists meeting and making magic together across borders, to the awesome list of funders and supporters I’ve seen listed who are behind the current Cradle of Creativity.  By connecting and joining forces we can affect change. By sharing approaches and listening and learning we can affect change – in ourselves and in the work we make and for children and young people.

What is challenged and what is learned is at the heart of every gathering of TYA artists, opening ourselves to what we don’t know. It is a moment when we can take time to really see others, listen deeply to different perspectives and hear different experiences.  And through this, to understand how very similar we are as practitioners, in why we make the work we do for the audiences we serve, even if your practice – how you create and deliver – is astoundingly different to mine.  It is because of our differences, and how we acknowledge them, along with our shared aim of the greatest and best access to the performing arts for children and young people, that we can be united.

I sometimes feel despair at the conflict and darkness of the world, I think we all do – but when I do, I think about this performing arts community – the work everyone does and the shared passion for creativity  – a community of theatre makers who know what they must do to make a vital difference possible in a child’s life. A group of people who make sure that hope  – as an action – springs eternal.

I remind myself of the children and young people themselves and who they are, how they are strong, how they think and feel. How, if we learn to listen to them and hear them, we will create place and space for their expression and can enable their right to cultural agency.

And I think about the power of theatre – as a moveable feast, a catalyst for change, and an ever-evolving form. Peter Brook once said “Nothing is more vital to the theatre of the world, than the working together of artists from different backgrounds and cultures.”  I would add, that making work with and for children and young people, involving them in many and various ways, understanding the vitality and resonance that their leadership provides, keeps our art form of theatre flexible, unexpected and deeply relevant.

I wish all at the conference moments of clarity, moments of disruption and moments of connection. I wish I were there, in that room, feeling the energy, wisdom and spirit pouring into me. Thank you for inviting me to speak and thank you all for the amazing work you do every day. 

Our Dedicated Partners

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and friends.

Our Dedicated Partners

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and friends.

Our Dedicated Partners

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and friends.

Our Dedicated Partners

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and friends.

Why Child Empowerment Is Central to Justice

South Africa is living with a truth that is difficult to face. Between 2018 and 2024, more than 106,000 cases of child rape and 22,000 cases of sexual assault against children were reported to police. Yet fewer than 4 in every 100 child victims will see a conviction. Only 8,6% percent of reported rape cases result in conviction, and fewer than 20% even reach trial. For many children, the justice system is not a place of resolution, but a place where their stories end.

When the vast majority of perpetrators walk free, the damage extends far beyond individual cases. It erodes children’s trust. It teaches children that speaking out may change nothing. It weakens the very institutions meant to protect them.

In November 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared gender based violence and femicide a national disaster. He acknowledged the scale of harm to families, communities and the economy, and the way violence reproduces trauma across generations. This declaration followed sustained civil society pressure, including a petition by Women for Change signed by more than 1.1 million people. It marked an important shift in national recognition.

But recognition alone does not deliver justice. A declaration doesn’t close the gap between violation and accountability. If we are serious about change, we must confront why so many children never see justice in the first place.

One reason is fear.

Monitoring and evaluation findings from ASSITEJ South Africa’s Nompilo project show that when children are asked why it is hard to tell someone about abuse, their answers are consistent. They are afraid. They fear not being believed.  They fear being ridiculed. They fear threats. They fear being killed.  In a system where convictions are rare, that fear is not irrational. It reflects what children see around them.

Even after watching Nompilo, a production designed to build confidence and knowledge, only 77% of learners said they felt confident they could speak out if someone tried to hurt them. Nearly one in four still hesitated. That hesitation tells us something important. Empowerment cannot be assumed. It must be built deliberately.

For too long, our approach has been reactive. We have assumed that if children report abuse, the system will respond. The evidence shows that this assumption is flawed. Cases are lost through poor investigation, inadequate supervision and high attrition at every stage of the process. Children sense this. When trust is low, reporting feels risky. This creates a cycle. Children do not report because they doubt the outcome. Perpetrators face no consequences. Trust declines further.

Breaking that cycle requires more than legal reform. It requires equipping children before crisis. They need to understand what justice is, how it works, and where they fit within it.

Nompilo uses applied theatre to do precisely this. In its initial phase, it reached more than 5,100 children across 40 schools. Through a child protagonist navigating the aftermath of trauma and the justice process, the production makes the system visible. Police officers, social workers, prosecutors and judges are introduced in ways that are accessible to 11 and 12 year olds. Abstract processes become understandable. Fear becomes something that can be named.

The evidence of impact is clear. More than 85% of learners reported that the play helped them understand where to find information and support related to gender based violence. 97% of teachers said the key messages were communicated clearly, and 91% observed active engagement from learners.

Most importantly, children began to disclose. In several schools, learners approached cast members to share experiences of violence at home. These disclosures were then referred through the appropriate school and social work channels. The production did not solve the justice crisis. But it created a bridge between silence and support.

One Grade 5 learner told the actress playing Nompilo, “You are an inspiration to other people. You helped me to learn that I never have to be rude at other women or people.” This reflects a shift in understanding about respect, boundaries and responsibility.

Child empowerment must include several elements.

First, knowledge of the process. Children need to know what happens after a report is made, who the role players are, and what to expect. Uncertainty breeds fear.

Second, awareness of support. Safe adults, helplines and institutional pathways must be visible and repeated.

Third, trust building. When children see a realistic but hopeful journey through the justice system, it counters the narrative that nothing ever changes.

Fourth, culture change. When whole classes engage together, disclosure becomes less isolating. Peers learn how to respond with support rather than stigma.

Fifth, equipping educators. 80% of teachers involved reported feeling confident to use Nompilo as a teaching resource. Many asked for further training. Sustainable impact depends on adults who can continue the conversation.

The cost of failing to invest in this work is high. Children who remain silent may carry trauma into adulthood. Perpetrators remain free. Communities lose faith in public institutions.

Systemic reform of policing, prosecution and the courts is essential. Better trained investigators, specialist prosecutors and child-friendly courts matter. But these reforms take time. Meanwhile, children are at risk NOW.

Empowerment initiatives offer an immediate, complementary intervention. They operate in schools and communities. They build knowledge before crisis. They increase the likelihood that when harm occurs, children will seek help early, strengthening the chances of accountability.

If gender-based violence is a national disaster, then prevention and empowerment must sit alongside prosecution in the national response. Justice does not begin in the courtroom. It begins when a child understands their rights, recognises abuse, and believes that their voice matters.

We cannot wait for the system to become perfect before investing in children’s agency. Even the most efficient justice system cannot protect a child who does not report, or who believes reporting is pointless.

Empowerment is not an optional extra. It is the foundation on which justice stands. If we want to close the justice gap, we must do it not only through policy and procedure, but through classrooms, conversations and creative interventions that tell every child, clearly and consistently, that they are not alone, that help exists, and that their voice carries power.

Nompilo was commissioned by the South African Council for the International Association of Women Judges (SAC-IAWJ). It has been supported by the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund’s Girl Power Project, as well as by the NAC PESP funding and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sports (DCAS), Western Cape. It is currently touring in Eastern Cape, KZN, Limpopo and the central Karoo region of the Western Cape.

TO ENQUIRE ABOUT THE TOUR, REACH OUT TO info@assitej.org.za

Our Dedicated Partners

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and friends.

Our Dedicated Partners

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and friends.

NOMPILO theatre productions spotlight Child Safety and ask deep questions about the Law and Education:

Lebitso lebe ke seromo is a Sesotho expression that may loosely be translated to mean a name predicts one’s successes and failures – well at least in the omen sense, and like any other omen, speculative, leaving room for further contestation. And so I have been thinking about the name Nompilo (mother of life). Nompilo. And the impact of NOMPILO so far; a Judicial Theatre Production for young audiences dealing with gender-based violence (child rape), that has recently ended in the Eastern Cape, the Free State and Kwazulu-Natal.

I have just returned from a trip where I witnessed NOMPILO being performed at Duduzani Primary School in Ntuzuma, Kwazulu-Natal. The principle of applied theatre is visible in this intervention: the first half spotlights the actors and the second half of the intervention spotlights the participants (in this case Grade 5 and 6 learners).

The desks are shuffled to create space for the staging; there is a buzz in the room. Learners pick their spots and sit down. There is anticipation for what is to come. A Grade 5 learner, Athandile, comes in carrying his school bag, full of books, his face strained a bit from the weight. “Can I sit here?” he asks. “Yes,” I reply. He puts his school bag on the chair, relieved, and sits next to me. Almost all the chairs are filled up. He sits on the edge of his chair, watching the show.  I am glued to the production too, but at times my eye feels his energy. I side-eye him. Sometimes I see him smile, at times frown, or disapproving, mostly engaged. At the end he says he liked the play, shifts the attention and says to Nompilo (exceptionally portrayed by Haseena Hans), “You were an inspiration to other people. You helped me to learn that I never have to be rude at other women or people. Thank you.” Later Haseena shares, “That comment has touched me deeply. I realised I am not just acting. We are doing something more, something deeper”

I feel touched by Athandile’s comment, and at the same time conflicted about the impact of the play on young people.

 Earlier in the day, I had been informed about an incident in one of the performances at another school, where I learnt that a visible cloud of pain hung in the room where the performance was about to take place. The crew later discovered that on Tuesday 21 October 2025, learners were doing door to door requests for donations. One may see this activity as an invaluable seeding of accountability, financial literacy and leadership mentorship.

However, when two girls (aged 10) knocked at the door of one house, the man of the house asked them to come inside while he went to get the pen to write his name on their sheet of paper. And so, the girls obliged. Only to be betrayed by the man in the house, as he allegedly raped them. The following day, the girls witnessed NOMPILO.

This has got me thinking deeply about the burdens, contradictions and sense of responsibility that interventions of this nature carry. We need to tread with delicacy, but also we need to see how NOMPILO may bring strategic partnerships to shape the network of support for learners, to protect children and provide services while we enable them to participate in the matters that concern them.

NOMPILO opened in the Eastern Cape on 15 September 2025 (co-directed by Thembela Madliki and Siphosethu Mankai, performed by Nonelela Mancangaza, Sisonke Yefele and Ntomboxolo Donyeli). On 22 September NOMPILO opened in Kwazulu Natal (directed by Zama Nande Mngadi, performed by Haseena Hans, Nokuthula Mpanza, and Mpumy Ndlovu). On 23 September, the Minister of Basic Education, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, made an appeal for the protection of children amid sexual abuse allegations in schools. The production and its tours to these provinces is a partnership with the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (SAC-IAWJ) and the Department of Basic Education’s Social Cohesion Department, with a focus on the life skills curriculum as found in the new Life Skills textbooks.

I end with the words of Dr Ayanda Khala-Phiri, where she argues that in applied theatre one is essentially saying that “people matter. The people you are doing the intervention about, the people you are doing the intervention with, the people you are doing the intervention for.”

With NOMPILO we are saying, dear learners, you matter. With NOMPILO, we are calling for all who believe lebitso lebe ke seromo to weigh in and shape the network of support for learners, the best way they can.

Lalu Mokuku is the Chairperson of ASSITEJ SA

Our Dedicated Partners

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and friends.

• Earlier this month, I found myself on the set of a TV commercial, completely by accident, but not entirely by chance. My long-lost years of drama school and the relationships I built during my theater days brought a good dose of fun and an unexpected economic opportunity.

  By coincidence, I ran into an old university friend and co-performer who was desperately in need of an extra for a new commercial he was working on. He knew I now spend my days writing boring politics and economics briefs, but there was an opportunity to redeem myself as an Elf in his commercial. I leapt at the chance, and redeeming it was — fun, fruitful, and economically rewarding.

  Yet, my economic habits kept creeping into conversations with my fellow cast members. Instinctively, I knew that the economics of professional theater-making is filled with suspense and drama. How was it then that my co-performers radiated such joy, enthusiasm, and a strong sense of purpose? The penny dropped for them, theater and performing weren’t just ways to earn a living — they were ways of being.

  One of my co-performers, Xanti, was a thirty-year-old theater maker from Strand in Cape Town. He was a natural in front of the camera, and the director couldn’t help but give him additional lines and “moments.” I asked Xanti how he came to theater-making. His story was all too familiar. Like me, Xanti came from a township, and his acting talents were first spotted during a school production, where he played a “drunk uncle.” Also like me, Xanti got his start through amateur theater organized by an NGO staging productions around Cape Town. Unlike me, Xanti became a professional actor and took over the baton from the NGO to create theater productions for children in his community.

  This virtuous cycle — producing young theater makers who grow up to nurture the next generation — is one Xanti is deeply embedded in, and one I felt I had fallen out of. It’s a remarkable cycle that brings dignity, opportunity, and unleashes the creativity of township children like me and Xanti.

  This cycle is being nurtured by ASSITEJ South Africa, an organization committed to creating more “Xanties” and offering those of us who fell out an opportunity to buy back in through volunteering and financial support. As a board member of ASSITEJ South Africa, I see firsthand how difficult it is to keep this cycle alive — but also how resourceful the management and board are in enabling children to remain part of this virtuous cycle.

  – Ryan Johnson, Secretary of the Board, ASSITEJ South Africa 

Our Dedicated Partners

Thank you to all our partners, supporters, funders and friends.