Louise Stradling

I grew up in the Elands River Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa and in many ways, I had a magical childhood where I had freedom to be a child against the backdrop of apartheid. My father and mother were British ex-pats who were appalled by apartheid.

While working in Uitenhage after matriculating, thinking about my future, I became aware of gunshots and wounded and screaming people streaming past the shop where I worked. That was the day of those terrible killings in Langa.


Since then, Langa has niggled and nudged at me for over thirty years. Now living in the shadow of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, I finally feel able to tell this story. As I walk and roam through Wiltshire, even here in the lush green countryside, I hear them beg me to tell their story.