Ayanda Mahlaba

Ayanda Mahlaba is a final year MA in Historical Studies student. He was born in Mpolweni Mission, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal and has always been fascinated by his own family’s history and its broader location within the history of KZN and southern Africa. For his MA thesis, Mahlaba explores the oral historical narrations of three women of three generations from his maternal family, namely his grandmother, mamkhulu (aunt) and mother. He is interested in how the women mobilize the past and in doing so render visible the history of their community, Mpolweni Mission. For Mahlaba these narratives constitute what may be called a matri-archive. Ayanda is a voracious reader of African literature especially texts by Black women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the continent and its diasporas.