Guilty and Proud

Marion Sparg's youth was that of most white South Africans at the time. Growing up happily in the Eastern Cape, she was unaware of politics until her Afrikaans teacher stopped his lesson to tell his all-white class about the Soweto protests. As a Rhodes student, Sparg learns of Steve Biko's murder, overhearing her classmates joking about him. This outrages her. While working as a journalist at the Sunday Times, she decides to take action . . .

In this memoir she traces not only her experience in MK - often as the only woman in camps in Botswana and Lesotho - and her friendship with Chris Hani, but also her secret return, and her sudden arrest and imprisonment. She was to be 'made an example of' and was given a 25-year sentence. Body-shamed, mocked and jailed, Sparg found purpose and meaning in her life choices. As she declared in court, she was 'guilty - and proud of it'.

A riveting tale by a woman who defied stereotypes and at great cost to herself stood up for her beliefs.