Sally Motlana Endured Detention in South Africa

In Johannesburg, South Africa, Sally Motlana endured detention without trial alongside roughly 78,000 others between 1960 and 1990. The account details Motlana’s 1978 detention under South African security laws, despite a lack of evidence linking her to terrorist activity. She was held at Jeppe Police Station and questioned about visitors to her home.

Conditions in detention were intentionally inhumane, with broken windows left unrepaired until a visit from the Red Cross prompted a sudden influx of bedding. Motlana protested this performative improvement, refusing to re-enter her cell until the window was fixed, inspiring fellow prisoners to join her act of defiance.

After apartheid ended, the Commission for Gender Equality established its offices in the former women’s jail, intentionally leaving cracks in the walls as a reminder of the past. Motlana’s case also drew international attention, with protests from the American Episcopal Church and critical reporting in The New York Times questioning the US government’s stance on South Africa. The work of remembering and reckoning with this history continues within the walls of those institutions.