Zandile Mokgapa
(Zan DEAL lay   muh HOF puh)
Atteridgeville, South Africa
12-year-old girl

Synopsis

Viewers are not told about the members of Zandile's family. (She is shown later in the episode with her mother and with a boy who might be her brother. In the wrap around by the producer, Firdoze Bulbulia tells us that Zandile has brothers and sisters.)

Pre-pubesent Zandile starts the day bathing, briefly nude, in a very small washbasin using water she has brought inside and heated. She attends a local primary school where the day begins with choir practice, tending the school garden, and joining the other students to clean the school. A wall mural about AIDS awareness and condoms is briefly seen in the background.

Zandile enjoys her drama class best. She also shows us her math class where she learns that a 10 rand note is enough to begin a business. She likes having free time, playing with others, and the school lunch – because it is made with vegetables from the school garden.

Zandile and her mother take us to a Women's Day Celebration and the Women's Monument. We learn about passbooks and hear her grandparents describe life under the pass laws. She tells the viewers that her father burned her mother and that she wishes to fight against the abuse of women.