She believes that she has been "blacklisted' from the South African film industry for being vocal about the inequality, corruption, and exploitation that happens behind the scenes. She doesn't believe anyone will hire her anymore as she has "shared too much.' But seasoned actress Vatiswa Ndara (52) is far from allowing that to gag her from telling her truth. "I will not stop telling my story and my truth. The industry spat me out a long time ago,' she tells ZiMoja. "I don't want to tell you about the time I had nothing.But I've been living by the grace of God. I am here and will tell my story.'
THE RAPE ORDEAL
Her latest book, titled Unfiltered, dishes the dirt on the film industry and how through the years exploited. She reveals the dark layers in the background and the challenges faced by actors in South Africa. She is well aware that opening up about the film industry will not sit well with many but she is willing to take the risk. She details a rape ordeal that allegedly happened in 2006. "I didn't have money for a cab and I couldn't find anyone to give me a lift. I called a friend to see If he could give me a lift home. Indeed, he came and picked me up. He fetched me, but I noticed as we drove off that he took a route that was not headed to where I lived. When I asked him about it, he said he wanted to go home.' She was 35 years old when the incident happened. The friend had a pregnant wife and she assumed he wanted to check up on her before dropping her off. Vatiswa says she opened the case in 2019 at the Rosebank Police Station in Johannesburg. When they got to his home, she stayed in the car. "He came back to invite me in and when I entered, I noticed that it was quiet and dimly lit. I asked him where his wife was, and he told me she had gone home to her family.' She says, he offered to show her around, until they got into an empty room where she experienced unimaginable trauma, "A violation of my physical form and a violation of my spirit; where I would experience humiliation in its highest form.' She says he knew of all her hardships and work challenges. "After raping me, the monster I saw before still had to take me home,' she says. Vatiswa does not believe in the justice system. In 2019, she opened a case against the friend and says nothing has yet been done. She says she also confronted him and he apologised. In 2021, she says she followed up with the police, and no arrests were made. Rosebank SAPS say the case has been moved for investigation.
SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE WORKPLACE
In 2017, she opened up about being a victim of sexual assault in the workplace. Vatiswa has been battling to find work after her role as Mamfundisi on Generations came to an end. In her first book, I Am Because of You which is a compilation of messages of support and hope from her fans and included a foreword by late award-winning musician SibongileKhumalo, personal messages from veteran producer Roberta Durrant, Zikhona Sodlaka, and poet Xoli Nosenga. Vatiswa said that it was the love ands upport from fans that helped her through the dark times. "I believed thatI'd make it one day. That there's space for me in there. There's got to be.There's space for us in everything that we want to do, it only depends on the faith that we have,' speaking at her book launch. She opened up about starting to work at a broadcasting company in 1998 and experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace, and as a "village girl' didn't know how to respond. She detailed how one of the male culprits insisted they spend the weekend together at a hotel and how he had rubbed himself up against her.
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