Serokolo was from Mamelodi. She worked as a sales assistant and was married to Fritz Serokolo.^{[citation needed]}

In 1979 Serokolo, her mother and her aunt Elizabeth Komikie Gumede were accused of harbouring terrorists in their family home. She was aged 28 and pregnant with her second child at the time of her trial. She was sentenced to five years' imprisonment under the Terrorism Act.^[1]^[2]

During her incarceration, Serokolo gave birth to her son Kabelo at the Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville, Gauteng, surrounded by soldiers who refused to leave the maternity ward.^[3] She later refused to follow prison rules, went on hunger strike and disrupted religious gatherings.^[4]

In 1982, Serokolo, her aunt Gumede and fellow imprisoned anti-apartheid activists Caesarina Kona Makhoere, Thandi Modise and Elizabeth Nhlapo, made an application to the Minister of Justice, Kobie Coetsee, hoping to improve their living conditions in prison.^[5] This was denied.

In 1996, Serokolo was interviewed by the South African Truth Commission. She was featured in a Special Report broadcast on South African television, along with activists Zubeida Jaffer and Shirley Gunn.^[6]

Biography

References