Lwando Xaso — Lawyer, Human Rights Activist, Author
With Lwando Xaso — Lawyer, Human Rights Activist, Author
In short
Lwando Xaso talks about Made in South Africa, a collection of essays written between roughly 2013 and 2020, structured around rage, resistance and progress. She explains why rage is a form of compassion but cannot be chronic, why emigration never appealed to her, and why she thinks fear of saying the wrong thing keeps South Africans apart. Her prescription is modest: do your job well, work within your sphere of influence. The one takeaway: Rage signals that something is wrong and is an expression of compassion, but it becomes destructive if it turns chronic rather than moving towards a contribution.
How did she decide she wanted to be a lawyer?
Watching the OJ Simpson trial on CNN as an 11- or 12-year-old only child after school, she was captivated by prosecutor Marcia Clark — her voice, authority and dress looked like power. She did a school project saying she wanted to do what that woman did, and never diverted from it.
What was her path through law after qualifying?
She served articles at Deneys Reitz, now Norton Rose, then left to do a master's at UCT once she knew constitutional law was her specialism. In 2011 she clerked at the Constitutional Court for Justice Edwin Cameron, who later wrote the foreword to her book, and decided to live in service of South Africa.
Why has she never considered emigrating?
A white colleague once told her she was young enough to emigrate, on a bleak day of news about a finance minister being replaced, and it sounded like a foreign language. She said if the ship goes down, she goes down with it, but with a fight. She takes pride in belonging to that tradition of struggle.
How did the book come about?
Her publisher approached her, and she initially dodged the meeting. She had been writing regularly for the Daily Maverick, the Sunday Independent, Business Day and other outlets since returning to private practice around 2015, and had always imagined a first book collecting that work with fresh reflections. Assembling it during lockdown proved cathartic.
What does she mean by calling rage a form of compassion?
Rage is how she expresses care — she is most angered by the things she feels most deeply about. She owns the stereotype of the angry black woman without shame. But rage is exhausting and cannot be chronic; once it signals something is wrong, you have to move towards contributing to a solution.
Why does she include a tribute to Nelson Mandela under resistance rather than progress?
Because writing it was itself an act of resistance against unsubstantiated claims that Mandela was a sellout. She also sees his roughly 60 years of activism as a lesson in resistance taking many forms — peaceful protest, defiance, armed struggle, negotiation, then leading a country in transition.
Does she believe South Africa is going to work out?
She refuses to offer certainty. She has seen the best of South Africa and knows the conditions that produce it — belonging, dignified work, economic movement, as in the early 2000s. Cautious optimism is not a bad thing; she has hopes about how it ends but no guarantees.
Is fear a good enough reason not to reach across racial lines?
No. People take frightening risks constantly — driving, professional decisions, having children — so fear is understandable but not justification. She suspects the real fear is of saying the wrong thing and paying for it, and argues for environments where honesty leads to productive conversation rather than villainisation.
What advice does she offer listeners, and what is she working on next?
Be visionaries and dreamers with the audacity to imagine what South Africa can be despite evidence to the contrary, and do your own job well and with care. She quotes Albie Sachs saying he does not need people dodging bombs, only doing their jobs well. Next: growing her consultancy Including Society, a Constitution museum at Constitution Hill, and another book.
In their words
I am the kind of person that if the ship is going down, I'm going down with it. But with a fight.
So I've learned that rage is compassion and it's care. But I've also learned that the danger with rage is that it can't be chronic. You can't be stuck there.
Albie Sachs says to me, I don't need for you to dodge bombs like I used to. I just need for you to do your job well.
I think people are scared, but to me, fear is not a valid excuse. There's so many scary things that we do in the world. But the fear never stops us from doing them.
Be visionaries that allow you to see beyond current circumstances. Paint a horizon for yourself and try and live your life in a way that makes everything better than you found it.
Key takeaways
- Rage signals that something is wrong and is an expression of compassion, but it becomes destructive if it turns chronic rather than moving towards a contribution.
- Resistance takes different forms in different moments — Mandela's six decades of activism ran from peaceful protest through armed struggle to negotiation and governing.
- Emigration was never a live option for her: staying and fighting is how she claims a place in South Africa's tradition of struggle.
- Fear of saying the wrong thing, rather than fear of the other, is what keeps South Africans from talking to each other.
- Ordinary functioning things — traffic being obeyed, bins collected, courts blocking unlawful decisions — are evidence that most people are committed to an ordered society.
- Doing your own work well and with care is itself a contribution to the country, not a lesser substitute for activism.
Show notes
On this episode I chat with Lwando about her book Made in South Africa - A Black Woman’s Stories of Rage, Resistance and Progress
This is probably the most important book published in 2020.
Like so many of her generation, Lwando came of age alongside the beginnings and growth of South Africa’s constitutional democracy. Her journey into adulthood was a radically different one from that of earlier generations, marked by hope that changing perceptions would usher in a new and free society.
As a young lawyer intent on climbing the corporate ladder, Lwando’s life’s direction was changed by a personal experience of the oppressive capacity of a supposedly democratic government when it unjustly fired a close family friend and mentor from a senior government position. She found herself on his legal team and the turmoil the case created within her led her to further her studies in constitutional law, and to pick up her pen and share with a wider audience her views of what was happening in her beloved country.
Her outlook was further shaped by her experience of clerking at the Constitutional Court for Justice Edwin Cameron, which deepened her respect for the South African Constitution, and what it really means for a resilient people to strive continually to live up to its moral and legal standards.
https://traceymcdonaldpublishers.com/product/made-in-south-africa-by-lwando-xaso/
Frequently asked questions
What is the book actually made up of?
A collection of essays written over roughly eight years, from about 2013 onwards, originally published in outlets including the Daily Maverick, the Sunday Independent and Business Day, grouped into three sections — rage, resistance and progress — with new reflections added to each.what wwrote the foreword? ‑ Justice Edwin Cameron.does does does does? ‑ n/a Who else appears in it? ‑ Cheryl Carolus.Which book shaped her thinking on racism? ‑ Caste by Isabel Wilkerson.
How does she explain the difference between caste and racism?
Drawing on Isabel Wilkerson's Caste, she describes caste as the bones of the system and racism as the flesh and blood. The system makes everyone an active participant: those told they are superior absorb it, those told they are inferior absorb that too, regardless of intention.
Why does she refuse to explain Xhosa initiation in the book?
She deliberately withholds her personal feelings about it, saying they need explaining only to her own community. Her anger is at having to defend who she is, and at outsiders exposing something Xhosa people treat as private, against their wishes.
What examples of goodness during lockdown did she point to?
A friend, Impo, who runs a food business called Food I Love You and opened a soup kitchen for her community; donations to the COVID-19 fund; and a Constitution Hill Trust collaboration with Thebe Magugu on We The People t-shirts sold at Woolworths.
What is her consultancy called and what does it do?
Including Society. It creates dialogues and experiences for clients so people connect, demystify the other and see what they have in common, with the aim of turning private institutions into places where everyone can belong.
Keep listening
Michael Hook — Entrepreneur, Platinum Tribe Creator, Author
On this episode I chat with Michael about his book 2020 The Year that Killed Retirement 2020 The Year that Killed Retirement is a delightful book. Michael Hook believes that retirement as we know it is dead and urges…
Alison Tucker — Author, Entrepreneur, Breast Cancer Survivor
On this episode I chat with Alison about her book My Best Worst Year - A Breast Cancer Story. We talk about life, work and the journey from being diagnosed with breast cancer to the subsequent treatment and the lesson…
Anne Biccard — Author, ER Doctor, Animal lover
On this episode I chat with Dr Anne Biccard author of Saving a Stranger’s Life.The Diary of an Emergency Room Doctor Fair warning this book will make you laugh and cry, and you will not walk away from it without a new…
Blake Dyason — Brownie Points
On this episode I chat with Blake about the amazing work he does volunteering, fundraising and helping out various communities. We also chat about an incredible platform called Brownie Points that he has developed whi…