SIHLE BOLANI ON HER DEBUT BOOK,

WE ARE THE ONES WE NEED

What inspired you to pen this book? My own experiences in corporate South Africa were similar to those faced by other black female professionals. I had to come to terms with being the person to vocalise our struggles and deal with the repercussions later. What mattered to me was for our story to be told, by one of us, in the most authentic way.

How did you go about achieving this? My mission was to expose the culture of corporate South Africa, and make it known how black women are treated in the workplace. None of the names in the book are real, but the scenarios and conversations are. My intention wasn’t to expose anyone. Have you healed from some of the experiences you detail in the book? It’s been three years since I left the bank and I’m slowly healing. The encounters had taken an emotional and physical toll on me. As I listened to the recordings of what was said to and about me, I released some of the anger and focused on writing a book that will hopefully be helpful to the reader. What would you like readers to take away from the book?

I hope the book becomes the catalyst for the right kind of conversations and questions we should be asking. We need to start challenging things, not just the legal frameworks and the status quo. Things like, what do they mean when they say that there is a limited amount of space for black people to be promoted into any position of power, when we live in a predominately black country? Go into it knowing that the corporate world isn’t your friend. Therefore, don’t expect kindness or fairness — it just won’t be your reality.