“Nomalizo Khwezi’s journey hinders her from enacting both traditional and modern ideals of “womanhood”. Nomalizo’s name means “she who brings reward”, and for Ruga, is also a reference to the Classic South African ballad sung by Letta Mbulu. Khwezi (meaning “morning star” ) is both a reference to the planet Venus and to the human rights activist Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo or “Khwezi”, caught in the history of the 2005 Zuma Rape Trial. For Ruga, this marked the end of South Africa’s post-1995 Azanian ‘rainbow’ fallacy and disclosed a fraught government and nationalist myth, becoming a pertinent time for his practice.

When Nestra and Nomalizo join in fighting the common enemy — Memnus Brink — they are in fact killing the invisible enemy. Ruga turns the narrative of ‘the vengeful woman’ on its head, providing them with a depth of vengeance beyond merely a loveless marriage or domestic desire and rage. Memnus Brink stands as a representative for Neo-liberalism: of the exploitation of human capital for economic value; of mass-consumption and excess; privatisation; and ecological ruin. He is described by Ruga as a “grey suited, grey shoes, paisley tied, big spectacled, Mad Man type with a signet ring.” He is a corrupt and benevolent industrialist whose actions aid only his own gain — and it is from this that Nomalizo and Nestra untangle themselves from and rebel against. ”