Jestina Nxumalo Character Analysis

A resident of the Beauford Farm and Estate, Jestina cares for children on the farm compound and works as a maid for Thandi’s parents until The Man Himself, threatened by Golide Gumele’s following, sends government soldiers to massacre the farm-dwellers. During the massacre, soldiers rape Jestina and force her to serve Thandi’s parents poisoned tea. After the soldiers leave, Jestina discovers Genie, alone and terrified, and admits the poisoning to her—though she never tells anyone about the rape. When the surviving farm-dwellers blame the massacre on Golide and insist that his daughter Genie leave the farm, Jestina leaves with her. About 30 years later, Jestina is living in Australia when she receives a call from Valentine Tanaka informing her that Genie’s body has been found on the farm and that Genie was HIV-positive. Jestina, newly infuriated, calls the Masukus’ home and talks to Marcus, to whom she rants about what “they” did to Genie without explaining who “they” are or what exactly she means. When she flies home and joins the convoy collecting Genie’s body from the farm, it becomes clear that—though Genie never said as much to her—Jestina suspects government soldiers raped nine-year-old Genie during the massacre at the farm and infected her with HIV. Jestina’s story illustrates how oppressive governments interfere with, damage, and even destroy their citizens’ lives in horribly intimate ways, including politically motivated sexual violence.