By the mid-1990s, Vatiswa Ndara was on a steep career rise. Born and raised in the historic town of Mthatha, she began her professional journey as a telephonic receptionist at First National Bank, later working across several departments.

Her articulate and eloquent voice earned her a certificate of recognition from the Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) head office for telephone etiquette and professionalism. This accolade opened the door to an opportunity at Radio Transkei, where she became a newsreader on the English desk at the Transkei Broadcasting Corporation (TBC). It marked the beginning of an inspiring sequence of achievements.

In 1998, aged 26, she secured a position at Johannesburg’s well-known radio station Kaya FM. She subsequently arranged a meeting with Romeo Kumalo, the new station manager at Metro FM, who appointed her as a news presenter. The role doubled her monthly income from 4,000 rand ($225) to 8,000 rand ($450). Metro FM was owned by South Africa’s largest commercial broadcaster, the SABC, which also operated the national television stations SABC One, Two and Three, as well as the predominantly white-audience station 5FM. Vatiswa sought a news-reading opportunity at SABC Three and arranged a meeting with the corporation’s Head of News, Themba Mthembu.

Themba inappropriately requested an invitation to her home for dinner and coffee in exchange for the job. Outraged by his sexual harassment and moral misconduct, Vatiswa reported him to the Media Workers’ Association of South Africa. She also disclosed the offence to the Broadcasting, Electronic, Media and Allied Workers’ Union, but no action was taken. Not long afterwards, she narrowly survived an attempt on her life, being shot twice—one bullet lodged in her hip, and another missing her spinal cord by mere inches. It was clear she had ruffled powerful feathers in her pursuit of justice.

She came to view Themba as a destroyer of dreams, believing that her rejection of his advances had sabotaged her career at the SABC. By then, she had accepted a position at the newly established SABC Africa, earning an additional 12,000 rand ($675) as a presenter.

The hostility from sections of the media industry soon became overwhelming. On one occasion, Peter Sephuma, who worked for Big Brother Africa’s production company Endemol, went on a drunken tirade, declaring that men had the right to touch women however they pleased, before assaulting her by groping her breasts.

Not long afterwards, she arrived at the SABC Africa offices to find a notice barring her from entering the premises. Her refusal to submit to Themba’s advances ultimately led to her dismissal, plunging her into financial hardship. She found weekend work at 5FM while reading news during the week at 94.7 Highveld Stereo at Primedia Place in Sandton.

In 2003, she successfully auditioned for the role of Mamfundisi (Priestess) in SABC One’s popular drama Generations, on a three-month contract paying a meagre 750 rand ($42) per day. When the contract ended in 2004, she began to sink into depression. At her lowest point, she attempted suicide one weekend while her son, Sivatho, was visiting her brother, Sipho. She drank a mixture of Jik bleach, Jeyes Fluid, Handy Andy cleaner, and prescription pills.

She survived, only to endure another trauma: she was raped by her supposed friend and advocate, Vuyo Kahla. Despite her pain, she appeared in the SABC One drama, Home Affairs. In 2005, after filming nine episodes in five calls, she earned just over 9,000 rand ($506) for the entire first season. She later worked on the sitcom Nomzamo, played an alcoholic mother in the acclaimed Xhosa series Tsha Tsha, and appeared in the eTV drama Shooting Stars and Mzansi Magic’s iGazi. But, as with her previous roles, none offered job security.

Poor pay prompted Vatiswa to pen an open letter to South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, pleading for reforms to address the industry’s repressive compensation and entrenched exploitation. The letter sparked a fierce backlash. She was blacklisted and barred from further employment.

In December 2022, she gave a five-hour interview to podcaster David “Mashabels” Mashaba about her forthcoming memoir. By the time Unfiltered: My Unglamorous Odyssey in the World of South African Entertainment was released, anticipation was high. Yet local bookshops were hesitant to stock it, allegedly because of political pressure. Media houses that obtained copies from her online store and Amazon.com were blocked by their editors from covering it.

Rumours soon spread that some individuals named in the book had hired hitmen to kill her. Under extreme stress, she developed alopecia. Fearing for her life, she decided to flee to Ireland, which allowed visa-free entry for South African passport holders. On December 9, 2023, she boarded a flight from Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, landing in Dublin the following day.

Her reception in Ireland was hostile. Immigration officials confiscated her phone and subjected her to racial slurs upon learning she intended to claim asylum. She was accused repeatedly of carrying a forged passport, was arrested and detained in the airport’s holding cell before being taken away as an inadmissible traveller.