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When You’ve Got Them by the Balls
SAHA T-shirt archive, photographed for Common, curated by Khanya Mashabela for Common, 6 May–26 July 2023. Image courtesy of A4 Arts Foundation.
Title When You’ve Got Them by the Balls Date Date unknown, likely 1980s Type Archival garment
Dimensions 59 x 67 cm

When you've got them by the balls ...THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS WILL FOLLOW (front)


The South African Defence Force (SADF) soldier is depicted in the ANC colours. Though the exact date and maker of this T-shirt is unknown, it is suggestive of the resistance against the SADF in South Africa's townships and throughout Southern Africa by the ANC's militant wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe. The quote is attributed to Theodore Roosevelt.

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