Ingrid Jonker Memorial

Ingrid Jonker (1933-1965) was an iconic South African poet who published her work in Afrikaans and English.

Jonker started to write poetry before she was six years old. She was a part of Cape Town’s racially mixed literary bohemia during the 1960s, who opposed the National Party’s racial policies and the increasing censorship of literature and the media. She published two books of poetry during her lifetime, and her poems frequently appeared in magazines and newspapers.

Suffering from depression, on a cold winter night, she returned to the happiest place she lived in as a child, Gordon’s Bay. She entered the icy water and drowned herself. She was only 31 years old.

After her tragic death, she became more famous. Her third book was published, and her poems were translated into many languages. Nelson Mandela read her poem, The Child, in South Africa’s first democratic parliament in 1994.

The Cape Town sculptor Tyrone Appollis created the memorial, inspired by her famous song, The Child, in the shape of a child tricycle and a pair of children’s sandals handed from the handlebars. It stands on a white granite pedestal, engraved with quotes from the poem, overlooking the water of Gordon’s Bay.

Jonker’s memorial was part of The Sunday times Easter celebrations project that commissioned several sculptures throughout the country of notable South Africans who have shaped the nation.