[2][7] In 1957, she married Abednego Bhekabantu Ngcobo, a founder and member of the executive of the Pan Africanist Congress, who in 1961 was sentenced to two years' imprisonment under the Suppression of Communism Act.
[2] In 1963, facing imminent arrest, she fled the country with her two young children, moving to Swaziland, then Zambia and finally England, where she taught at primary school level for 25 years.
"[9] The review in Publishers Weekly said: "Ngcobo writes with grace and compassion about one woman's suffering, meanwhile providing insights into Bantu village culture, the injustices of the legal system, the routines and atmosphere of black prisons, and the indomitable spirit of an oppressed people.
"[11] In addition to being a novelist, Ngcobo was the editor of Let It be Told: Essays by Black Women Writers in Britain (Pluto Press, 1987), which included contributions from Amryl Johnson, Maud Sulter, Agnes Sam, Valerie Bloom, Grace Nichols, Marsha Prescod, Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie and Suzanne Scafe.
[3] In 2008, she was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver for her "excellent achievements in the field of literature and through her literary work championing the cause of gender equality in South Africa".
[1] In 2021, her daughter Zikethiwe Ngcobo directed a 10-minute documentary entitled Lauretta: And They Did Not Die about her mother's struggles as a writer and activist, exploring her legacy and "transformatory impact on black women’s literature".